New Bill Would Make Paid Leave Reality for Working Ohioans
Guest Post by State Representative Kristin Boggs
February 5 was the 25th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a good first step in providing some workers the ability to take twelve weeks off to care for a new child, ill family member, or tend to personal health issue. Unfortunately, FMLA doesn’t cover all workers, and even those covered cannot always afford to take unpaid leave. No one should have to choose between taking care of a loved one and their financial security. It is time Ohio adopted a Paid Family Leave Insurance Program, which would guarantee workers some pay when they need time to care for a new child, ill family member, or tend to a personal health issue. This bill will allow all Ohio workers to pay into the Paid Family Leave Fund, and they will be eligible for benefits after working 680 hours over a year. Workers that do not wish to participate can simply opt out. Premiums for workers are expected to be $1-$2 per week. Having access to paid leave supports our families, our business community, and our local economy. Preserving financial stability increases positive health outcomes for children, and reduces the need for other types of public assistance. It increases workforce participation by preventing turnover, and encourages worker engagement. By adopting a state wide paid family leave policy, we will be sending a message across the country that Ohio is a place where you can work and take care of your family. It gives our young workforce a reason to stay in Ohio to raise their families, and it gives our business community another tool to recruit talent away from other states. Our businesses, our local economy, and millions of Ohio families’ financial security depends on it. Thanks Kristin!How you can help make paid leave a reality in Ohio:
- Use our simple email tool to contact your State Representatives and urge them to co-sponsor Representative Boggs and Boyd’s Ohio Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program legislation.
- And visit our Paid Leave website for more information about the issue and how to become a paid leave advocate.
Statehouse Preview: Week of Feb. 19
Bill to Reform Ohio’s Child Marriage Laws Gets First Hearing; Legislation to Deter Cities’ Use of Traffic Cameras Set for Vote
Legislation Would Raise the Age of Marriage in Ohio to 18 in Most Cases
SB 198 – a bill amending Ohio’s child marriage laws – is set for a first hearing this week in Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, February 20th @ 10:15 AM in the North Hearing Rm. This bill would raise the legal age for marriage without going through a rigid approval process to 18. Currently, the legal marriage age in Ohio without parental consent is age 16 for females and age 18 for males. SB 198 eliminates this discrepancy and requires juveniles aged 16 to 17 to seek both judicial and adult permission to marry. This bill would also eliminate unconstitutional statutory language banning same-sex marriages from the Ohio Revised Code.Using Traffic Cameras Would Cause Cities to Forfeit State Funding Under Seitz bill
HB 410 is set for a vote out of the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee tomorrow @ 1:00 PM in Rm 114. This bill continues the legislature’s attempts to prohibit municipalities from utilizing traffic cameras as a tool to enforce traffic laws. Past attempts have been struck down in court as a violation of Ohio’s constitutional Home Rule provision. Specifically, among other things, HB 410 would inversely reduce a municipalities’ Local Government Fund share from the state by the amount of fines it collects by the use of traffic cameras.Both Houses Set for Session This Week
Senate Session – Tuesday, February 20th @ 1:30 PM House Session – Wednesday, February 21st @ 1:30 PMAs ECOT Case Goes to the Supreme Court, Here’s a Primer.
The bipartisan Congressional redistricting proposal, explained
- Both major parties must be meaningfully engaged in the process.
- Communities should not be needlessly split.
- Rule to prohibit gerrymandering or drawing a congressional map to favor or disfavor one political party.
Here’s how it works:
Stage One: Passage of a map requires a three-fifths vote of both the House and Senate and must include at least 50 percent support of minority party members for adoption of a 10 year map. If agreement isn’t reached, then the bi-partisan Ohio Redistricting Commission is the entity that begins the second phase of the process.
Stage Two: The Ohio Redistricting Commission, an established seven-person bi-partisan commission made up of the Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of State and two representatives from each chamber of the General Assembly, will be empowered to draw districts and must approve a map with at least two minority party votes. If an agreement isn’t reached for adoption of a 10 year map, then the process moves to Stage 3.
Stage Three: The General Assembly could then adopt a 10-year map with a three-fifths vote of both the House and Senate, including one-third of the minority party’s support. This map would be subject to a Gubernatorial veto and a citizen referendum.
Any map drawn with bipartisan support as noted above would require some limitations on county splits. It would prohibit 65 counties from being split, 18 counties from being split no more than once, and five counties being split no more than twice.
The legislation also requires two public hearings on a proposed map, and allows for public submission of maps for consideration by the map drawing authority. This is significant because it strengthens legal and public relations pressure to further deter partisan tendencies of the map-makers.
Stage Four: If a bipartisan map is not achieved and there is an impasse, a simple legislative majority would draw a temporary map for just four years, and strict map-drawing criteria would apply. These criteria would prevent against unduly splitting counties and drawing maps that favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent. As a further check on this process, this four-year map would be subject to a gubernatorial veto and a citizen referendum. The process starts again as this four-year map expires.
While redistricting reform has been at issue in Ohio for decades, the bi-partisan legislative deal was the recent result of months long negotiation and the past two weeks of non-stop dialogue between legislators and reform advocates. Leveraging the pressure of the Fair Districts = Fair Elections coalition’s efforts to gather over 200,000 signatures, the lead negotiators, made-up of representatives from Common Cause Ohio, the Ohio Environmental Council, Innovation Ohio, League of Women Voters of Ohio, and the NAACP Ohio Chapter worked together closely to reach a deal. Having built a strong table, this close coalition of advocates will stay together to help the Ohio voters understand what is at stake at the ballot box in May to install congressional redistricting reform in Ohio. Coalition partners answered questions from redistricting activists in a live webinar yesterday, a recording of which you can watch online.Bipartisan Congressional redistricting plan expected today
ECOT Closes. Here is the list of the school’s greatest political patrons
Candidate Name | Lager Total | |
CHERYL L | GROSSMAN | $ 46,310 |
WILLIAM G | BATCHELDER III | $ 45,000 |
MATT | HUFFMAN | $ 45,000 |
BARBARA R | SEARS | $ 40,000 |
STEPHANIE L | KUNZE | $ 33,044 |
JIM | BUCHY | $ 31,544 |
RON | AMSTUTZ | $ 30,000 |
JOHN W | ADAMS | $ 30,000 |
CLIFF | HITE | $ 29,156 |
JON A | HUSTED | $ 27,500 |
KYLE | KOEHLER | $ 27,188 |
CLIFFORD (CLIFF) | ROSENBERGER | $ 24,688 |
BILL | COLEY | $ 22,500 |
LARRY | OBHOF | $ 22,000 |
TED | CELESTE | $ 20,670 |
MATTHEW J | DOLAN | $ 20,000 |
KEITH LLOYD | FABER | $ 19,981 |
DOROTHY K | PELANDA | $ 17,532 |
JOSH | MANDEL | $ 17,500 |
PETER J | STAUTBERG | $ 16,000 |
TOM | NIEHAUS | $ 15,500 |
CHRISTOPHER R | WIDENER | $ 15,500 |
ANDREW O | BRENNER | $ 15,032 |
DAVE | BURKE | $ 15,032 |
GARY W | CATES | $ 15,000 |
TODD A | SNITCHLER | $ 15,000 |
MIKE | DUFFEY | $ 15,000 |
KEVIN | DEWINE | $ 15,000 |
ARMOND | BUDISH | $ 15,000 |
SHANNON | JONES | $ 14,000 |
MIKE | DEWINE | $ 12,532 |
J KIRK | SCHURING | $ 12,532 |
JIM | HUGHES | $ 12,500 |
MARY | TAYLOR | $ 12,500 |
JAY P | GOYAL | $ 12,500 |
TIM | GINTER | $ 12,156 |
JEFFERY S | REZABEK | $ 12,156 |
RYAN | SMITH | $ 12,156 |
BILL | REINEKE | $ 12,156 |
MICHAEL D (MIKE) | DOVILLA | $ 12,156 |
SCOTT | OELSLAGER | $ 11,500 |
DAVID A | YOST | $ 11,395 |
THOMAS F | PATTON | $ 11,032 |
JIM | CARMICHAEL | $ 11,000 |
MATT | CARLE | $ 11,000 |
ANTHONY | DEVITIS | $ 10,500 |
TROY | BALDERSON | $ 10,000 |
THOMAS | COUSINEAU | $ 10,000 |
DEBORAH OWENS | FINK | $ 10,000 |
MARK | WAGONER | $ 10,000 |
JEFFREY A | MCCLAIN | $ 10,000 |
WILLIAM J (BILL) | SEITZ | $ 10,000 |
LARRY L | FLOWERS | $ 10,000 |
JAY | HOTTINGER | $ 10,000 |
MICHAEL | KEENAN | $ 10,000 |
FRANK | LAROSE | $ 8,000 |
RANDALL | GARDNER | $ 7,750 |
BOB | PETERSON | $ 7,500 |
THOMAS | RAGA | $ 7,500 |
JIM & JOY PADGETT | PETRO | $ 7,500 |
CHARLES | CALVERT | $ 6,000 |
TIMOTHY S | DERICKSON | $ 6,000 |
MARK J | ROMANCHUK | $ 5,500 |
TODD M | MCKENNEY | $ 5,000 |
LYNN R | WACHTMANN | $ 5,000 |
GERALD L | STEBELTON | $ 5,000 |
TONY | BURKLEY | $ 5,000 |
JEFF | KRABILL | $ 5,000 |
TERRY A | JOHNSON | $ 5,000 |
DOUG | GREEN | $ 5,000 |
SARAH M | LATOURETTE | $ 5,000 |
BRIAN D | HILL | $ 5,000 |
LOUIS W | BLESSING JR | $ 5,000 |
TIM W | BROWN | $ 5,000 |
MATTHEW A | SZOLLOSI | $ 5,000 |
ROBERT TAFT & JENNETTE B BRADLEY | $ 5,000 | |
JAMES L | BUTLER JR | $ 5,000 |
Redistricting Update
- Senate Govt. Oversight & Reform: Tues. 2:30 p.m., Senate Finance Hearing Rm
- Senate Govt. Oversight & Reform: Weds. 9:45 a.m., Senate Finance Hearing Rm
- House Govt. Accountability & Oversight: Wed 1:45pm: Statehouse Room 313
- House Govt. Accountability & Oversight: Thurs, 9:30am: Statehouse Room 114
Statehouse Preview: Week of December 11
Reproductive healthcare bills to watch this week:
HB214 (LaTourette and Merrin) Down Syndrome Abortion Ban – this legislation would make it a fourth degree felony for a doctor to perform an abortion if a woman’s reasons for ending a pregnancy may include a Down syndrome diagnosis. The bill, which has already passed in the House, is up for a vote tomorrow in the Senate Health, Human Services and Medicaid committee and, if passed, could go to the full Senate as early as Wednesday. Virtually identical Senate legislation (SB164, LaRose) is likely to be scheduled for a House vote on Wednesday meaning that either bill could have the necessary approval by both chambers necessary to land on the Governor’s desk this week.- Senate Session (possible vote on HB214) will take place at 1:30 pm on Wednesday
- House Session (possible votes on SB164, HB258-see below) will take place at 1:30 pm on Wednesday
Other legislation set to move before lawmakers leave for winter break:
HB1 (Sykes, Manning) – Dating Protection Orders – this bill expand the definition of domestic violence to extend important legal protections to intimate partners who are not married and do not live together. The measure was a priority for the House and, if passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, could be on the Senate floor Wednesday in time to become law before year’s end. SB4 (Kunze, Oelslager) – Human Trafficking – this measure would create a process for victims of human trafficking who have been found not guilty or had their cases dismissed to have their criminal records expunged so they can avoid the negative consequences of a potential background check when seeking employment or housing. Both the House and Senate will hold hearings on “Stand Your Ground” legislation to relax Ohio’s gun laws. SB180 (Uecker, Hottinger) will receive a third hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, while HB228 (Johnson, LaTourette) will be up for a second hearing in the House Federalism and International Relations Committee on Wednesday. Stop the Bans. This week, we need to reach out to lawmakers to tell them to stay out of deeply personal and complicated decisions that should be left to a woman, her family and her doctor. Urge your State Representative to end the attacks on abortion access, including the six-week abortion ban (HB258) and the Down syndrome abortion ban (SB164). You can also contact your State Senator and ask them to oppose the Down Syndrome Abortion Ban (HB214). If you prefer, you can use this email form created by our partners at NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio to urge your legislators to oppose the two bills most likely to be sent to Governor Kasich’s before the end of 2017.- « Previous Page
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