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Mar 17 2017

Ohio Lawmakers Rushing Dangerous Constitutional Amendment Process

Two resolutions are moving quickly through the Ohio legislature that should make Ohioans and lawmakers very nervous. The measures (HJR2 and SJR1) call for the Congress to hold a convention to propose new amendments to the Constitution. Like similar measures adopted or pending in other states, the resolutions call for Convention attendees to adopt Amendments requiring a balanced federal budget, Congressional term limits and a reduction in federal authority without specifying what that might actually mean.

The Article V approach to amending the U.S Constitution has never been tried before. Article V is vague on questions including procedure, scope, organization, and delegate selection. Numerous commentators predict a “runaway” convention that could significantly alter the freedoms and protections contained in our Country’s most sacred document.

An analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities makes the case for how the process could quickly spiral out of control as delegates, bound to no one and writing their own rules, could propose amendments with only a simple majority. In short, the 26 least populous states representing just 18 percent of the U.S. population, could approve an amendment for ratification.

Even the late Justice Antonin Scalia opposed the idea:

Ohio proposals could be “disastrous”

Like the ancient Trojan Horse, this assault is hidden by the seemingly populist messages of ‘balanced budget’ and ‘term limits,’ but in reality, represents an attempt to significantly change our nation’s founding document, potentially bringing about disastrous ramifications.

-State Representative David Leland (D-Columbus)

It’s always tempting to dismiss these kind of radical proposals as inconsequential or unattainable, but given today’s political climate, this bill should be taken seriously. And, because it involves the Constitution of the United States, puts at risk the very freedoms we all take for granted.

Both resolutions are are on the fast track in the Statehouse, but there is still opportunity for public input. HJR 2 will be heard in the House Federalism and Interstate Relations Committee on Tuesday at 4pm in Statehouse Room 115. SJR1 will be heard — and is flagged for a possible committee vote — in the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday at 10am in the Senate North Hearing Room. Members of the public are encouraged to attend, and if you wish to testify, contact the chair of the committee at least 24 hours in advance to submit an electronic copy of testimony and a witness slip.

Now is the time to make your voice heard, before it is too late. Our country’s founding principles are at stake.

Written by Terra Goodnight · Categorized: Featured Items, Front Page, Legislative Updates, Statehouse Update

Mar 13 2017

Statehouse Preview: Week of March 13

To get breaking news about fast-moving developments in between our weekly updates, sign up for Legislative Alerts.

AT THE STATEHOUSE

HB2, legislation to reduce legal protections against workplace discrimination gets its fifth hearing on Tuesday, but as of now, no vote has been scheduled.

A bill (HB114) to roll back Ohio’s renewable energy standards gets its first hearing in the House Public Utilities committee on Tuesday.

Legislation to automatically “sunset” or close cabinet agencies that fail to receive legislative support (SB79) gets its first hearing in Senate Government Oversight & Reform Wednesday.

Two resolutions (HJR2 and SJR1) that call for a constitutional convention to enact a federal balanced budget amendment get hearings in committee this week. View full House and Senate committee schedules.

State Budget (HB49) deliberations continue in the House, with multiple subcommittees holding hearings:

TUESDAY
  • Public testimony in the Transportation and State Government & Agency Review subcommittees of House Finance.
  • Testimony from the Ohio Association of Community Colleges and interested parties in the Higher Education subcommittee.
  • Testimony on the severance tax in House Ways & Means.
  • Public testimony on Medicaid and Mental Health and Addiction Services in the Health & Human Services subcommittee.
WEDNESDAY
  • Public testimony in the Agriculture, Development & Natural Resources, Transportation, and State Government & Agency Review subcommittees of House Finance.
  • Testimony from the Ohio Association of Career Colleges and Schools and public testimony in the Higher Education subcommittee.
  • Public testimony on developmental disabilities, Job and Family Services, insurance and healthcare transparency in the Health & Human Services subcommittee.
THURSDAY
  • Public testimony in the Agriculture, Development & Natural Resources, Transportation, and State Government & Agency Review (if needed) subcommittees of House Finance.
  • Testimony from the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation and members of the public in the Higher Education subcommittee.
  • Public testimony on opioid addiction, public health, boards and aging in the Health & Human Services subcommittee.

Members of the public are welcome to testify in committees. Click on the name of the committee to view meeting agendas, which include the locations, start time, and instructions for submitting a copy of your testimony in advance.

TAKE ACTION

Support the Affordable Care Act

  • State lawmakers in Columbus have drafted competing resolutions urging the state’s Congressional delegation to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act (HCR6, sponsored by Reps. Goodman and Faber), or, alternatively, to preserve the ACA (HCR5, sponsored by Rep. Sykes).Contact your State Representative and ask them to support HCR5 and oppose HCR6.

Written by Terra Goodnight · Categorized: Featured Items, Front Page, Legislative Updates, Ohio State Budget, Statehouse Update

Mar 03 2017

Women’s Legislation Update: March 3, 2017


In partnership with the Women’s Public Policy Network, we are tracking the progress of any state bills affecting women in the Ohio Legislature for the 132nd General Assembly. Here’s a quick overview of some key updates from the last few weeks:

  • HB 1 – Legislation extending domestic violence protections to victims of dating violence, advanced out of the Ohio House yesterday, and is now headed to the Ohio Senate. The vote was 92-2, with Representatives Tom Brinkman and Nino Vitale casting the only “no” votes on the bill.
  • HB 56 – This bill would allow for the expungement of criminal records for victims of human trafficking. It is scheduled for its first hearing in the House Criminal Justice Committee next Tuesday at 1:30 PM in Statehouse Room 114.
  • HB 61 – Referred to the House Ways and Means Committee last week, the bill would eliminate sales tax on tampons and other feminine hygiene products (also known as the ‘pink tax’). No hearings have been scheduled yet.
  • SB 7 – Aiming to strengthen protection orders for victims of domestic violence, it received its second hearing this week. The House Local Government, Public Safety & Veteran Affairs Committee will hold a third hearing – with possible amendments and vote – next Tuesday at 10:30 AM in the South Hearing Room.
  • SB 28 – A medically unnecessary bill that would require aborted fetal remains be cremated or buried, received its first hearing in the Senate Government Oversight & Reform Committee two weeks ago.

We are also share timely legislative updates on these and other women-centric legislation on Twitter using the #OHLeg hashtag. Follow us to stay up-to-date on what’s happening at the Statehouse.

TAKE ACTION

Call your State Representative and urge them to support HB 97 – outlawing marital rape – and then ask Speaker Rosenberger to hold hearings on the bill

Written by Erin Ryan · Categorized: Featured Items, Legislative Updates, Statehouse Update, Women's Watch

Mar 01 2017

Ohio House Passes Dating Violence Protection

Yesterday, the Ohio House voted overwhelmingly to pass legislation to address a loophole in current Ohio law by allowing victims of dating violence to obtain civil protection orders against their attackers. Today, such orders are only available to victims who are spouses, living as spouses or share a child in common. This leaves thousands of Ohioans without protection because, as noted by Phyllis Riehm of ACTION Ohio in testimony, 48.6% of women killed by intimate partners were killed by dating partners.

The bipartisan legislation was sponsored by Emilia Sykes (D-Akron) and Nathan Manning (R-N. Ridgeville). In an emotional speech on the house floor, Sykes recalled the story of a young Akron woman who recently lost her life to a dating partner and appealed to her colleagues:

I hope that you will stand with me in supporting House Bill 1, to support victims of dating violence across the state and ensure that no one has to bury a child, no one has to bury their mother, no one has to bury a friend because the state has done absolutely everything that we could to protect victims of dating violence.

Despite having 65 sponsors or cosponsors, the legislation did meet with some opposition. Two members — Republicans Tom Brinkman and Nino Vitale — voted against the measure. The bill now goes to the Ohio Senate.

Written by Terra Goodnight · Categorized: Featured Items, Legislative Updates, Statehouse Update, Women's Watch

Feb 27 2017

Statehouse Preview: Week of February 27

Statehouse Preview is a new service from Innovation Ohio. To receive alerts about breaking news at the Ohio Statehouse, sign up for our Legislative News email list.

[UPDATE: Since initial publication, the House cancelled its Tuesday hearing on the Pastor Protection Act.]

AT THE STATEHOUSE

The Joint Education Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday at 2:30 pm in the Senate South Hearing Room on Ohio’s State Plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act. ESSA gave states latitude to reduce the amount of testing required, a move endorsed by thousands of parents and educators. The state draft plan, however, retains the maximum testing requirement. To testify on the draft plan, contact the committee at 614-466-9082, or submit your comments online.

The House Economic Development, Commerce & Labor Committee will tomorrow hold its third hearing on HB2, a bill rolling back protections against employment discrimination.

Amendments to HB36, the so-called Pastor Protection Act, are expected tomorrow before the House Community and Family Advancement Committee votes to advance the measure at its Tuesday hearing at 3pm (Statehouse Room 018).

HB1, a bipartisan measure that extends domestic violence protections to dating partners, advanced out of committee and will get a vote on the House floor tomorrow.

HB26, the state’s two-year transportation budget, goes to the full House for a vote this week, after which it moves to the Senate. Democratic amendments to increase funding for public transportation failed in committee last week. The bill gets its first hearing in the Senate tomorrow at 9am.

Subcommittee testimony continues on HB49, the state budget. Subcommittees will hear testimony from Departments including Development, Agriculture, Developmental Disabilities, Education, EPA, Health, Mental Health & Addiction as well as on sales tax provisions in the Governor’s proposal. View the House committee schedule for details.

TAKE ACTION

New Bills Need Support

    • State Representative Kathleen Clyde introduced the TRUMP (Tax Returns Uniformly Made Public) Act, HB93, which would require presidential candidates to release their tax returns in order to appear on the Ohio ballot.
    • Ohio lawmakers reintroduced a bill, HB97, to close the state’s marital rape loophole. Unfortunately, no Republicans have signed on as cosponsors.

Contact your Representative and encourage them to support HB93 and HB97, and ask Speaker Rosenberger to hold hearings.

Stop the Pastor Protection Act

    • HB36, which supporters claim will allow ministers to refuse to perform any marriage they disagree with,  something they are already able to do under existing law — will likely emerge out of committee tomorrow and could go to the full House for a vote as early as Wednesday saw its hearing this week canceled, but the measure could come back at any time. Learn more and take action.

Written by Terra Goodnight · Categorized: Featured Items, Front Page, Legislative Updates, Ohio State Budget, Statehouse Update

Feb 20 2017

Statehouse Preview: Week of Feb. 20

It’s a short week with the President’s Day holiday, but there’s still plenty going on.

OHIO

The House Economic Development, Commerce & Labor Committee will hold a second hearing for supporters of HB2, a bill rolling back protections against employment discrimination.

Despite hearing hours of impassioned testimony from members of clergy opposed to HB36, the so-called Pastor Protection Act, the House Community and Family Advancement Committee is likely to vote to advance the proposal at its Tuesday hearing at 9am. The measure could be up for a vote in the full House as early as Wednesday. Sign up to receive alerts on this and other important legislative developments as they happen.

HB1, a bipartisan measure that extends domestic violence protections to dating partners, has a committee vote scheduled in the House Civil Justice committee, which meets Wednesday at 4pm.

Budget hearings continue on the state’s transportation budget, which will get its first round of amendments this week and a final vote in the House Finance committee on Thursday 2/23.

IN CONGRESS

Our Congressional delegation is back in Ohio as Congress takes a week-long recess, and many members will be attending (or avoiding) town hall meetings in their districts. Find out if there is an event taking place near you. Bring a copy of our ACA fact sheet to talk about what’s at stake for women if the ACA is repealed.

TRUMP

The administration’s revised executive order on the immigration ban may drop at any time. It still includes the same countries, but exempts green card holders.

Deportation raids are increasing and it appears that the crackdown will continue to escalate. Homeland Sec. Kelly signed a memo authorizing the hiring of 10,000 more enforcement agents.

TAKE ACTION

The Ohio House is currently reviewing Governor Kasich’s two-year budget proposal and need to hear from their constituents. This week, One Ohio Now asks Ohioans to write a letter to the editor of their local paper to ask lawmakers to prioritize community needs in the budget process.

Written by Terra Goodnight · Categorized: Featured Items, Front Page, Legislative Updates, Ohio State Budget, Statehouse Update

Feb 13 2017

The Week Ahead at the Ohio Statehouse: Feb. 13, 2017

Happy Monday! It looks to be a busy week at the Ohio Statehouse, with continued hearings on the state budget (see our coverage of that here) while committees work to advance a range of important–and in some cases, dangerous—legislation.

Week Ahead

Here are a few things to watch this week and a call to action:

Budget hearings continue this week. The state transportation budget takes center stage, while committees get to work on hearings about state agency funding requests. We continue to encourage you to call your State Representative and let them know which critical needs the state should be funding instead of $3.1 billion in income tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy.


The House has put House Bill 36, the so-called “Pastor Protection Act” on the fast-track for passage. HB36 supporters claim the bill will “protect pastors and churches” from participating in any marriage to which they have a religious objection. While there is no evidence that any member of clergy has ever been forced to perform a wedding against their will–both the Ohio and US Constitution already grant this type of religious freedom–the sponsor says the bill is necessary to avoid the hypothetical possibility of lawsuits. Opponents have noted that the bill’s very broad language could have unintended consequences leading to further discrimination.


On Wednesday, the Community and Family Advancement Committee will hold what may be the only hearing featuring testimony from opponents. Anyone wishing to speak against HB36 must submit written testimony by 4pm Tuesday to the Chair’s office. The hearing will be held in Room 114 of the Statehouse, and is open to the public.

Call to Action

Call Speaker Rosenberger and your State Representative at 1-800-282-0253 and ask them to oppose HB 36, legislation which is unnecessary and could have harmful unintended consequences.

Attend the hearing on Wednesday at 4 in room 114 to send a strong message of opposition.

If you are a faith leader, testify in committee or send a statement by 4pm Tuesday to Rep05@ohiohouse.gov.

State Representative Bill Seitz has introduced House Bill 2, which would limit legal remedies for Ohioans experiencing employment discrimination. Among its provisions, HB2 prohibits lawsuits against individual managers and company officials who engage in sexual harassment, discrimination or retaliation. Taking individual employees off the hook could render Ohio’s anti-discrimination law completely unenforceable. The bill will be heard Tuesday at 1:30 in the House Civil Justice Committee.


On Wednesday, Sen Uecker will testify on Senate Bill 28, his proposal to mandate cremation or burial of aborted fetal remains. The bill is a response to a [bogus] video alleged to show Planned Parenthood engaging in the sale of fetal remains, something that investigations—including one by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine—found to be untrue. This unnecessary and costly requirement would be another in a long list of efforts to create undue burdens on women exercising their constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. SB28 gets its first hearing in the Senate Government Oversight & Reform committee on Wednesday at 9:45 a.m.


In more encouraging news, House Bill 1, a bipartisan proposal to address disparities in the handling of domestic violence cases involving unmarried intimate partners, will also be heard in committee this week. HB1 would allow victims of dating violence to seek court-issued protection orders and access to shelter facilities. The hearing takes place on Wednesday at 4pm in the House Civil Justice Committee.

Written by Terra Goodnight · Categorized: Featured Items, Front Page, Legislative Updates, Ohio State Budget, Statehouse Update, Taxation, Women's Watch

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