Innovation Ohio

What you need to know about Ohio Politics and Policy

Desiree Tims Celebrates House Passage of Build Back Better Plan, Urges Quick Senate Passage

Today, Desiree Tims, President and CEO of Innovation Ohio, released the following statement praising the passage of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda through the House, and urging its quick passage through the Senate:

“President Biden’s Build Back Better plan just took a big step forward on the path to becoming law — and Ohio families are ready.

“This bill will lower the cost of prescription drugs, establish universal Pre-K, provide tax breaks for clean energy, and expand the Child Tax Credit. It will even cut taxes for millions of families and small businesses. The benefits are seemingly endless.

“I’m thrilled that Ohio’s Democratic delegation voted in favor of the Build Back Better plan. It is clear that the vast majority of Ohioans support this agenda, which will provide relief to hardworking families.

“The president’s Build Back Better plan will provide the crucial care infrastructure Ohio parents and children need. Let’s get this bill across the finish line and through the Senate — and let’s make sure it includes paid leave.“

Innovation Ohio Welcomes President Joe Biden Back to Ohio

Today, Desiree Tims, President and CEO of Innovation Ohio, released the following statement welcoming President Joe Biden back to Ohio in advance of tonight’s CNN town hall in Cincinnati:

“Joe Biden has only been in office a few months, but he’s already done so much for Ohio. We’re thrilled to welcome him back again today.

“Cincinnati, where the president will be tonight, has already benefited from $280 million in local COVID relief funds.

“Millions of families throughout Ohio are also receiving monthly payments to help with child care costs. 

“President Biden and Democrats in Congress are sending real, tangible support directly to Ohio families.

“Cincinnati is also home to the crumbling, congested Brent Spence bridge — a perfect example of the need to pass Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan.

“Ohioans need safe, reliable roads and bridges in order to get to work. We need broadband internet to do our jobs and help our kids with homework. We need the president’s infrastructure plan to pass.

“And, as Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown reminds us, infrastructure is about much more than roads and bridges. Infrastructure also includes child care, paid leave, and programs that help us build strong communities. 

“We’re hopeful that Congress will stand with Sherrod Brown, Joe Biden, and the majority of Americans and pass these human infrastructure programs quickly.

“We’re grateful to President Biden and to Ohio’s Democratic elected officials who voted for the American Rescue Plan. And we urge Congress to take the next step to pass a strong infrastructure package that will literally lay the groundwork for Ohio’s future.”

The Work Continues — Statement from Desiree Tims

Today kicks off the start of Women’s History Month. This month is dedicated to commemorating and celebrating the role women have played in shaping American history.

From activists calling for bold action, to artists and athletes influencing culture, to elected officials advancing pro-women policy, women have long been at the forefront of movements for social change. But this recognition of the women who have paved the way in history must extend beyond the month of March.

At Innovation Ohio, we recognize the unprecedented moment we are in right now to advance real, systemic change for the lives of women. Here’s a look at some of the work Innovation Ohio and our program, the Women’s Public Policy Network, have been leading in the fight for gender equity:

The women throughout our country’s history have brought us to where we are today, but it will be on all of us to continue to move the needle forward for change. We hope you will join us in this fight!

Chip in to support our work

In Solidarity,

Desiree Tims
Innovation Ohio CEO

Who has access to COVID-19 emergency leave benefits?

A resource created by: Innovation Ohio, Policy Matters Ohio, PL+US: Paid Leave for the United States, and the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network

UPDATED: April 30, 2020*

No matter where we are from or what we look like, all of us work hard for our families and deserve a job where we are treated with dignity and respect. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed cracks in our country’s caregiving systems, underlining the reality many working people face everyday: the impossible choice between their paycheck and their health. One crucial way we can rebuild an economy where all working families have the opportunity to thrive is to ensure everyone has access to paid sick days and paid family leave, during this crisis and beyond.

As COVID-19 hit our communities, members of Congress came together to take action and passed federal emergency paid sick and paid leave benefits. Unfortunately, policymakers left behind millions of working people in the final legislation, and there is still work to be done to ensure everyone has access to the emergency leave they need. As we work with partners to advocate for legislation that ensures everyone has the support they need to work safely and provide for their families, you deserve to know what benefits are available to you right now.

Innovation Ohio, Policy Matters Ohio, PL+US: Paid Leave for the US, and The Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network partnered on the following Benefits Chart resource to help working people and families navigate the new emergency paid sick days and paid leave programs Congress enacted to respond to COVID-19.

Paid Sick Days and Paid Leave Changes in The Families First Act (Coronavirus Relief Package #2)

This chart does not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the state or federal government, agencies, or other companies/organizations. We have provided additional information and resources to further explain the benefits, and it is the reader’s responsibility to verify the facts of coverage and seek benefits. 

BY WORKER SITUATION

Worker is diagnosed with COVID-19 and is unable to work (or telework)

Emergency Paid Sick Days – YES

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – NO

Worker is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis and is unable to work (or telework)

Emergency Paid Sick Days – YES

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – NO

Worker was exposed to COVID-19, is required to quarantine/isolate, and is unable to work (or telework), even while workplace remains open

Emergency Paid Sick Days – YES

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – NO

Worker is caring for family or household member who is diagnosed with COVID-19, exposed to COVID-19, or ordered to quarantine/isolate due to COVID-19 concerns and is unable to work (or telework)

Emergency Paid Sick Days – YES

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – NO

Worker is caring for family or household member who is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis and worker is unable to work (or telework)

Emergency Paid Sick Days – NO

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – NO

Worker is unable to work (or telework) due to a need to provide care to child(ren) whose school or normal care provider is closed or unavailable because of COVID-19

Emergency Paid Sick Days – YES

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – YES

Worker is unable to work (or telework) due to a need to provide care to elders or family members with disabilities if their normal care provider is closed or unavailable because of COVID-19

Emergency Paid Sick Days – MAYBE

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – MAYBE

Worker is vulnerable to COVID-19 and advised or requested to quarantine/isolate by health care provider and is unable to work (or telework) 

Emergency Paid Sick Days – YES

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – NO

Worker, afraid of exposure to COVID-19, refuses to go to work and chooses to socially isolate or self-quarantine, without telework option 

Emergency Paid Sick Days – NO

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – NO

Worker quits their job as a direct result of COVID-19 

Emergency Paid Sick Days – NO

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – NO

Employer is ordered to close as a result of a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order due to concerns about COVID-19

Emergency Paid Sick Days – NO

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – NO

Employer shuts down due to slowdown in business or lack of demand due to COVID-19 

Emergency Paid Sick Days – NO

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – NO

Employer stays open, but worker’s hours (and pay) reduced due to COVID-19 

Emergency Paid Sick Days – NO

Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave – NO

Paid Sick Days and Paid Leave Changes in The Families First Act (Coronavirus Relief Package #2)

BY TYPE OF WORKER/CLASSIFICATION

Emergency Paid Sick Days Paid Expanded Family and Medical Leave
Healthcare worker or emergency responder  MAYBEMAYBE
Domestic worker YESYES
Contract worker (1099 worker), gig economy worker, or freelance worker YESYES
Self-employed workerYESYES
Worker who is employed at a small business under 50 employees  MAYBEMAYBE
Worker who is employed at private sector employer with more than 500 employeesNONO
Part-time, hourly, or tipped worker  YESYES
Low wage worker excluded from state unemployment insurance eligibility based on wage or hour requirements earnings YESYES
Immigrant workerYESYES
Public sector workerMAYBEMAYBE

Some sections of the chart need further clarification.

Download the full report for more information and to learn how to access benefits.

DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT

Paid family and medical leave would help families, boost economy

Originally published in the Ohio Capitol Journal on January 28, 2020

Family is the backbone of our country. It’s important for people to be able to care for their family when it matters most — at birth, when a personal medical crisis strikes, or when a family member is facing a long term illness and requires care. Paid family and medical leave is an investment in families and offers critical support to those who need it the most. 

Today, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, arguably the most powerful committee in the House, will hold a hearing on paid family and medical leave. This is the second full committee hearing this Congress on the topic. And it’s a big deal.

Share your story about how paid leave would change your life at http://womenspublicpolicynetwork.org/paidleave/

Committee hearings may not sound super interesting, but they are a critical part of our legislative process. It’s a chance for Congress to collect information to draft legislation and keep the legislative process moving. The House Ways and Means Committee is the committee of jurisdiction over paid family and medical leave. This means that in order for paid leave to become a reality for families across the U.S., this committee has to do their job and hold hearings on the topic, mark up the bill with edits to improve it, and then ultimately send it to the full House floor for a vote.

Paid family and medical leave is an investment in families and offers critical support to those who need it the most. 

After a full House Ways and Means Committee hearing last year, this hearing today, and new Republican bills introduced in both the House and the Senate; the time is ripe for paid family and medical leave, and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle know it. Opportunity is knocking and it’s critically important the Ways and Means Committee mark-up paid family and medical leave legislation this spring and hold a full House floor vote before breaking for summer recess and the busy election season.

Ohio U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Southern Ohio is the sole Ohioan on the Ways and Means Committee. Families across Ohio need his leadership on this issue. Paid family and medical leave is not only an investment in our families, but it’s an investment in our economy. Paid family and medical leave is life-changing for families and game-changing for businesses and our economy. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that a national paid leave policy would add 5.5 million more women to the workforce, adding $500 billion to our economy. 

Our current system isn’t working

Our current system isn’t working. The Family Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, was signed into law nearly three decades ago and provides only some people access to job-protected, unpaid leave. However, there are many exclusions under FMLA including the size of employer, resulting in 62 percent of working people in Ohio who don’t even qualify for unpaid leave. Our families and our workforce today are different than they were thirty years ago. Families can’t afford to choose between having time to care and their paycheck. We need a modern approach that’s fit for a 21st-century workforce.

This hearing today is an important step in achieving paid family and medical leave. Working families are the engine that powers our economy, and we need policies in place that support those families. Paid family and medical leave would allow families to be there when it matters most, whether it’s welcoming a new baby or caring for an aging parent or spouse with cancer, without having to choose between the income they need and the family they love.

Ohio has a caregiving crisis — let’s talk about it

A black and white photo of an older woman reaches out to touch a baby
Photo by Paolo Bendandi on Unsplash

Originally published in the Ohio Capitol Journal on December 13, 2019

What do you think of when you hear paid family leave? Much of this week’s news coverage has highlighted policies that help new parents take leave to welcome a new baby. It makes sense. The U.S. remains the only industrialized country not to guarantee new parents paid leave, and, in fact, one in four new moms return to work less than two weeks after giving birth. But the lack of paid parental leave is only one part of the vast caregiving crisis for millions of families in our country.

We all need paid family and medical leave

Nearly every Ohioan will need paid family and medical leave at one point in their life — or more. The need could come following the birth or adoption of a new child, caring for an aging parent who recently had a stroke or has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, or for their own medical crisis like battling cancer. Ohioans face these difficult crises every single day and advocates, like myself, hear from people who are having to choose between receiving the income they need and caring for the family they love. It doesn’t have to be this way.

When it comes to paid family leave, caregiving and personal medical leave are often left out of the conversation. This problem isn’t small. In Ohio, nearly one in four workers are over the age of 55, and in less than 15 years, the share of our state’s population age 65 and older will grow by nearly 40 percent according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Older working people are more likely to experience serious medical conditions that often require unpaid care from their family members. 

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the law that allows many people in the U.S. to take unpaid leave, is used by tens of millions of people each year. Nearly 75 percent of FMLA leave is actually taken to care for a loved one or for peoples’ own injuries and illnesses. 

Why we need paid family and medical leave

Nobody can predict when their mom will have a stroke, if their child will get cancer or if they will suffer a heart attack that requires longer recovery time. But these things happen. And right now, many families are left hanging out on a limb with medical bills piling up, making the impossible choice between having to go to work or caring for the family they love when a crisis hits. Any paid leave policy must include caregiving and personal medical leave. The need is too great.

The appetite for paid family and medical leave is growing on Capitol Hill. Just this week, Washington reached a new bipartisan agreement. The agreement, which is likely to pass, adds a provision that gives federal employees who are new parents 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn or adopted child. The FAMILY Act, the Democratic flagship paid leave bill in Congress that includes all three types of leave — parental, caregiving, and personal medical — seems to be attracting new cosponsors every week from both sides of the aisle. And Republicans are jumping on the bandwagon, introducing varieties of parental leave-only bills. 

We’ve turned a corner in the paid family and medical leave fight. No longer does it seem a question of if we need a national policy, but a question of when and how. Ohio, the undeniable battleground state and heart of the nation, will play a critical role in defining how this plays out in Congress. Both of our U.S. Senators (Sen. Portman, a Republican, and Sen. Brown, a Democrat) are members of the Senate Finance Committee, which will help shape the policy that goes to the full Congress for a vote. Sens. Portman and Brown need to hear loud and clear that caregiving and personal medical leave must be a part of any paid leave bill because millions of Ohioans need this. 

The policy

My organization, PL+US: Paid Leave for the U.S., recently conducted a report that laid out what a national paid family and medical leave policy would look like if it was designed by doctors and experts based on what families actually need and science tells us. The science is clear, we need policies that give families the flexibility to take up to six months of paid leave for a new child or to care for themselves or a family member.

We also need to make sure these policies support people who really need them, particularly low wage working people who need to make sure that their jobs will be protected and they will get their whole paycheck while they’re caring for family. Funding this policy through a social insurance model, where everyone pays a little so everyone can get the support when they need it is a proven and successful model to follow. Lastly, everyone means everyone, and that must include paid leave for caregiving and personal medical leave.

Everybody deserves to be with their family when it matters without fear of losing their job or their paycheck — whether it’s for a life-changing moment like welcoming a child, to care for a loved one who is critically ill, or to handle their own medical crisis. These are life’s big moments — and they happen to all of us. It’s past time for the U.S. to catch up with the rest of the world and modernize our paid family and medical leave policy to reflect the needs of families throughout Ohio and across the U.S. 

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.

Something Every New Parent Deserves

By Jennifer Malicoat

A photo of a pregnant Jennifer, her husband Derek, and her son standing alongside a lake.
Photo provided by Jennifer Malicoat

After struggling with infertility for a few years, my husband and I were elated to find out we were pregnant in June of 2016. Our excitement was dimmed a bit as we discussed our time off after the baby arrived and the reality of our maternity and paternity leave options sunk in.

My husband, Derek, and I were both employed by nonprofit organizations, worked hard to put away the savings that we had, and stocked up as much sick and vacation time as possible in hopes that a child would be in our near future. Despite the planning, I was crushed when I learned that I would be unable to take the 12 weeks off after our son arrived that I so desperately wished for and had been planning on taking.

I’ll never forget the day, about halfway through my pregnancy, when my boss entered our office, beaming with news to share with me. She couldn’t wait to tell me about a new agency policy that would go into effect just one month before my son was due: 6 weeks paid maternity and paternity leave. There were tears from both of us as I realized that these 6 weeks, combined with my saved sick and vacation time, would allow for a more adequate time period to heal and bond with my baby!

Being in the early childhood field, I know the importance of those early relationships and the effect those bonds and experiences with caregivers have on brain development. I was thrilled that I would be given the opportunity and time to build that strong foundation right from the beginning, but unfortunately, my experience is not the norm for most new parents.

I returned to my job in a good place mentally and physically, and that allowed me to feel confident as a mother, wife, and employee. And that is something every parent deserves.

Jennifer Malicoat, mother and advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio

At the time, I felt lucky that my husband was able to take two weeks of paid vacation after the birth. With fathers, it is so much more difficult for them to get the time off they deserve, a shortfall of paid parental leave policies that fail to provide adequate and equal time to new dads. When my labor ended in an unplanned C-section, we needed every bit of that time for him to help me recover from surgery as well as care for and bond with our new son, Cooper.

But our experience, combined with currently being pregnant with our second child, has me advocating for better paternal leave for new mothers AND new fathers, like Derek.

A selfie of Jennifer, her husband, and her son.
Photo provided by Jennifer Malicoat

It is still hard for me to believe that next month, I will be having another C-section to welcome our second child into our family, and I only have two weeks of my husband’s help to recuperate before I am on my own for the majority of the day caring for a toddler and newborn. My husband will be back to work before I’m even cleared to drive a car, and we all deserve more than that.

I feel extremely blessed to be in a workplace that supports families with paid leave. The time I was able to spend with Cooper, tending to his needs, watching him grow, and allowing my own body to heal, was incredible.

I returned to my job in a good place mentally and physically, and that allowed me to feel confident as a mother, wife, and employee. And that is something every parent deserves.

This blog post originally appeared on the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network’s website

All Parents Deserve Access to Paid Family Leave

Photo provided by David Milender

By David Milender

MASON, OHIO – While I was glad to get five days of paid leave for the birth of my son, it was still a frustratingly short amount of time. When my wife, Kaitlin, gave birth to our son, George, one Monday in January 2016, I confirmed with my boss that I would be starting my paid parental leave period that day. The company I worked at the time for allowed five paid days off for new parents.

Welcoming George into the world was a whirlwind experience, and too soon, our family of three were back home from the hospital. The next few days were a blur as we adjusted to life with an infant. My wife had six weeks of reduced pay leave from work through short term disability, but we felt neither of us was allowed nearly enough paid time off with our son.

Back in the office the following Monday, I obsessively checked my phone to make sure George and Kaitlin were doing well. Sitting through monotonous conference calls and in traffic commuting to work felt like a dreadful waste compared to the time I could have been spending with my wife and son. Five days off for the biggest event of our lives was woefully inadequate. 

Photo provided by David Milender

Kaitlin’s leave likewise flew by. Finding a good daycare for our weeks-old son was a harrowing experience, as we had to balance what we could afford with what was safe. While he is a healthy child and the daycare staff had the best intentions, I will never forget the guilt and regret I felt from having to leave my fragile weeks-old son in the care of strangers. 

That spring, my employer updated its employee handbook. I studiously read the new document, and a section on family leave stood out. That afternoon I informed my supervisor that I would like to apply for additional time off under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) as a new parent.

The application process was a learning experience for everyone. My supervisors initially stated that as I was not a new mother, I may not qualify for FMLA leave. After some back and forth over email and consulting the new HR manual and federal regs, they allowed me to apply through our corporate office and humbly apologized, explaining that in all their time overseeing 100+ employees, they had never had a father try to take leave under the FMLA. I was the first one in the office to do so.

My FMLA request was approved, and we disenrolled George from daycare. On my last day in the office before taking leave, another co-worker approached me, explaining that his fiancé was due to give birth soon. Then he asked, “So how do you get them to give you more time off? I thought dads only get a week.” 

The FMLA leave was unpaid, and we had to practice the art of frugality. Fortunately, Kaitlin had a full-time job, and I was able to keep George and I enrolled on my company’s insurance through my leave. Cutting out daycare expenses saved us a small fortune, but I still spent plenty of time cutting coupons and comparing ads while George got in his naps.

Still, we nonetheless depleted my savings.

Regardless of the cost, the twelve weeks I spent with George were amazing. I will never regret taking that time to watch him grow and explore the world around him. Nothing could replace being there when he rolled over for the first time or taking him for walks around the neighborhood in those first warm days of late spring. 

This blog post originally appeared on the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network’s website

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