Two big problems with Ohio Senate GOP anti-immigrant bill
Yesterday, I told you about SB 323 a bill that is a solution in search of a problem. Today, let’s talk about why it isn’t even a very good solution.
To recap: The bill is sponsored by Sen. Bill Seitz a Cincinnati-area Republican. It would prohibit undocumented workers from receiving worker’s compensation benefits.
There are two huge problems with this aside from what was discussed earlier. First, the bill imposes a huge new regulatory burden on the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, by requiring BWC to make a determination on each applicant’s immigration status. BWC would have to make the kinds of immigration status determinations that are often aggressively litigated up and down the federal court system for months or years. It will have to do so without any additional funding or training because the bill provides no additional resources to BWC.
Second, the bill makes it harder for workers to get compensation when they are injured on the job. Under the bill, as part of the process of proving their eligibility for workers’ compensation, all injured workers will have to include what is essentially an affidavit that they are authorized to work in the United States. This new burden will be imposed on all applicants, but the administrator of the BWC can also request additional proof from some of them if he or she believes that the affidavit is not valid. Now, let’s be honest about who this is going to impact – after all, how many white, English-speaking applicants with European-sounding names are likely to have their legal right to work in the U.S. questioned? One man who was actually testifying in favor of the bill inadvertently illustrated the problem with the proposed system when he admitted that it would “open up the [BWC] administrator to charges of racism.”
Yesterday we documented that Seitz himself can’t even show that there is a need for this legislation. That fact along with these two (perhaps) unintended consequences ought to be enough evidence that this lame duck bill needs to be put out of its misery.
![A dead duck](http://69.195.124.74/~innovby5/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/A-dead-duck.gif)
IO joins others to form Ohio Action Coalition
Ohio Action to deploy people, resources to support tax fairness in fiscal cliff debate
![ohioactionpost](http://69.195.124.74/~innovby5/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ohioactionpost.jpg)
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Ohio Senate GOP In Search of Solution to Immigration Problem That Doesn’t Exist
Tuesday, the Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee heard supporter and opponent testimony during the third hearing on SB 323, a workers’ compensation bill sponsored by Sen. Bill Seitz (R – Cincinnati). The bill would “prohibit illegal and unauthorized aliens from receiving compensation” under Ohio’s Workers’ Compensation Law.
While it might sound like a good idea to make sure the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation (BWC) isn’t issuing payments to people who aren’t supposed to be here anyway, the devil, as they say, is in the details.
In this case, SB 323 would make it more difficult for injured workers to collect the state-administered benefits that their employers are required to pay for. The bill would require injured workers to prove that they are authorized to work in the United States before they can receive benefits.
Given that this bill has received three hearings in the Ohio Senate, this must be a big problem for Ohio, right?
Nope.
Seitz said at an earlier hearing that the state does not collect data on the immigration status of injured workers receiving compensation, so there is no way to know whether even a single cent of state BWC funds has ever benefited an undocumented worker.
Tomorrow, I’ll share another couple of big problems with this bill.
Butland Appearance: Capitol Square from Nov. 25
Check out IO Communications Director Dale Butland talking Ohio public policy and politics from this weekend’s Capitol Square (WBNS 10TV):
Three reasons for states (Ohio) to accept health reform’s Medicaid expansion
As the Kasich Administration decides whether or not to participate in the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, an analyst at the Center for Budget & Policy Priorities provides three essential reasons why saying ‘yes’ would be good public and economic policy.
January Angeles of CBPP testified before a New Jersey state senate committee and recaps three points in a blog post today:
Just replace “New Jersey” with “Ohio.”
- State and local spending on health care services for the uninsured would fall because many uninsured residents would have Medicaid coverage, largely financed by the federal government.
- The expansion could strengthen New Jersey’s economic recovery. For every $1 that the state spent on the expansion, it would receive $9 from the federal government. That would equal between $9 billion and $11.1 billion in additional federal dollars coming to the state between 2014 and 2019, according to the Urban Institute.
- Research shows that people on Medicaid are more likely to get preventive care than people without insurance. Better health care, in turn, leads to better health. “State Medicaid expansions to cover low-income adults were significantly associated with reduced mortality as well as improved coverage, access to care, and self-reported health,” according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Claim that leaving top 2% out of Bush Tax Cut extension will hurt small business – Not True
A common talking point from the Right is that no extension of the Bush tax cuts for the top 2 percent of incomes in the U.S. will hurt small business. Our research is not finding evidence that this is true.
First, let’s hear what House Speaker John Boehner, (R-OH), has said recently about the Bush tax cuts and small businesses:
“Raising taxes on small-business people is the wrong prescription given where our economy is.” “Raising taxes on small businesses will kill jobs in America. It is as simple as that.”Actually, it’s not so simple. The Treasury Department released a report in 2011 that tried to better define what a small business is and who exactly are the small business owners in America. The report found that very few small business owners face the top two tax rates. Treasury found that only 2.5 percent of small business owners, and 7.9 percent of filers with any income from small businesses that employ people, face the top two tax rates. Only 0.5 percent of small business owners, and 3.3 percent of filers that receive any income from small businesses that employ people, make $1 million or more per year. Giving a tax break to high income Americans would be giving a very large benefit to people who overwhelmingly do not work at or run small businesses. [Read more…]
Recap: IO’s Weekend On The Air
IO Communications Director Dale Butland was busy this weekend – State of Ohio, The Spectrum and Capitol Square. Sit back and catch up with these three clips:
Incomes for Ohioans stagnant or lower over last decade
The infographic below comes from the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities. This past week they released a study called, Pulling Apart: A State by State Analysis. If you feel like something’s been up with the economy – it works way better for some than others – the graphic below is part of what you’re feeling. (Click on image for full size)
![Ohio-post](http://69.195.124.74/~innovby5/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Ohio-post.jpg)
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