Democratic News

State Rep. Michael Sheehy (D-Oregon) today announced the release of over $3 million to the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio as part of the Infant Mortality Pathways HUB Model Demonstration Expansion grant program in Toledo. The program is designed to combat Toledo’s abysmal infant mortality crisis by targeting outreach programs and services to at-risk women.

“Infant mortality is still a heart wrenching reality for too many families in our community and throughout our state,” said Sheehy. “I am pleased to see the state’s continued investment in proven programs like the Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB that connects potentially at-risk women with quality resources and practices to ensure they give birth to happy, healthy babies that live to see their first birthday.”

As the Ohio House of Representatives enters the next stage in state budget deliberations, House Democratic leaders today warned that GOP economic policies are blowing a hole in the Ohio budget and threatening the economic stability of working people and families. 

“During the worst global economic recession since The Great Depression, Republican lawmakers called for the state budget director – at the time, a Democrat – to step down,” said House Democratic Leader Fred Strahorn (D-Dayton). “In the governor’s own words, Ohio is now on ‘the verge of a recession’. However, we are not demanding pink slips be delivered today. Instead, we believe that state leaders must take steps to recession-proof the state by investing in communities and schools, rather than approving yet another round in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.” 

State Reps. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) and Stephanie Howse (D-Cleveland) today announced the introduction of the Ohio Equal Pay Act, a bill that would help close the longstanding gender pay gap between men and women in the Buckeye State.

“Too often, women with the same jobs as men and with the same education as men are paid less than men, see fewer opportunities for career advancement and are more likely to struggle to meet the basic needs of their families,” said Rep. Clyde. “The Ohio Equal Pay Act works to address the systemic undervaluing of women in the workplace and aims to ensure women are treated as what they are— equal.”

State Rep. Stephanie Howse (D-Cleveland) today applauded the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity for their work with “Buckeye Build,” while saying state and federal inaction has made affordable housing in the Cleveland area and throughout the state hard to come by. Recent reports show that, though the nation as a whole has experienced a decrease in the number of Americans losing their homes, more Ohioans continue to lose their homes to foreclosure.

“Though affordable housing is out of reach for too many Ohioans and our state continues to be a leader in the number of people losing their homes to foreclosure, I am pleased Habitat for Humanity has managed to build over 180 houses over the last 25 years while engaging politicians to raise awareness and get their hands dirty,” said Howse. “As Ohio’s GOP continues to provide tax cuts for the wealthy while Cleveland and many cities across the state are in dire need of assistance, Habitat for Humanity is working hard to offer some of our most vulnerable populations a path towards economic stability.”

State Rep. Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) today released the following statement regarding the recent vote by the Cleveland City Council to allow transgender Ohioans to choose whichever restroom, shower, or locker room aligns with their gender identity, without fear of discrimination:

House Democratic lawmakers today called on Gov. Kasich to address the real state of the state in his annual remarks tomorrow night in Sandusky, arguing that the governor owes 11 million Ohioans an explanation on why the state is on “the verge of a recession” after six years under his leadership. The lawmakers also noted that the governor’s budget failed to adequately address the real state of the economy, education, healthcare and recent drastic state cuts to communities in Ohio.

“The last time the governor addressed the legislature he warned that Ohio was “on the verge of a recession’, but weeks later introduced a budget that doubles down on the tax-shifting policies that have harmed so many working families and brought us to this point,” said House Minority Leader Fred Strahorn (D-Dayton). “Ohioans deserve to hear honest remarks from the governor on his plan to address the economic and other challenges facing our state, because so far his plan just seems to be more of the same.”