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Ohio City Leaders Call on Portman to Fight for a Bold Federal Relief Package

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Columbus, OH – Today, city executives and elected officeholders across Ohio held a press call to demand that Senator Portman support the HEROES Act or fight for a similarly-bold package for localities, working families, or schools as the Senate crafts its own bill. They released a letter signed by 20+ elected officials across the state outlining key priorities. 

A recording of the call is available here. (Password: 6p+gK@07)

“We are in the middle of a very challenging year in our state and in our country — and that is putting it mildly,” said Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, noting that his city is experiencing “Great Depression levels of unemployment” and that Ohio cities’ reliance on income tax makes them uniquely vulnerable to recessions. Toledo faces a $30 M deficit because of the pandemic and has had to furlough 300 employees.  

A photo of Rob Portman speaking during a congressional hearing. Image courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Creator: Glenn Fawcett
Image credit: U.S. Government

“The federal government has botched the response to COVID-19, and we in local government have had to do what we always do: step up to deliver for and protect our citizens,” he said. “But in this unprecedented moment, our hands are tied by not having the resources we need to deliver the services our citizens expect…If Washington chooses to ignore police and sanitation workers and they have to be laid off, I will be very clear about who was responsible for that…Airlines and corporations are always first in line, but most people want the parks mowed and a firefighter to be able to come when they call.” 

Cincinnati Councilmember P.G. Sittenfeld emphasized the unprecedented moment of a public health, economic, and racial justice triple crisis and how surreal it has been to see visitors bureaus and recreation centers become temporary hospital facilities and housing for the homeless. 

He explained how his city’s $73 M budget deficit, often seen as an abstraction, has real-world effects. “Our ability to piece together a budget that ensures that vulnerable seniors and youth can keep cool in 90-degree heat is at risk….Teachers are reaching into their pockets more than ever to pay for things their kids need,” he said. “Senator Portman should join Senator Brown in getting this vital legislation through. My message to him is: listen to your constituents.” 

He also urged the Senator to continue the Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program and noted Economic Policy Institute data that if it expires, over 100,000 jobs will be lost. 

Cleveland Cincinnati Councilmember Blaine Griffin said, “If the HEROES Act passes, Cleveland will receive more than $1 B for healthcare and for teachers and for other essential employees. They are working so hard for us, and we cannot give them a pink slip…We need federal relief to keep Clevelanders to keep from falling into poverty.” 

He also said the city has been financially responsible. “Cleveland has done our part. We prepared for a downturn. But nobody was prepared for COVID-19 and how it would reveal the inequities among us,” he said. 

He noted the recession has contributed to a spike in violent crime and domestic violence and has disproportionately affected African-Americans. He invited Senator Portman to walk the neighborhoods of Cleveland with him and see the effects. “I know we are seen as a Democratic city,” he said, “But we are your constituents too, Senator.” 

Columbus City Auditor Megan Kilgore forecasts a drop of 4.7% in city revenue, five times worse than Columbus’ worst-ever year for revenue collection on record during the Great Recession. 

“Funding infrastructure is the most economically efficient way to rebuild an economy,” she said. “Take a project like an investment in clean drinking water or sewer lines or high-speed IT networks or green energy projects. Think about the workers who work on that. That creates more wages, which gets spent, and that spending supports other workers. That is the multiplier effect….If Senator Portman does not act, he is putting a ‘Closed for Business’ sign on Ohio.” 

Chillicothe Mayor Luke Feeney said the crisis has been particularly acute for Southeast Ohio, which has a disproportionately high number of public-sector workers like teachers, hospital employees, and local government staff. 

His city is still finalizing projections, but they could be as high as a 10% or 11% dropoff in revenue. Already in the last few months, the city has drained one-third of its reserves, which it has spent the last few years building up, and has had to issue layoff notices to firefighters. He offered an example of economic effects: “We’ve had to reduce work hours by one-third. That means the building I sit in right now [City Hall] has to close tomorrow. That means those workers won’t come downtown and shop or dine on Main Street.” 

Speaking for Southeast Ohio as a whole, he said: “There may not be a big population center, but we matter down here too. We’re asking Senator Portman to stem the bleeding in places like mine and in cities like Ironton and Waverly,” he said. 

The leaders seek $1 trillion in aid to state and local governments, among other priorities detailed in the letter pertaining to Medicaid, K-12 education, childcare, paid family leave, and unemployment compensation. Already, 65,700 public sector workers have been laid off in Ohio since February. 

Anything less than $1 trillion for state and local government will cause needless suffering: while Ohio stands to lose another 191,400 public and private sector jobs in the next 18 months if no federal package is passed, the Economic Policy Institute projects that even a package that amounts to a mere $500 B for states and cities will still trigger the loss of 93,900 Ohio jobs. 

Coronavirus crisis reinforces need for paid sick days during the outbreak — and in the future

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

This commentary on the need for paid sick leave originally appeared in the Ohio Capital Journal on March 18, 2020

Every day, working Ohioans need access to paid sick days to address short-term health conditions for both themselves and their families, and these needs are amplified during a public health crisis like the current COVID-19 outbreak.

The coronavirus has exposed vast shortfalls in our state’s social safety net programs, demonstrating the reality that many working people face on a regular basis: an impossible choice between their health and their paycheck.

As the spread of the virus continues, it reinforces the need for paid sick days to help the working people and families impacted during the outbreak — and for those needing to address short-term health conditions in the future.

Nationally, 7 in 10 low-wage working people do not receive any paid sick days from their employer.

Unfortunately, even without the strain of a pandemic, our broken caregiving systems fall short of providing families with the support they need to address their own health, or the health of a loved one, without risking their job or their paycheck.

The United States is one of few developed nations in the world without a guaranteed paid sick leave law, which leaves behind 1 in 4 U.S. workers, or more than 32 million people, without access to any paid sick days.

Low-wage and hourly workers, the majority of whom are women and people of color, are less likely to have access to paid sick days. In fact, nationally, 7 in 10 low-wage working people do not receive any paid sick days from their employer, exacerbating health and economic disparities facing lower-wage working people and their families.

Disparities can cause working people without paid sick leave to feel compelled to show up for work even when they are showing symptoms.

Paid sick days have been shown to reduce the spread of illness, and the policy would help contain the spread of coronavirus by allowing working people to stay home — without risking their jobs or their paycheck — if they are infected with the virus, need to care for a loved one with the virus, or need to stay home from work with children following school or childcare closures. 

However, disparities in access can cause working people without paid sick leave to feel compelled to show up for work even when they are showing symptoms. This is particularly true for low-wage working people in the service industry (like those in restaurants, retail, childcare, and home healthcare); domestic workers (such as nannies, house cleaners, and caregivers);  contract workers (also known as the gig economy); and part-time workers, who are less likely to have access to the policy.

Many of these workers are in high-contact positions, which can’t be done remotely, making it more difficult to contain the outbreak, and hitting low-wage workers harder.

In Congress, the U.S. House recently passed, with bipartisan support, a coronavirus economic relief package, which includes access to 14 days of paid sick leave for many working people. The bill also expands access to paid family and medical leave, a policy designed to help working people address the longer-term medical conditions for themselves or their family, something that will inevitably be brought on by the coronavirus.

Despite limitations in who is covered by the legislation, it would take important steps in extending crucial economic support to working people impacted by coronavirus.

The bill is currently sitting in the U.S. Senate awaiting action, delaying crucial support for impacted workers. Every day that this bill passage is held up, tens of millions working people in Ohio and across the country are left without any access to paid sick days or paid family leave, causing potentially devastating damage to their ability to support themselves and their families. 

Ohio has an opportunity to continue to lead on our response to this crisis

Here in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine has demonstrated leadership on the national level with his swift action to enact sweeping health precautions and economic relief support for Ohioans affected by the virus, including changes to the state unemployment compensation system.

These changes will help support working people who are laid off, facing closures of their employers as a result of the coronavirus, or in mandatory quarantine.

However, the gaps in the state unemployment compensation policy leave, as well as the federal economic relief package still held up in Congress, leave behind many working Ohioans who will be impacted by this public health emergency. 

Ohio has an opportunity to continue to lead on our response to this crisis. In order to fully address the far-reaching health and economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak in Ohio, our state leaders must enact emergency paid sick days to ensure that working people are not forced to choose between their health and their economic security. 

How the Latest State Budget Impacts Ohio’s Women and Working Families

Read the full analysis of the Ohio budget through a gender lens on the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network’s website.

Ohio’s new two-year state operating budget brought numerous improvements for the livelihood of women, but that’s not to say there weren’t plenty of drawbacks and lack of action on key issues as well.

Progress was made to improve the quality of childcare in Ohio. But there’s more work to be done.

The new state budget allocates $198 million to improve the quality of Ohio’s publicly funded childcare system. This increase in funding will allow improvements in ensuring that workers within the childcare sector are paid fair wages, and will also help to facilitate professional development and facility improvements. 

Where the budget falls short is allocating resources to increase the access and affordability of childcare. By increasing the accessibility of childcare, children would enter school well prepared, and parents would have the opportunity to participate in the workforce.  While the DeWine Administration stated that increasing eligibility for childcare was a policy priority, ultimately no funds were allocated to support this endeavor. 

After attempts to restrict access to Medicaid via the inclusion of the “Healthy Ohio” Program in the budget, Medicaid services were ultimately left unharmed.

The provision of the so-called Healthy Ohio Program would have required premiums to access Medicaid, which would have had crucial implications on women, who comprise more than half of Ohio’s Medicaid population. Medicaid has long been a lifeline for women, and the legislature’s decision to ultimately remove the “Healthy Ohio” language was crucial to protect access to the program.

Progress was made towards addressing wage theft, an issue that faces many working-class Ohioans, particularly women and people of color working in low-wage jobs.

When workers are paid less than they were contractually promised, it is known as wage theft. Whether it be through violation of minimum-wage laws, not getting paid overtime, or forcing an employee to work off-the-clock, Ohio clocks in with the second-highest amount of wage theft among the ten largest states. Additional funding was allocated to the Ohio Bureau of Wage and Hour to help address this issue.

The state budget also codified some policies that we expect to negatively impact Ohio women and working-class families. 

By continuing to support a business tax cut known by many public service advocates as the  “L.L.C. loophole,” Ohio loses out on about $528 million per year or $1.1 billion for the duration of every state operating budget where it remains intact.

There is little evidence to suggest that this tax break for L.L.C.s has created any significant number of new jobs in the state. Ohio is missing out on billions of dollars of revenue that could have been allocated towards programs to address our school funding crisis, increase childcare assistance eligibility, or invest in a refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (which we’ll discuss in just a moment), to name only a few ways this money could be better spent. 

There were also some issues facing Ohio women and their families that the state budget failed to address, entirely. 

Ohio’s Earned Income Tax Credit remains non-refundable.

One of these crucial areas of inaction was the budget’s failure to make Ohio’s Earned Income Tax Credit (E.I.T.C.) refundable, a policy that would have given a major economic boost to low-income families across the state.


Nationally, the E.I.T.C has been crucial in lifting working families out of poverty. However, it is not without its limitations here in the state. The greatest shortfall of Ohio’s state E.I.T.C. is that it is non-refundable. If this gap in anti-poverty policy had been addressed, the state budget would have been able to put money back into the hands of working families. 

Despite the 2020 Census being right around the corner, the bill allocated no funding towards planning or conducting a complete census count in the Buckeye state. 

About $33 billion dollars in federal funding rests upon the outcomes of the U.S. Census, which determines how those federal dollars are dispersed, state-by-state. Without a correct and complete count, the well-being of women and historically undercounted communities, populations which rely heavily on these federal grant dollars, are undermined.

No efforts were made to create a framework for statewide paid family leave. 

Paid family and medical leave policies allow workers to address the needs of their families or their own health without risking their financial health. Currently, only 17% of American workers have access to paid leave through an employer, but lawmakers made no effort through the state budget to increase those statistics here in Ohio… To learn more about the push to bring paid family leave in Ohio, check out the Women’s Public Policy Network’s Paid Leave Advocacy page on their website. 

 

Read the full analysis of the Ohio budget on the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network’s website.

How Much Ohio Workers Lose Under Mike DeWine’s Overtime Pay Cut

Today, Innovation Ohio joined with NELP Action to release a new analysis of the impacts on Ohio workers of Attorney General Mike DeWine’s move to block new overtime rules from taking effect.

Background

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor ordered a long overdue update to restore overtime pay protections to middle-class workers earning less than about $48,000 a year. However, this overtime pay raise was blocked in Ohio and nationwide as the result of a lawsuit brought by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. As a result of the lawsuit, hundreds of thousands of Ohioans lost out on overtime pay rights.

This report provides data for the first time on the local impact on Ohio workers of Attorney General DeWine’s action blocking this middle-class raise. Starting with state-level data available from the Economic Policy Institute, the report breaks down the impact, county by county.

Key Findings

  • Statewide, 327,000 Ohioans lost overtime pay protections as a result of the lawsuit.
  • Workers in every county across the state lost overtime protections. The largest impacts were 37,000 workers in Franklin County, 34,000 in Cuyahoga County, and 22,000 in Hamilton County.
  • Other major impacts include 17,000 in Montgomery County, 16,000 workers in Summit County, 13,000 in Lucas County, and 13,000 in Stark County.
  • As a result, this year and every year Ohio workers are losing $42 million in overtime raises. That’s $42 million in badly needed higher pay that workers across the state are losing ever year because of the lawsuit brought by DeWine to block the overtime raise.
  • In other states, including California, New York, Washington State, and Pennsylvania, governors and state legislatures are responding to the blocked federal overtime pay expansion by acting under state law to deliver this raise.
  • Ohio’s governor and legislature should follow those states’ lead and act quickly to deliver this badly needed overtime raise for the state’s workers.
  • Past polling found that Ohio voters support an overtime pay expansion by an overwhelming 80 to 14 percent margin.

Video

>> Read the report: Analysis of How Much Ohio Workers Are Losing Under Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Overtime Pay Cut

>> Press release: New Report: Mike DeWine’s Overtime Pay Cut Costs Ohio Workers $42 Million Each Year

Wage Theft in Ohio Costs Workers $600 Million, But State Offers Little Help

Recent studies show Ohio is among the worst states when it comes to the impact of wage theft, or the practice of paying workers for fewer hours than they worked. When you look at policy decisions at the state level, it’s not hard to see why. The state has all but abandoned its role in enforcing the state’s laws to ensure workers are paid for the hours they work.

Ohio’s Poor Record for Workers

Ohio uses a complaint-driven model of enforcement in which workers must closely monitor their paycheck to ensure they were paid for all their hours, were not forced to work off the clock or denied mandatory breaks, and were paid the overtime for which they are eligible. Enforcement agents respond to their complaints to assess their merits and assess a judgement. Workers who are unaware of their rights or afraid to challenge their employers are unlikely to make a claim, meaning the state is only looking at a fraction of the overall wage theft that takes place.

One recent study found that Ohio ranks 2nd among the 10 largest states for minimum wage violations, and estimates that overall, Ohio workers collectively lose $600 million each year in shorted paychecks due to wage theft.

One reason cited by experts for the high rate of wage theft is that, in the past decade, the Wage and Hour Enforcement unit at the Department of Commerce — responsible for enforcement of wage and hour laws — has been gutted; its already-meager staff was reduced from 12 to just 6. That’s six individuals who are responsible for enforcement of all wage and hour violations in a state in which over 5.5 million people work outside the home for pay. By comparison, Idaho, a state with 1/10th Ohio’s population has five inspectors.

The results are about as poor as you might expect. According to a Cleveland Plain Dealer investigation, just 31 percent of workers who file complaints with the state see them approved by the department. And, even among those lucky enough to have their claims approved, only half of those recover the back pay they were denied. Responsibility for collection is shared by the Department of Commerce and the Office of the Attorney General.

Role of Policymakers

It’s clear that enforcement policy is at least partially to blame. In 2009, a similar review by Policy Matters Ohio found the state resolved cases in favor of workers nearly 65 percent of the time. Since then, the enforcement workforce has been cut in half.

Another factor is a change in policy to waive penalties for employers the first time they violate the law. Researchers at Northwestern University found the number of wage theft cases in Ohio rose almost immediately after that change, signaling that penalties are an effective deterrent.

Lawmakers have not helped. While they have consistently refused to add funding, improve oversight, or extend overtime and minimum wage protections to more workers, in 2017, the Ohio House voted to adopt a measure (HB494) that would exempt certain franchise workers from existing wage and hour protections. It’s worth noting that the 2009 study and the Plain Dealer review earlier this year both found that food service is by far the biggest offender, so exempting franchisees from wage and hour protections would only make the problem worse.

Looking forward

The next Governor can play a big role in ensuring workers get to take home more of what they earn in their paychecks by giving the office of wage and hour enforcement a higher profile, bigger budget and more authority.

Addressing wage theft is just one way to better make work pay for working Ohioans. Read our blog (“10 Ways Ohio’s Leaders Could Increase Take Home Pay for All Ohioans“) for other ideas and check our Winning Economic Agenda for Ohio’s Working Families to review all the ideas we’ve proposed, along with our friends at Policy Matters Ohio, for Ohio’s next Governor to consider.

Report Shows Ohio Cities are Driving the State’s Economy

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, in partnership with the Ohio Mayors Alliance, released a report last week, “Ohio Metro Economies,” that highlights how Ohio cities and metro areas are the driving force of the state’s economy. According to the data, for almost two decades, Ohio’s metro areas have accounted for all of the state’s job gains and 87 percent of the state’s GDP gains.

However, the health and future outlook of the overall statewide economy is not as strong. In the same time frame, most cities and towns across the state experienced net job loss. For Ohio to remain a competitive economy nationally, we need to renew invest in our urban cores and metro area transportation infrastructure. As the report indicates, construction job growth is specifically in the areas of roads and bridges.

As we know from previous research, Ohio’s cities need a serious reinvestment in their transportation infrastructure in order for their region, and thus the state of Ohio, to achieve long-term economic growth, as residents are demanding their metro areas be more mobile and accessible.

Approximately 2.4 million full-time jobs in Ohio are dependent on the state’s transportation infrastructure, including tourism and retail sales. Additionally, as companies look to re-locate or expand, they take note of the region’s transportation system, looking for areas with smoother, more-efficient transportation infrastructure.

This lack of investment in our cities, both in targeted economic development projects and money towards workforce development and infrastructure, has caused our young residents to flee towards Sun Belt states, leaving Ohio’s workforce older and aging.  This cycle of underinvestment will lead to an economic downturn when there is both a shrinking supply of workers and low demand for the goods and services produced in the state.

Cities are the engines of Ohio’s economic growth. Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland each ranked in the top 100 largest economies in the world, exceeding the states of Montana and Arkansas. For Ohio to remain competitive nationally, in this new service-oriented economy, we need to create a strong, diversified, metro-focused statewide economy. Ohio will not grow without mindful, aggressive investment in its cities and surrounding metro regions.

For more information, you can read the full report on the Ohio Mayors Alliance website.

10 Ways Ohio’s Leaders Could Increase Take Home Pay for All Ohioans

Sub-Report of “A Winning Economic Agenda for Ohio’s Working Families”

For too long, Ohioans’ wages have remained stagnant, while politicians have enacted policies that take more money away from an employee’s bottom line. Hard-working families are struggling to keep up and their jobs no longer guarantee them basic protections in the workplace we once valued as a state. The growing inequality and dwindling focus on fairness means our social contract is hanging on by a thread. Families no longer have the guarantee of economic security.

By enacting policies that end employee exploitation and raise wages, our government could ensure Ohioans get to keep more of what they earn in their pocket and are ensured a comfortable and secure life.

Below are 10 changes Ohio’s policymakers could make to state policy that would raise wages and the standard of living for all Ohioans.

1) Every day, Ohioans are losing $123,000 in wages because of their lack of eligibility for overtime pay, resulting in $45 million in lost wages every year. Too many Ohio workers are not being compensated for the long hours they work day in and day out.

The salary level at which workers are eligible for overtime pay hasn’t budged since the Bush administration. If Ohio would raise the threshold for salaried worker overtime to $47,476, this would boost the income of 351,000 Ohioans. These Ohioans are working long days for no extra pay, but this change could vastly alter their earnings and ensure their wages match their labor input.

2) Ohio has the second largest share of workers who are victims of minimum wage violations, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute, estimating that Ohioans annually lose $600 million to so-called “wage theft”. Despite this rampant abuse by employers, Ohio has cut staff in the departments responsible for protecting the workers of Ohio. The state currently has only six wage and hour investigators, one for every 795,883 private-sector workers.

By investing in enforcement of wage and hours laws for employees and ensuring this enforcement is targeted to low-wage sectors where it runs rampant, we could protect the nearly 23 percent of low-wage workers who are not receiving their full compensation for their hard work.

3) Ohio’s economy has grown 65 percent in the last generation, but the same cannot be said for its wages. If the minimum wage had grown with the economy since 1968, it would be more than $20.39 today. However, minimum wage currently rests at just $8.30 an hour. This means that for a family of three with one parent working full time at minimum wage, they are earning $3,500 below the poverty line. This minimum wage is not enough to support a family, let alone an individual person.

To reflect the rise in production and education of our workforce, Ohio should raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2025. This wage would better care for Ohioans and their families.

4) In Ohio, unionized workers make $4 an hour more than their non-union counterparts. Aside from increase in wages, these workers also enjoy health insurance, a pension and paid sick days.

Instead of enacting so-called “right-to-work” legislation that strips workers of their bargaining rights, Ohio policymakers should be supporting and aiding employees’ ability to join or form unions. This ensures higher wages and better protections for all.

5) On average, women in Ohio earn only 75 cents for every dollar Ohio men make, creating an annual wage gap of $12,686. This loss of equal wages hurt women in both the short term and long term.

Ohio policymakers need to enact policies that promote pay equity. These would include policies that strengthen enforcement of pay discrimination, close employer loopholes in laws, eliminate the practice of asking for salary history, and prevent retaliation against an employee who discusses salaries or wages.

6) Too often, employers are classifying workers as independent contractors, denying them eligibility for benefits including health insurance, workers compensation, traditional tax withholding, and unemployment benefits, when they are, in fact, for all intents and purposes, treated like employees in all other facets. Genuine contracting provides a great deal of freedom and flexibility for motivated talent, but if your hours and work are dictated by the company you’re working for, then you’re an employee, and should be eligible for full benefits. This is called “misclassification” and it is illegal.

Contractors are exploited and businesses are able to bypass the requirements of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. This has an adverse impact on these employees bottom line and their wages go towards protections their employers should be providing. To offer better protection against exploitation, policymakers should clarify and simplify Ohio’s misclassification of contractors by instituting a 7-part test that is simple and matches the modern workplace.

7) For hourly and shift workers across Ohio, work hours and take home pay can vary with each new week. For those pursuing higher education, it becomes difficult to schedule classes, and for working parents, nearly impossible to arrange childcare. This unpredictability, paired with the possibility of being sent home without pay during shifts you were scheduled to work, or being penalized for requesting adjustments to your work schedule, means shift workers face a unique form of economic burden.

By passing “fair scheduling” legislation, Ohio could join the growing number of states and localities that defend the quality of life for low-wage workers. Fair scheduling legislation would include workers receiving their schedule two weeks in advance, predictability pay if the schedule is changed without seven days’ notice, a good-faith estimate of the number of shifts or hours a worked can expect per month, require employers to offer part-time employees the chance to cover extra hours before hiring new employees, and require that, if a company is sold, the new employer must retain tenured employees for a 90-day transition period.

8) When the State of Ohio functions as an employer, contractor, an investor or purchaser, attention should be paid to the job quality and standards of the companies it works with. All State workers and contractors–whether hired directly or indirectly– should earn decent wages and benefits and, when purchasing goods, preference should be given to Ohio vendors employing Ohioans to do the work.

Additionally, when Ohio contracts work out to private businesses, we need to be attentive to the job quality and labor standards of the service provider. State policy must recognize that the resources we invest not only provide services, but also good jobs for Ohio’s families. Ohio’s government should be the model of providing good paying jobs, not the case study of failed privatization and tax policies.

9) Ohio currently offers no refundable tax credits for working class people. Two simple changes to Ohio’s tax structure could dramatically alter the livelihood for poor and middle-income families and put more of what they earn back in their pockets.

By creating a sales-tax credit for taxpayers, Ohio could stimulate consumer spending and the local economy, while offsetting the shift in Ohio from income taxes to sales taxes. We estimate that a sales tax rebate would have returned on average $106 to eligible low-income families in 2016.

Additionally, Ohio should remove the cap on the Earned Income Tax Credit and make it refundable. This credit helps working people take care of their families, but now is limited to families in a narrow income band.

10) The average cost to borrow $300 in Ohio is $680 over five months. In today’s low-wage economy, many working people have few options when they need emergency cash.

Recently the Ohio House passed measures that would improve regulation of so-called “payday lenders”, but we need to go further to ensure that Ohio workers to not fall victim to these debt traps. H.B. 123 closes loopholes in the Short-Term Lender Law, which Ohio voters overwhelmingly supported in 2008. Now the bill is in the Ohio Senate, where it is subject to possible amendments.

However, via loopholes, predatory lenders can license themselves under the Ohio Mortgage Lending Law or the Ohio Small Loan Act, avoiding the regulations and consumer protections. It is time Ohio closed these loopholes and ensure working families are protected from these debt traps.

 

You can read Innovation Ohio Education Fund’s and Policy Matters Ohio’s full policy agenda here:
A Winning Economic Agenda for Ohio’s Working Families.

Legislation Aims to Bridge the Digital Divide for 300,000 Ohio Households

Today, the Ohio Senate Finance committee heard testimony on a bill that would bring broadband internet to students, businesses, hospitals and communities in rural areas across Ohio. Senate Bill 225, Create Ohio Broadband Development Grant Program, was introduced by Senators Joe Schiavoni and John Eckland. This bipartisan bill would provide funding for broadband improvement projects in sparsely populated areas across Ohio, allowing our state to remain competitive nationally.

In today’s world, internet access is often taken for granted and is necessary for school work, businesses, telemedicine and everyday living. This bill would close the gap in access that exists for nearly one million people and 88,500 business that have been overlooked for too long by major telecommunications corporations with monetary interests.

SB 225 would direct $50 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2019 from the Third Frontier program to subsidize local public and private sector infrastructure projects in Ohio’s rural areas. Businesses, non-profits, co-ops or political subdivisions would receive the funding to bring this vital service to schools, businesses, hospitals and government services.

A similar grant program was enacted in Minnesota and a similar bill in the Ohio House, HB 378, passed and has been sent to the Ohio Senate for consideration.

Today, 4 out of 5 students complete school work online and businesses rely on the internet to do their day-to-day work. This bill would keep Ohio’s children from falling behind and teach them the skills that are required in the workplace today and in the future.

According to Connect Ohio, 300,000 households across the state have no broadband access. For these households, government and other vital services, like OhioMeansJobs, operate online without the consideration of how these citizens are going to access them.

In the Digital Age, SB 225 is a common-sense piece of legislation that would help Ohio remain competitive nationally, and help these students, families and businesses fulfill their economic potential.

Learn More

> Read Sen Schiavoni’s Testimony
> Download a copy of A Winning Economic Agenda for Ohio’s Working Families.

New Proposal Would Mean Overtime Pay for 350,000 Ohio Workers

State Reps Kelly and Smith announce overtime protection legislation

The Ohio House is considering legislation to ensure 350,000 Ohio workers are paid for the hours they work. Yesterday, a legislative committee heard testimony on House Bill 605, sponsored by State Representatives Kent Smith and Brigid Kelly, which would modernize Ohio’s overtime laws to keep up with inflation.

Today, so-called white collar (executive, administrative and professional) workers are only guaranteed overtime pay if they earn $23,660 year ($11.37 an hour) or less. That salary level is set by the federal Department of Labor and was last changed in 2004 during the Bush Administration. As a result, less than 1 in 10 workers–just 7.8% of Ohio workers–are eligible for overtime, resulting in lost wages of $123,000 per day.

In 2016, the Obama administration adopted a rule increasing to $47,476 the salary up to which overtime was guaranteed, but it was challenged in court (a challenge joined by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine), and, ultimately the Trump administration abandoned its appeal.

Using the 2016 rule as a model, Smith and Kelly would raise the bar, allowing salaried workers earning up to $47,476 to be paid time and a half for hours worked over 40 per week, and adjust the salary level every three years to keep up with inflation.

Everyone agrees that if you work hard, you should be able to feed your family, get an education and save for retirement. Part of that means being paid for the hours you work. SB605 is a common-sense solution that would begin to address the widening income gap as worker pay remains stagnant, while incomes of those at the very top continue to rise.

Learn More

Read Rep Smith’s testimony on HB605

Read Rep Kelly’s testimony on HB605

Take Action

To support Ohio workers, contact Chairman Young and ask him to hold more hearings on House Bill 605.

 

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