Democratic News

State Rep. Tavia Galonski (D-Akron) today announced Ohio’s back-to-school sales tax-free holiday scheduled for this weekend, August 3-5, as a result of the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 226. The annual event helps lessen the sting of the 4.5 percent statewide sales tax hike passed by Republican lawmakers in the 2013 state budget. The hike has cost taxpayers almost $2 billion more since then, according to state revenue numbers.

“With so many Ohio families struggling to make ends meet already, the tax free holiday alleviates a bit of the financial burden that comes with back to school shopping,” said Galonski. “To be successful during the school year students and their families not only need to purchase class specific items, but also replace everyday use items. While a family may save a relatively small amount this weekend, those dollars add up so a student can have lunch money or be able to replace something later in the school year. Every little bit helps.”     

House Democrats today announced Ohio’s back-to-school sales tax-free holiday scheduled for this weekend, August 3-5, as a result of the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 226. The annual event helps lessen the sting of the 4.5 percent statewide sales tax hike passed by Republican lawmakers in the 2013 state budget. The hike has cost taxpayers almost $2 billion more since then, according to state revenue numbers.

State Rep. Michael Ashford (D-Toledo), a joint sponsor of House Bill 123, today issued the following statement in response to Gov. Kasich’s signing of the bill to crack down on predatory short-term lenders in Ohio:

As summer heats up and families flock to fairs and festivals, including the Ohio State Fair which opened this week, beefed up safety standards for amusement rides sit dormant in the Ohio House.

After last year’s Fireball amusement ride failure at the Ohio State Fair tragically claimed the life of Tyler Jarrell and sent seven others to the hospital with serious injuries, state Rep. John Patterson’s (D-Jefferson) attention turned to ensuring such a tragedy never takes place in Ohio again.

House Democrats today applauded the passage of House Bill (HB) 123, a bipartisan effort to enact consumer protections for the thousands of Ohioans who utilize short-term loans every day. Borrowers in Ohio currently pay some of the highest rates in the nation for payday loans, with estimated average interest rates at over 500 percent. 

Three years after it was exposed that Gov. John Kasich’s handpicked charter-czar David Hansen, husband of Kasich’s chief of staff, was illegally changing charter school grades to allow failing charter schools to draw down on more taxpayer funding, little has happened at the Republican-controlled Statehouse to crack down, once and for all, on Ohio’s largely unregulated charter school industry.

“Three years after Governor Kasich’s handpicked charter school head was caught defrauding taxpayers, an historic amount of tax dollars continue to flow to Ohio charter schools,” said Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo), the lead Democrat on the House Education Committee. “Instead of wholesale changes to hold Ohio charters accountable to the same standards and rules as traditional schools, the legislature has, in effect, loosened standards.”

State Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) today denounced the School Employees Retirement System (SERS) of Ohio’s decision to raise salaries of its employees, including highly paid executives, by 3 percent while a three-year freeze on cost of living adjustments (COLA) for retirees is in place.

As workers and retirees from across the nation gathered on the Ohio Statehouse lawn today to speak out for pension protections for hundreds of thousands of retired American workers, Ohio House Democratic lawmakers spoke out in support of American retirees and urged the Ohio legislature to take up legislation, House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 8, that would urge members of congress to protect coal miner pensions.

By his own admission, Republican Auditor of State Dave Yost is now indicating he gave the now-defunct online charter school ECOT taxpayer funded awards for outstanding financial records while the same records show ECOT was writing taxpayer-funded checks to students to take standardized state tests and attend commencement ceremonies.

“If Auditor Dave Yost was doing his job and really looking at ECOT’s financial records during the last seven years, why would he let ECOT use taxpayer dollars to pay students to take tests and attend graduation,” state Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) questioned. “The crooked irony is that Auditor Yost was taking thousands in campaign donations from ECOT and giving them clean audit awards while they were paying off students with your tax dollars.”

After cutting almost $1 billion from local schools and $2 billion from communities throughout the state, Ohio Republicans announced today additional funding for the state’s budget reserve fund. House Finance Committee member and state Rep. Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) issued the following statement in response:

“It is time for Ohio Republicans to be honest about their political game-playing with Ohio’s state budget reserves. Though the previous administration made tough decisions to put Ohio in a stronger place during the global financial recession of 2009, Republicans today continue to fill the fund with money that has been cut from local communities and schools throughout the state. That’s not governing or making tough decisions, it’s passing the buck to local taxpayers with new and increased levies to make up for the failure of leadership at the state level.”   

State Rep. Jack Cera (D-Bellaire) today announced he sent a letter to Richard Stensrud, executive director of the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio, asking him to rethink the recent decision to cut cost-of-living pay to SERS Pension holders while giving SERS administrators a three-percent pay increase.

State Rep. John Patterson (D-Jefferson) recently helped bring together Northeast Ohio farmers, The Ohio State University, county auditors, soil and water conservancy groups and County Farm Bureaus to address dramatic property tax increases on farmers from the state’s voluntary farm tax savings program, the Current Agriculture Use and Valuation (CAUV). The Ashtabula County lawmaker says he heard from concerned constituents that some were facing tax increases of over 300 percent on their farmland this year.

The first meeting at the OSU Agriculture Extension office in Jefferson, Ohio brought together over twenty stakeholders, representing nearly every form of agriculture in the region, including organic growers, dairy farmers, grain farmers, fisheries, and even woodlot entrepreneurs. The CAUV task force held its second meeting Monday in Ashtabula County.

The task force is currently taking a regional approach in addressing potential solutions to agricultural land value increases under the CAUV, but many hope the group can offer statewide recommendations that will help mitigate dramatic property tax increases on farmers in 41 counties across the state.

“It is my hope and intention that this task force will provide some very comprehensive thought to this program that has benefitted farmers since 1973,” said Rep. Patterson. “It is only through this collaborative discussion and research that we can present a plan that won’t result in a knee-jerk legislative reaction that could be very harmful for our current and future farmers of this county, region and state.”

Ohio’s CAUV was established 40 years ago in an effort to add predictability to farmers’ property tax bills while incorporating land valuation practices that were thought to be fairer, like a rolling average of crop prices, soil conditions and harvest volume.

Many farmers throughout the state use the CAUV, but in recent years, t

House Democratic representatives today sent a letter to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) Director Gary Mohr calling for the state to terminate its contract with the state’s privately-run prison food service staffing company, Aramark, marking at least the fifth time lawmakers have asked the state to take control of privatized food service operations.

“The irrefutable and troubling facts against Aramark reaffirms why there was such strong initial opposition, both in the legislature and the general public, to privatizing any part of our prison system,” said Rep. Matt Lundy (D-Elyria). “With the ninety-day notice requirement in the contract, I am calling on the administration to terminate its relationship with Aramark and start 2015 off on the right foot by having the state take full control of our prisons again.”

Over 100 Aramark employees have been banned from Ohio prisons since the first year of the privatization due to problems ranging from sexual abuse and drug smuggling to inappropriate relationships with inmates, according to a Dayton Daily News investigation. Aramark has also racked up state contract violations, including unsafe food conditions, staffing shortfalls and food shortages.

“Maybe they cut costs, but they cut corners to get there and that’s not what Ohioans deserve or expect,” said Rep. Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) a member of the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee (CIIC). “It’s time for the state to take control of operations at our state prisons and ensure that there is security and accountability in the way our state does business.”

Aramark has been fined twice by the state for violating safety and security requirements at Ohio prisons, but the Kasich Administration has dodged previous calls for the termination of Aramark’s contract. Instead, the state will use some of the fines to hold additional training fo

Today, State Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) highlighted recent findings that reveal a significant funding gap between Toledo City Schools (TCS) and area charter schools. These findings were compiled for the first time in a new website—KnowYourCharter.com. The site compares fiscal and performance information from public schools and traditional charter schools using detailed reports of state data.

“Ohio’s funding model has put our traditional public school students and teachers at a major disadvantage,” said Rep. Fedor. “And when charter schools siphon funds from public schools, our students have even fewer resources. It’s clear that our students are lacking equal access to educational opportunities. Ohio’s funding model and charter school accountability need to be addressed immediately—our students’ success depends on it.”

According to the data, on average, Toledo charter schools receive $8,770 per student while TCS students receive only $6,497. Even with the additional funding, most area charter schools continue to underperform, with more than half earning a “D” or “F” rating on the state’s report card.

In total, over $73 million in state aid was deducted from TCS last year and transferred to area charter schools.

“While these charter schools are underperforming, they are also spending twice the amount as TCS on administrative costs. It really calls into question where our state’s educational priorities lie,” added Rep. Fedor.

KnowYourCharter.com was created by the Ohio Education Association and progressive think tank Innovation Ohio in an effort to increase financial transparency and accountability. Data used on the website is taken directly from the Ohio Department of Education and compares academic performance among traditional public schools and charter schools.

State Rep. Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) highlighted recent findings that show significant funding educational quality gaps between Youngstown City Schools (YCS) and area charter schools. These findings were compiled for the first time in a new website—KnowYourCharter.com. The site compares metrics from public schools and traditional charter schools using detailed state reports.

“As the state spends more and more taxpayer dollars on charter schools, it’s clear that the ‘experiment’ of funding charters is now routine and warrants further public and government scrutiny,” said Rep. Hagan. “This is a powerful accountability and transparency tool for parents and state’s education leaders.”  

During the 2012-2013 school year, over $22 million in local tax dollars were siphoned from city schools and redirected to charter schools. Thirteen of those nineteen charter schools graded by the state received a “D” or “F” on their state report card. YCS is rated a “D.”

At least six of the schools received over $10,000 in state funding per pupil. YCS’s state share per pupil is roughly $8,200.

“It is really startling to see how some of the worst performing schools are receiving more money from the state than our public schools. I think it’s clear from these numbers that we need to refocus back on improving our children’s public schools,” added Rep. Hagan.

KnowYourCharter.com was created by the Ohio Education Association and progressive think tank Innovation Ohio in an effort to increase financial transparency and accountability. Data used on the website is taken from the Ohio Department of Education and compares academic performance among traditional public schools and charter schools.

State Reps. Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Nicholas J. Celebrezze (D-Parma) today introduced House Bill 628 to authorize the state’s Inspector General (IG) to investigate the Attorney General’s (AG) office for any wrongful acts or omissions following allegations of sexual harassment in the office.