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Terra Goodnight · July 31, 2018

Ohio 12 On The Issues: Balderson Voting Record

As a state legislator since 2009, Republican Troy Balderson has cast a number of significant votes. Here is a look at some of the most important positions he has taken throughout his 10 year legislative career: Clean Energy Guns Healthcare
  • Balderson voted for the Medicaid expansion freeze contained in Ohio’s two-year budget, blocking enrollment in Ohio’s highly-successful Medicaid expansion, which covers over 700,000 low-income Ohioans. The measure would effectively block re-enrollment as currently eligible individuals cycle off due to income and employment fluctuations and was estimated to result in a loss of coverage for 500,000 Ohioans. The measure was vetoed by Governor Kasich. [Ohio Senate. Journal. p. 1027. 6/28/17.][Cleveland Plain Dealer. [NBC4i. Kasich signs Ohio state budget, vetoes Medicaid freeze. 7/1/17.]
Labor
  • Balderson voted for Senate Bill 5, legislation that would have eliminated collective bargaining rights for public employees. The legislation would have exposed police, firefighters, teachers and nurses to unsafe working conditions by restricting the right of these employees’ to negotiate the type of equipment used and work assignments. The legislation also subjected public employees to an unfair, predetermined process for setting wages, made older workers vulnerable to layoffs without remedy and created punitive measures against public employees, including imprisonment and fines. The legislation was overturned by a citizen referendum in a major victory for organized labor. [Ohio House of Representatives. Journal. p. 405. 3/30/11.][CBS News. Ohio governor signs Senate Bill 5 into law. 3/31/11.][Cleveland Plain Dealer. Ohio voters overwhelmingly reject Issue 2, dealing a blow to Gov. John Kasich. 11/8/11.]
Local Communities
  • Balderson voted for a two-year state budget (House Bill 59) that cut funding for local first responders and other county and municipal services by $720 million compared to the prior two-year period. [Ohio Senate. Journal. 6/27/13. p. 1062.][Policy Matters Ohio. Ohio’s 2014-15 Budget. 10/3/13.]
Tax Fairness
  • With his vote for HB59 (above), Balderson supported the creation of a measure to exempt business income from the state income tax for owners of pass-through entities, a half-billion dollar annual giveaway with no evidence it would create jobs [Policy Matters Ohio. Ohio’s 2014-15 Budget. 10/3/13.] Since its creation, the tax break has been expanded and is now estimated to cost taxpayers $1.1 billion annually, with no evidence of job creation.
Voting Rights
  • Balderson voted for gerrymandered congressional maps (House Bill 319) that created 16 districts, 12 of which are drawn to favor Republicans in a state where the 2010 gubernatorial election was decided by a 2-point margin. These rigged maps produced the current 7-county 12th Congressional district Balderson is now seeking to represent. Prior to their inclusion in HB 319, the redrawn Congressional maps were drafted in a hotel room by legislative staffers in close coordination with Congressional Republicans. In one instance, lines were re-drawn to ensure a large corporate donor remained within the district of an incumbent Republican. [Ohio Senate. Journal. p1616. 9/21/11.][Cincinnati Enquirer. Ohio Dems sue over GOP congressional maps. 9/29/11.][Canton Repository. Boehner’s team had role in creating Timken ‘peninsula. 12/12/11.]
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