Major newspaper's editorial calls for the State Auditor's oversight needed with Jobs Ohio.

In a Cleveland Plain Dealer Editorial Published yesterday entitled, What JobsOhio does with public money ought to be open to the scrutiny of the public's auditor; the newspaper's editorial staff discussed the need for public accountability and oversight by State Auditor Dave Yost.

"JobsOhio is the centerpiece of Kasich's quest to kick-start the economy with a jobs agency more nimble than Development, which was set up in 1959. But JobsOhio should be open to more public scrutiny, not less.

Public money underwrote JobsOhio's creation. Profits from the state's publicly owned liquor monopoly go toward paying off its bonds. It serves a public purpose. Kasich named its board -- a public act." Cleveland Plain Dealer Editorial Board.

Read the entire Cleveland Plain Dealer Editorial: http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/05/what_jobsohio_does_with_public.html#incart_river_default

Join Ohioans around the state gathering and calling their Legislators to show their support of Medicaid Expansion.  Ohio can't afford to miss out on the historic opportunity to extend health care coverage to 275,000 Ohioans.

It is time to take leadership NOW and support extending Medicaid coverage by June 30^th! Our communities can't afford to wait!

May 20^th is a Statewide Day of Action at various events around the state.   Click here to see if there is a gathering event in your area.   

Even if you can't attend an event in your area you can still show your support on May 20^th for Medicaid Expansion in Ohio.  Call state legislators and urge them to expand health care by June 30. Click here on UHCAN Ohio's website for a sample message and contact information for your legislators. 

Newspapers across the state have been calling for Medicaid Expansion in Ohio.  Read the latest Editorial published in the Cincinnati Enquirer supporting the need for putting politics aside and focus on expanding the Medicaid program in Ohio.

Cincinnati Enquirer

Kentucky expands Medicaid, why not Ohio? http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130515/EDIT01/305150121/Kentucky-expands-Medicaid-why-not-Ohio-?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

USAction, representing a 21-state federation of community organizing groups, today announced the appointment of their new Executive Director.  ProgressOhio is one of the 21 USAction affiliates. 

Fred Azcarate, joined USAction today as their new Executive Director, bringing with him his experience as a long time labor leader.  Most recently Mr. Azcarate, had been heading up the AFL-CIO's America Wants to Work jobs campaign as well as his experience as founding director of Jobs with Justice, a national network of groups that advocates for low-wage workers.

"I am so excited to build on the phenomenal work that USAction affiliates and national partners are doing every day, whether it's to increase access to health care, reshape the Pentagon budget so we can invest in America's real priorities, or create smart immigration reform policies," said Fred Azcarate.  "We're at a critical moment, and I'm thrilled to help lead the fight for an economy of opportunity and justice, to rebuild the middle class and ensure that all have access to it. There's a saying I like- 'If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk together.' Together we will walk with our partners across the progressive movement to build an economy that works for everyone."

Read more of USAction's new Executive Director's statement on their website:

http://usaction.org/2013/05/meet-fred-azcarate-usactions-new-executive-director/

Reports are now out that ProgressNow affiliate Progress Texas received the same letter from the IRS seeking more information about their 501c4 tax status that had been sent to some conservatives groups in Ohio and across the nation. Other progressive groups also received the letters, which have been heavily criticized from the right and the left this week following the release of the Inspector General report on the matter.

It's important to note the report found that that no employees felt outside pressure in choosing the groups they asked for additional information. It appears this was a clumsy shortcut to identify political groups for additional scrutiny, that fell mainly on conservative group, which made for uneven and unethical outcomes.

President Barack Obama has condemned the situation and said that anyone found to have been acting in a non-neutral and partisan way would be held fully accountable.

We've seen huge increases in the amount of Ohioans needing food assistance over the last few years. Mid-Ohio Foobank alone supplied 45.7 million pounds last year.

With that in mind, here is a message we're passing along from the Ohio Association of Foodbanks:

Right now, the House Agriculture Committee is making important decisions about how to fund TEFAP (a program that provides commodities to foodbanks) and SNAP (a program that helps low-income people afford groceries) in the Farm Bill.

Cuts to SNAP are expected to be approximately $21 billion. We need to fight back against these devastating cuts today! 

• Ohio Representative Bob Gibbs serves on the House Agriculture Committee and his office needs to hear from you!
• 866-527-1087
• Listen to the pre-recorded message and enter your zip code when prompted.
• Tell the Capitol Switchboard that you want to speak to the office of Congressman Bob Gibbs. Once you are connected, let them know you are calling about the Farm Bill and deliver this important message: "I urge Congressman Gibbs to vote for Representative McGovern's amendment to restore the SNAP cuts in the House Agriculture Committee's Farm Bill and against the bill if those cuts are not restored. Please don't hurt struggling families who truly need help by taking food from their dinner tables."

Spread the word to colleagues, friends, and family in your congressional district and urge them to make a call to protect hungry families, too. Thank you!

Washington politicians are plotting to cut your Social Security and Medicare and they hope you don't find out.

Recently, something called 'Chained CPI' has been put forward as one option to help pay down the deficit. It' a cut to your current Social Security check.

The problem is Social Security didn't cause the deficit and shouldn't be used to balance the budget. You worked hard your whole life to earn those benefits. Washington politicians should not be dipping to your hard earned money to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.

That's why the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare is holding a 'Get the Facts' town hall on Thursday May 16th at the Bexley Public Library. It's at 1:00 P.M. at 2411 E Main Street [click for directions]. Local experts will be on hand to answer any questions you may have about proposed changes to these important programs.

Humboldt State University has launched a heat map showing which counties have the highest concentration of hate slurs on Twitter.

At first blush things look woefully bad for the midwest. Upon zooming in a level in Ohio, the picture changes quite dramatically. The two biggest hot spots in Ohio seem to be Hocking and Guernsey counties, which have about 30 and 40 thousand residents, respectively.  As of 2011, approximately one-third of Hocking County households didn't have home internet access. Pair that with the fact that only about 12% of online adults use Twitter, and the restrictions due to the sample size of the survey, and it's safe to say at the county level, a few bad apples are enough to spoil the bunch, so it shouldn't necessarily be viewed as an indictment of those particular communities.

Rather, the more interesting, and more statistically accurate, uses for the map are zoomed out a bit and looking at the patterns of the different hate speech.

Another map worth noting is this one produced by the New York Times comparing Barack Obama 2008 electoral results vs. John Kerry's 2004 performance:

Ohio Consumers for Health Coverage and concerned mothers held a press conference today then visited legislative offices to deliver bracelets to send a message to legislators about the importance of expanding Medicaid coverage in Ohio.

The bracelets sent a simple but powerful message: What Would Your Mother Do -Extend Medicaid Now! The message is meant to serve as an important reminder of the thousands of familiesthat will benefit from expanding the Medicaid program in Ohio.
More than 153,000 Ohio women between the ages of 19 and 44 could gain health insurance coverage if Ohio expands the Medicaid program under health reform according to a report released this month from Policy Matters Ohio. Among other benefits, expanding Medicaid to cover these women would help lower Ohio's infant mortality rate.

Following the press conference, consumers delivered "WWYMD?" bracelets and a photo collage of Ohioans with "WWYMD?" signs to senators and representatives. 

Two weeks ago, Senator Rob Portman, alongside virtually every Republican senator, voted against expanding mandatory background checks causing the legislation to die in the Senate. With a vast majority of the American public not only suporting background checks but demanding action from Congress, many GOP senators are finding themselves in hot water back in their home states. 

The Cleveland Leader has the story-

Many of the gun-safety advocates who were in a state of gloom following the Senate's rejection last month of a "background check" bill have found solace in a recent poll indicating that a handful of Senators who voted against the checks have seen their poll numbers dipping.

Among those who found their popularity slipping is Ohio Senator Rob Portman. In the survey conducted by Public Policy Polling (a Democrat-leaning group), Portman's popularity has dropped a net 18 points from plus 10 to minus 8 in the past six months. Interestingly enough, his numbers have dropped 16 points (62-46) among Republicans, which may indicate that this GOP drop is primarily in response to his March announcement supporting gay marriage.

Specifically, in terms of his background check vote, 36% of Ohioans say they are "less likely" to vote for Portman because of his position. A statistic like this can be a bit deceiving in terms of shifting an election, since a large number of the "less likely" may not have voted for him in the first place or have so many other issues that are of more importance to them that they won't flip against him on guns.

Though these striking numbers probably won't show up as dramatically at the ballot box in 2016 (when Portman is up for re-election) as they do now on paper, the public's reaction in Ohio and around the country to the gun-safety issue is tremendously encouraging. However, no one should be naïve enough to think that the NRA's power will be diminished by poll numbers. The winning of elections on the issue of gun-safety is the only thing that will begin to chip away at the gun lobby and its monstrous influence - and that is easier said than done.

Gun safety advocates should not be so foolish as to think that their sweet mantra about "90% of Americans support background checks" means anything at all at this point in the election cycle. Nor do a few supporters showing up at town hall meetings to question NRA-backed candidates constitute a tsunami of change in the gun debate. It's a step in the right direction, but there remains a tidal wave of opposition to any and all restrictions on guns - a primitive force that will never go away.

The reason for that is the marrow-deep role of guns in American culture since the country's inception and is coupled with the intense - and understandable - fear of government repression that has always been part of the American psyche. As a faux revolutionary in the early '70s, I felt paranoia running deep when it came to government surveillance, selective incarceration, beaten-in heads and four dead in Ohio. Clearly, African Americans have long rightfully felt as if the police (aka the government) were an occupying army in their communities ready to shoot first and cover-up later. And there's no need going into what the "feds" did to Native Americans. So the idea of arming oneself for defensive purposes is as right as rain - and must be fiercely safeguarded.

Of course, the problems arise with how far this "right-to-bear-arms" is taken by the zealots and the gun manufacturers who gin up apprehension over a reasonable proposal like background checks by transforming this modest measure into the horror of a Big Brother kind of Universal Registry designed to locate innocent gun owners for the sole purpose of unleashing jack-booted government thugs into their living rooms.

A little crazy? Of course, but another aspect of the American psyche is an obsession with conspiracy theories (people love stories, especially ones that simplify complexity), many of which are based on the well-grounded assumption that just because you're paranoid doesn't necessarily mean that someone's not out to get you.

It's this mindset - and hundreds of millions of dollars from the gun merchants - that gives the NRA the ammunition it needs to keep winning legislative battles. So while gun-safety advocates are twisting themselves into pretzels looking for evidence that the NRA is a "paper tiger" on its way to oblivion, they should enjoy - but not be fooled by - this apparent shift in momentum.

However, until these well-meaning folks actually defeat a few NRA-backed candidates, any progress on this issue will remain illusionary. Only 4% of Americans list guns as their absolute top priority and 3. 9% of those are NRA supporters. In 2016, when Portman is up for re-election, this well-oiled army will have already spent three years of sleepless nights readying to die before giving an inch.

But, it remains to be seen if those who oppose the gun lobby have the grueling, day-after-day endurance to go toe-to-toe with the death merchants and actually bring home a few scalps of "gun rights" elected officials. Or if these progressives will be content to simply exhibit bemused bewilderment as to why - despite the righteousness of their position and the statistics showing that the majority of Americans support "sensible" gun restrictions - they keep losing and the NRA keeps winning and winning and winning.

It's almost sickening to think about the amount of money the NRA has spent in the name of spreading paranoid delusions in order to stay relevant. It's even more sickening to think about the hundreds of people that have lost their lives to gun violence even since the Senate failed to take action and expand background checks just a few weeks ago. Wayne LaPierre's position is to lobby the US Congress to vote against the overhelming 83% of Americans that support stricter gun legislation through the only way he can- lies and scare tactics. 

The Plain Dealer has the story:

The leadership of the National Rifle Association devoted much of the NRA's annual convention in Houston last weekend toconvincing members that they are under attack from the Obama administration and other liberal elites who want to take away their guns and their constitutional rights.

Wayne LaPierre, the group's increasingly strident executive vice president, warned gun owners that they are "in the midst of a once-in-a-generation fight for everything we care about. . . . We have to secure our freedom for a generation or lose it forever."

Like so much of what LaPierre has said since last December's slaughter at Sandy Hook Elementary School, this jeremiad has little basis in reality. It is, rather, an effort to scare law-abiding gun owners, intimidate politicians and rake in more donations from the weapons makers that help underwrite today's NRA.

While there may be some gun-control advocates who secretly wish that firearms ownership could be limited to police and military authorities, the vast majority of Americans on that side of the issue understand that the Second Amendment acknowledges a right to keep and bear arms. Yet in its 2008 decision recognizing that as an individual as opposed to a collective right -- a ruling supported by both LaPierre and then-presidential candidate Barack Obama -- even the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority held that reasonable regulations on firearms are permissible.

The expanded background check proposal that died in the U.S. Senate last month-- despite having support from 55 senators and the overwhelming majority of Americans -- was co-authored by two members who, until then, had toed the NRA line. Does anyone seriously believe that Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania were deliberating setting the table for taking weapons from law-abiding Americans? Or that they were duped by those who would? That's ridiculous, and NRA leaders who traffic in scare tactics ought to be ashamed.

There was good news in a report from the Justice Department this week: Gun violence appears to have dropped in the past two decades. That ought to encourage renewed, honest dialogue about how to reduce it even more -- not more fear-mongering from the NRA.

On Wednesday, Governor John Kasich addressed a crowd to kick off the start of new educational programs in order to help end the stigmatism often associated with mental illness. ProgressOhio gathered with supporters on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse in support of Kasich's new initiatives for mental health. In remarks welcomed from the crowd, the governor also spoke about the need for Medicaid expansion in Ohio

.

State Representative Matt Lundy (D-Elyria) is asking Governor John Kasich to release the staff salaries for JobsOhio employees, and also to identify what criteria was used to set salary levels for the staff. The request comes just days after recent developments in the ongiong JobsOhio controversy in which an agency spokeswoman stated that JobsOhio was not "restrained by ethics laws". 

"The longer Gov. Kasich and JobsOhio refuse to disclose information about JobsOhio's questionable practices the more concerning it becomes.  This agency was created by an act of the legislature and is set to receive billions in state liquor profits over the next 25 years, and should be held to the same standards of transparency and accountability as any other state agency receiving billions in state monies," -Rep. Lundy.

Click here to read the Lundy/Kasich letter.

Ohio Republicans didn't learn much from the 2011 election when the vast majority of voters rejected the GOP plan to bust unions under SB5. Instead of listening to the millions of Ohioans that signed petitions and attended rallies all over the state, Ohio Republicans are now crafting new legislation to circumvent the will of the people in order to pursue their own agenda. As the Republicans begin moving new anti-union legilsation through the Ohio House, they've already made moves to hinder an effective response from those who oppose the so-called right-to-work bills. 

The first roadblock was Senate Bill 47, which contains language that would greatly restrict signature-gathering efforts to put unpopular legislation on the ballot for repeal.  This means anyone wishing to collect signatures to repeal one of these bills would have less time to do so.

The second is a move to restrict access, with the help of Kasich's Public Safety Director Tom Charles, to the Ohio Statehouse.

Governor Kasich was noticeably angry about the rallies against SB5 that filled the Statehouse with teachers and police officers and fire fighters, at one point trying to lock them out of the public building.   When that didn't work, he had a backup plan: install metal detectors at every entrance and require everyone to line up to get into the building.

While the Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board didn't pursue Kasich's plan, they did approve an alternative plan last month to have every visitor screened by officers with security wands.   Registered lobbyists will, of course, be able to get a special badge exempting them from the screenings.

During the SB5 battle, pro-labor groups filled the Statehouse during votes on the bills.  This time around, they'll be forced to line up around the block waiting to get searched before they can enter the building.

Despite attempts by the Dispatch and others to downplay the likelihood of the new right-to-work bills passing, Republicans in the Ohio House didn't seem to get the message.

Both bills - State Rep Roegner's private sector union bill (HB 151) and State RepMaag's public sector bill (HB152) are moving through the House today.    And both have been referred to committees on which which the sponsors sit.

Read the entire story over at Plunderbund.  

Join us, tomorrow, May 8, 2013 at 6:30 PM as we invite the public to participate in the Voice of the Voter Forum. This unique opportunity gives a platform for  voters to voice their concerns about voting.  Come hear from our guest panel on ways in which voting could be improved. Speakers will include Rep. Tracy Maxwell Heard (Ohio House District 26),Carrie Davis of the League of Women Voters in Ohio and Donita Judge of The Advancement Project and both the Director of the Franklin County Board of Elections Bill Anthony and the Deputy Director Dana Walch.

Voice of the Voter Forum
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
6:30-8:30 PM
Marion Franklin Recreation Center
2801 Lockbourne Rd.
Columubs, OH 43207

John Kasich's JobsOhio agency is yet again raising eyebrows, as the Dayton Daily News has revealed yet another layer to the ever growing JobsOhio controversy. 

The Youngstown Vindicator has the story:

First, Ohio Auditor David Yost presented a compelling -- and successful -- argument that JobsOhio, the so-called private economic development agency, must be audited like any other public agency because it received more than $5 million in taxpayer dollars.

Republican Gov. John Kasich, the mastermind of JobsOhio, at first fought Republican Yost's subpoena, but ultimately gave in by handing over the entity's books. Transparency won the day.

Now, the Dayton Daily News has peeled another layer of the JobsOhio covering to reveal that the "private" designation is an exaggeration.

The newspaper analyzed records pertaining to the organization and its predecessor, the Ohio Department of Development, to show that Gov. Kasich's characterization of ODOD as a "black hole" that failed to even return phone calls was a stretch.

The Daily News' reporter, Andrew J. Tobias of the paper's Columbus bureau, recalled a comment Kasich made when he was running for governor in 2010: "The days of trying to connect with business leaders through bureaucrats are over." Tobias' story noted that JobsOhio is staffed mostly by former development department employees and other ex-government workers.

And, nearly all those workers also received large raises to leave the public sector, the analysis shows.

But that's not the only reason the public has a right to know what JobsOhio is up to.

Auditor Yost's insistence on transparency is necessitated by the reality that $5.3 million in state grants were awarded to the agency and its subsidiary in fiscal 2012. In addition, state liquor profits are used to attract private financing.

This melding of public and private dollars raises all sorts of questions, foremost of which has do with accountability.

JobsOhio says it will refund the $1 million in startup money it got from the state in 2011 and any grant money it received since July 2011 to do economic development work for Ohio.

But reacting to the Dayton Daily News' revelation about the staffing of JobsOhio, Brian Rothenberg, executive director of ProgressOhio, a liberal advocacy group that is suing the governor over JobsOhio, said:

"This confirms what people thought all along ... [JobsOhio] was a ploy to take the Department of Development and privatize it to shield it from public scrutiny. The whole ruse is that the governor was complaining about the people he ended up hiring."

Exemption

In creating the organization, the Republican controlled General Assembly exempted it from public record laws and required it to disclose only what is required under legislation that created it.

In other words, secrecy is built in.

And that's troubling, given that JobsOhio will get its funding of at least $100 million a year from the sale of bonds backed by profits from the state's monopoly on liquor sales, the Daily News reported.

The annual revenue will be used to award grants and loans for economic development projects and fund a state program that pays for the cleanup and redevelopment of commercial and industrial sites.

To his credit, Auditor Yost points out that his office will continue to have authority to audit JobsOhio's books because the liquor proceeds are a public resource.

Given this insistence on transparency, there is an attempt to legislatively limit the state auditor's authority.

Such a blatant act to keep the residents of the state of Ohio in the dark is unacceptable and wrong.

As local governments around Ohio hike fees and taxes, many public services and programs are questioning their future. 

The Columbus Dispatch has the story-

Upper Arlington cut hours for some workers, eliminated the animal-control officer's position and is trying to cut some positions through attrition this year. 

Lancaster laid off 31 city workers, including 20 firefighters and six police officers.

And Marion eliminated 16 police-officer positions, bringing some back to work only when an increase in the city income tax was approved by voters.

Ohio's local government budgets have been hit by a combination of factors in the past few years. The Great Recession led to lower income-tax receipts, as well as lower property taxes. Federal funding has been reduced in some areas, and the state cut funding to local governments by more than $630 million two years ago to help fill a multibillion deficit in its two-year budget.

At the time, Gov. John Kasich warned local officials not to ask taxpayers to make up the difference.

Although services were reduced in some areas, many local governments asked taxpayers for more money.

The November after the state cuts went into effect, more than 1,000 tax issues appeared on ballots statewide, and another 1,055 were on ballots in November. Many local governments said they needed funding for police and fire protection, libraries, street repairs, parks and senior services.

Residents tend to approve local tax increases - although they typically don't pass by a large margin.

"I don't see many services people are willing to give up altogether. They may take a lesser service, but people get used to government services and they tend to not go away," said William Raabe, tax and accounting professor at Ohio State University. 

And it doesn't look like the trend of asking taxpayers to fill the gap at the local level will stop anytime soon - in part because the gap continues to grow. This year, legislative action to end Ohio's estate tax will result in an estimated loss of more than $200 million for local governments.

"I think it's pretty clear the next decade will be one of tax increases at every level. Most severely, the smallest jurisdictions will be missing the most dollars, ... and people don't want to give up their services," Raabe said.

Many municipalities either have increased their income-tax rates or considered doing so in the past five years.

Gahanna residents will be the latest to vote on Tuesday. They will decide on an income-tax increase of 1 percentage point, which, if approved, would make the tax 2.5 percent and be the first increase since 1977.

Columbus raised its income tax rate to 2.5 percent in 2009. Since then, at least four suburbs have raised their income-tax rates to 2.5 percent.

In the past 10 years, many cities and villages have considered raising rates. At least three suburbs have turned down an income-tax increase, including Powell and Reynoldsburg.

Income-tax revenue can go a long way for municipalities and is typically a city's largest revenue source - accounting for at least 60 percent of a city's general budget.

"Local income tax to cities in Ohio is the financial lifeblood," said Hugh Dorrian, Columbus city auditor.

Income tax typically is pooled into a city's general fund with other revenue and isn't tracked per dollar, so it's difficult to decipher exactly which departments are directly supported by this money and by how much.

But city officials say tax money often ends up funding safety and security forces because they are so expensive.

Upward of 40 percent of a city's general fund supports services that range from replacing street lights to staffing the police department.

"There are certain things you have to do. You can cut out parks and rec, and cut out recycling and 'ways-of-life things,' but at some level, if you don't have an income-tax (increase) and you're a city in distress, it's going to affect safety and security," said Brian Rothenberg, executive director of the liberal advocacy group ProgressOhio.

Requests for an income-tax increase failed twice in Reynoldsburg in 2006. When city residents did not approve an income-tax increase from1.5 percent to 2.5 percent in 2011, city officials knew they'd be hit hard.

If the income-tax increase had passed, it would have brought in $5.5 million. Reynoldsburg's general revenue budget in 2011 was $35.75 million.

City officials there say they are working to secure grants to support the city's services - including finding money to repair roads and pave a parking lot at its senior center, which has about 2,000 members.

Facing a shortfall in revenue, Reynoldsburg considered shuttering its senior center last year. The center is funded mostly by membership fees, and the city's general fund supports only building utilities and a couple of city-employed supervisors. The proposed closure, along with proposed cuts in parks and recreation programs and eliminating four police-officer positions, was put on hold when the city moved unappropriated funds to the general fund, which officials said they would be unable to do again this year.

The senior center offers card games, pool tables and exercise classes - an activity Shirley Litteral, 74, said she really enjoys.

"I hope the senior center stays. It keeps us moving and keeps me limber. This is what I do," said Litteral, of Reynoldsburg.

For now, the center looks like it will stay thanks to an increase in income-tax revenue generated by new businesses in Reynoldsburg, said Doug Joseph city council president.

But the city has left the positions of human-resources officer and development director unfilled.

If Tuesday's income-tax increase passes in Gahanna, the additional money would go toward police equipment, snow removal and recreation programs.

If the levy doesn't pass, these programs would be at "considerable risk," Gahanna Mayor Becky Stinchcomb said at a January city council meeting.

"We recognize people are facing difficult financial times right now. That's why we've tried to explain as much as we could," said Brandi Braun, assistant city administrator of Gahanna.

Municipalities and villages can levy a variety of taxes - including an income or property tax - to pay for these services. Townships, however, can levy only a property tax, according to state law.

This funding model is a challenge to township officials who are unable to pass a property-tax levy but rely on that funding for services.Liberty Township Fire Chief Timothy Jensen's two stations serve parts of Delaware County - including the city of Powell and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and Zoombezi Bay Waterpark - but the branches are situated in Liberty Township and can't put forth an income-tax levy.

Most of the fire department's calls are for incidents in the township, but he estimates 35 to 40 percent of his department's calls are from Powell, and a little more than 3 percent from the zoo and water park.

Voters in the township approved an emergency levy for fire services in February by about 84 percent of voters, but that money won't be available until January 2014.

That means Jensen won't be able to rehire 10 part-time and four full-time firefighters laid off last year or replace his department's 12-year old EMS truck.

"It's been a tough year," Jensen said. "When it comes down to it - people are going to vote for the services they want to keep."

As a solution, Liberty Township officials are considering, among other options, establishing a new income tax to fund its fire department under a Joint Economic Development Zone A JEDZ allows a city to collect income taxes from businesses within the township. Those taxes are then split between the city and the township, giving both a new revenue stream.

Only about 10 percent of workers in Liberty Township - who work in Liberty but live elsewhere would be affected, said Curt Sybert, a Liberty Township trustee.It's too early in the process to know how much money the agreement could bring in, but the plan would be to geographically target areas of the township that contain a lot of business and employees to generate the most revenue.

Other townships in the Columbus area also are trying to implement this model to make up for budget gaps including Clinton Township and Grandview Heights.

Across jurisdictions and budgets - one aspect remains certain - once a tax is in place, it's rare to see it withdrawn.

"Once (a tax increase) is in, it's in for good," Raabe said. "But it's much more likely to go up than down."

JobsOhio, John Kasich's privatized economic development agency, is again raising eyebrows over a set of controversal comments made by an agency spokeswoman this week.

While attempting to explain how JobsOhio was able to create more jobs than the Department of Development, Laura Jones, the spokeswoman for JobsOhio told the press that the agency responds more quickly to business because it doesn't have to contend with ethics laws restricting state employees from accepting or paying for meals or from traveling to meetins.  

Her words added context to a report in the Columbus Dispatch a few days later, the revelation leaking that KMPG audited JobsOhio's books at the same time it sought $1 million from JobsOhio for a client. Ethical lapse? 

Read the entire story at the Akron Beacon Journal. 

Ohio House Republicans are proposing legislation that would require public universities to chare in-state tuition rates to students that vote in Ohio. Critics are raising questions surrounding the intentions of the plan, calling it "too clever by half". 

The Toledo Blade has the story-

The League of Women Voters joined with legislative Democrats and the nonpartisan Ohio Campus Compact to argue that an amendment added at the last-minute to the House-passed budget could discourage schools from giving on-campus students utility bills or letters that could be used as voter identification at the polls.

"It doesn't even pass the straight-face test. ...," said Peg Rosenfeld, League elections specialist. "This is absolutely the wrong thing to do. We want to encourage students to vote. ...It is unconscionable."

The provision was added just before the Republican-controlled House sent its $62 billion, two-year budget plan to the Senate nearly two weeks ago.

Higher education institutions fear the move could collectively cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in reduced tuition revenue, particularly if students see such documentation as their avenue to lower tuition bills.

The amendment does not address what would happen to a similar student who lives in off-campus housing and has his own utility bill bearing his address that he can use to register and vote. Could that student argue he should also receive lower in-state tuition?

Democrats charge the amendment is part of a national attempt by Republicans to restrict voting by constituencies that turned out in large numbers for President Obama in the last two presidential elections.

Students can vote in Ohio if they have lived here at least 30 days, but they still need some form of voter identification under state law.

A student identification card doesn't qualify. A utility bill or official letter from the school does.

"It really holds the university [to] having to make decisions about voter rights," said Richard Kinsley, executive director of Ohio Campus Compact, a nonpartisan, nonprofit coalition of college and university presidents that encourages civic involvement of students.

"If I'm going to lose out-of-state tuition, that puts the university in a bind to decide, 'Do I honor the rights of the student to register to vote or do I have to pay attention to the bottom-line budget?' " he said. "If I lose all those dollars, then tuition goes up for everyone."

House Speaker Bill Batchelder (R., Medina) defended the amendment.

"The real issue for local areas in particular [is], what happens when somebody from New York City registers to vote," he said. "How do they vote on a school levy? How do they vote on a sheriff's race ...? To me, there is a significant question, particularly the levies, as to what having people who don't have to pay for them would do in terms of voting on those things."

When asked about the potential dollar impact on universities that experienced cuts in state funding in the last budget, Mr. Batchelder said, "That's a rather gigantic amount of money. I don't know how to respond to it."

UT has 1,112 out-of-state, noninternational students, according to university spokesman Meghan Cunningham. There are 519 noninternational out-of-state graduate students.

The university charges $4,527 per semester, or $9,054 a year, for in-state tuition and $9,087 per semester, or $18,174 a year, in out-of-state tuition. That's a difference of $9,120 per year that the university could lose per student who requested voting-related documentation.

In the 2012 presidential election, the university did a mass-mailing of such letters to all residents of student housing, regardless of whether they used them or whether the students were already Ohio residents.

John Kasich's JobsOhio agency has, (yet again), come under heavy scrutiny as questions are being raised surronding the relationship between the the agency and the consulting firm that preformed a state mandated audit.

The Columbus Dispatch has the story-

As KPMG was auditing JobsOhio's books last fall, the global auditing and consulting firm also was seeking $1 million in taxpayer money from JobsOhio for an unnamed client.

JobsOhio, the state's privatized development agency, says that the grant request was handled separately from and without the knowledge of the firm's auditing division. But some say the timing raises ethical questions.

The situation also exposes weaknesses in the laws creating Gov. John Kasich's JobsOhio, because recipients of state aid are kept secret until the project is approved.

While saying he didn't have enough information to "make a determination" on the propriety of this situation, state Auditor Dave Yost called it "concerning." Noting that auditors face strict ethical guidelines, the auditor said, "Any time you have questions of independence in our business, it's concerning."

Laura Jones, a spokeswoman for JobsOhio, said KPMG LLP's Columbus office conducted the audit, but the grant was sought by an out-of-state office.

"The fact that KPMG serves JobsOhio and countless other businesses ... from the same office here in Columbus is not a conflict in our minds," she said, adding that the state also monitors and ultimately approves taxpayer-funded incentives to companies.

As the state's lead economic-development agency, Jobs-Ohio is charged with recommending financial incentives for companies seeking to locate in the state.

"Given those safeguards, the suggestion that Ohio should disqualify a company whose consultant has the same name as our auditing firm -- and so deny Ohioans jobs -- is truly shortsighted."

KPMG was chosen by JobsOhio to conduct an audit required by law. On Nov. 5, about the time the audit was being conducted, KPMG also was listed on a sheet of eight pending grant commitments from the state for fiscal year 2013, according to a document obtained by The Dispatchthrough a public-records request.

JobsOhio officials said the record is confidential and the state released it by mistake.

Officials from the Kasich administration, JobsOhio and KPMG indicated that the grant was not for KPMG itself, but for an anonymous KPMG business client. A KPMG spokesman said only that "we're confident we acted properly at all times. It would be inappropriate for us to comment further due to client confidentiality."

Jones said the project involving KPMG died in March, meaning the client never received the funds. As one of the "big four" accounting firms, KPMG has 152,000 employees and offices in 156 countries and has joined the other large firms in expanding services to include tax and business consulting.

For example, the firm was hired last year by the Kasich administration for a $3.4 million study of the Ohio Turnpike.

But there are strict rules that prohibit a firm's accountants from providing business advice, following the 2002 fall of Enron and its auditor, Arthur Andersen. There is also a vast and strict set of guidelines for accounting and auditing established by several national and global accounting trade organizations, such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, which demand that members maintain "independence" and avoid conflicts of interest with clients.

"Independent auditors should not only be independent in fact; they should avoid situations that may lead outsiders to doubt their independence," reads the AICPA's standards for auditing.

"If you're auditing a company, then the scenario is, you really never want to jeopardize your independence," said David J. Leonard, past chairman of the global Institute of Management Accountants ethics committee. Leonard works for the Allegheny County Bar Association in Pittsburgh.

"The two KPMG branches doing this work, I am sure they never would collude on their own, and there was no connection," said Jerry Esselstein, a certified public accountant who is teaching Ethical Challenges in the Accounting Profession this semester at Ohio State University. "The other question: Would JobsOhio see it as undue pressure on them? That's a question I just can't answer."

Because of Ohio laws established in relation to the creation of JobsOhio, recipients of state aid are withheld from the public until the state ultimately approves the project. Without the document mistakenly being given to The Dispatch which listed KPMG's work as a consultant, the company's involvement in the grant request might never have been known, because the ultimate recipient would have been named at the time of approval.

KPMG's involvement also would not have been uncovered in the audit Yost currently is conducting of JobsOhio, because Yost's work will only cover materials through June 30, 2012.

Yost, who publicly fought with Kasich and JobsOhio for access to the agency's private financial records to conduct a full audit, said he is in ongoing negotiations with JobsOhio for access to the same information in future years.

Yost, who is essentially checking KPMG's audit of JobsOhio, said he would be more likely to examine whether a conflict of interest had arisen, rather than whether KPMG had maintained independence in its audit.

The far right wing has been home to somer fairly crazy conspiracy theories over the years, but now, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), is joining Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) in endorsing the conspiracy theory that the government is buying up bullets in order to limit their availability to gun owners. 

The Right Wing Watch has the story:

During the program, Perkins praised people for "buying bricks of ammo" and "buying gold" -- even though the price of gold is collapsing -- adding that he is "buying my kids ammo instead of saving bonds." Jordan said that "Americans rightly understand that freedom is under attack in this country," specifically religious liberty and the Second Amendment.

Jordan agreed with Perkins' contention that the Department of Homeland Security is "hoarding ammunition" as a "way for the President to keep Americans from having ammo by having the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies buy it all up" and commended Americans for "purchasing a record level of firearms and ammunition."

Jordan: The reason so many Americans are concerned is, this agency, the Department of Homeland Security, under the leadership -- or I would say, lack of leadership, frankly -- of Secretary Napolitano, they just don't have any credibility, Americans don't trust them. There have been a number of instances over the last several years and several months that have led to that lack of trust and lack of credibility and that's why you see the concern and frankly that's why we had the hearing.

...

Perkins: We're talking about a hearing that took place last Thursday with the Department of Homeland Security and their kind of some are saying hoarding ammunition.

Jordan: Yep.

Perkins: That's part of the concern is that this is another way for the President to keep Americans from having ammo by having the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies buy it all up.

Jordan: Yep. Too things are happening, you are exactly right, Americans are purchasing a record level of firearms and ammunition. I think it points to just the lack of trust they have in this administration and this administration's attack on our Second Amendment liberties and our Second Amendment rights and Americans are justifiably concerned about that.

Click here to listen to the interview. 

Ohio Secretary of State John Husted has yet again come under heat for failing to abide by state and federal laws regarding voter registration updates, causing extra costs, confusion, and possible lost votes for next week's primary election. 

State law requires the Secretary of State to send voter registration data to local election officials within five days. Husted has been sitting on months of data without transferring it to the local Board of Elections. 

This delay is the second time Husted has failed to properly fulfill his duties as Secretary of State-- he made the same mistake during last year's Presidential election, and illustrates a broader scope of his priorities. As Secretary of State, Husted is supposed to be making it easier for people to vote...not more difficult.

State Rep Kathleen Clyde explains that, "Absentee ballots will be rejected because of this mistake. Provisional ballots will be rejected because of ths mistake. Boards of Election workers will have to work overtime because of this mistake. Counties will have to pay to reprint thousands of precinct poll books because of this mistake. Voters and local governments that can least afford it will be paying the price here, and that's unacceptable."

Read the entire story on Plunderbund.  

In their never-ending quest to drive down voter participation, Ohio House Republicans put a too clever by half proposal in the state budget, that would cost Ohio's public universities $370 million a year.

In response to recent changes in voter ID requirements, universities will typically issue out-of-state students a letter or dorm room utility bill as a proof of residency for voting purposes (provided the student is a citizen, over 18 and has resided in the state for at least 30 days). Under the new proposal, any universities that provide such documents must charge those students in-state tuition. While the bill is masquerading as an attempt to keep college costs down, the true intent is to discourage universities from facilitating voting by effectively ending out-of-state tuition rates for a large swath of the student body.

Ohio State University alone would lose an estimated $115 million a year if this proposal stays in.

Congressional representatives get a certain amount of funds for expenses and operating their offices. For example, the entire Ohio congressional delegation spent $32,874 on food last year.

WKYC discovered that Rep. Jim Renacci nearly spent nearly that amount just on bottled water. The station sought out more details on how Renacci spent his money, in particular a day he was meeting with football players and racked up a $792 food and drink bill. Renacci's spokesperson was less than forthcoming:

Yet when asked to detain how Renacci spent the rest of the money, Ryan refused.

"You get to ask the questions. I get to respond," Ryan wrote, in an email. "That's how this works. If I reply and you don't like the answer, that's unfortunate."

The report also notes that Speaker John Boehner spent $2,200 on coffee in a single month.

Updated: WKYC's story reads, "For instance, Ohio's congressional delegation spent a total of $32,874 last year on food  for them and their guests -- Renacci spent the most at $4,278 -- and another $21,091 on bottled water, a Channel 3 News investigation found."

We incorrectly interpreted this as Renacci spending $4,278 on food and another $21,091 on on bottled water. In fact, the $21,091 is the total for the Ohio delegation and we have updated the post to reflect this.

Remember SB5, the unfair, anti-worker bill that Ohioans banded together to repeal?

News is trickling out of the Statehouse that a new version of it, a so-called "right to work" bill, could be introduced as early as this week.

This is yet another attempt by corporate lobbyists and CEOs to end unions as we know it, so they can tip the power even further away from the middle class. We'll be watching this closely, and you can expect to hear plenty more about this in the coming days.

On Monday, State Representative Mike Foley joined about 75 Columbus security officers,  janitors, and community members for a rally outside the Motorists Mutual Insurance building downtown. Workers, faith leaders, and elected officials called on business leaders of Columbus to support the good jobs our city needs to stanch the rapidly rising poverty rate.

As the unemployment rate in Central Ohio continues to drop, concentrated poverty in our city has doubled. This is because more and more jobs in Columbus pay very low wages that trap working families in a cycle of poverty. Janitors and security officers-who clean and protect the offices of Motorists Mutual and Columbus's Fortune 1000 companies-are among the thousands of working people in our city who can work full time and still qualify for public assistance programs like food stamps and Medicaid.

Low-wage workers in Columbus have been standing up for living wages, health care and fair treatment on the job. But janitors and security officers have met with resistance and retaliation for their efforts, including at Motorists Insurance, where a Universal security officer was removed and reassigned to a lower-paying job after speaking out about working conditions.

"I'm committed to my job, but it's hard to get by on low wages with no benefits," says Thurman Elliot, a full-time officer employed by Universal Security in Columbus. "My wife is sick, and because I don't have affordable health care for myself or for her through my job, we both have to rely on Medicare."

Service workers and community members are calling on Columbus corporations and the Columbus Partnership to do their part to alleviate poverty in our city and create a more sustainable future by creating good jobs and paying workers fair wages. The Columbus City Council has already expressed support for living wage jobs for service workers in an open letter addressed to Columbus business leaders.

In mid-April, when Statehouse Republicans pushed a budget to shred Medicaid expansion in Ohio, some leading organizations and economic institutions partnered to examine exactly what the impact of the budget would be. 

The Ohio Medicaid Expansion Study, a partnership between the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, the Ohio State University, Regional Economic Models Inc., and the Urban Institute, has released a new fact sheet examining the impact of not expanding Medicaid in Ohio.

Among the findings highlighted in the fact sheet are:

• Without an expansion, a substantial number of Ohioans with low incomes, more than 370,000 by 2017, are projected to have no access to subsidized health coverage and will likely be uninsured
• Ohio will lose an estimated $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion in new net savings and revenue that would have been generated from an expansion
• From 2014 to 2022, eliminating Medicaid expansion in Ohio will prevent 23,000 to 28,000 new Ohio jobs in health care and other industries
• From 2014 to 2022, eliminating Medicaid expansion in Ohio will prevent 23,000 to 28,000 new Ohio jobs in health care and other industries

To read the entire study and fact sheet, please click here.

In August 2010, then-candidate John Kasich announced his plan to privatize the Ohio Department of Development, calling the government agency a "black hole" that failed to even return phone calls.

"The days of trying to connect with business leaders through bureaucrats are over," Kasich said during a campaign appearance at a Columbus steel company.

But JobsOhio, the private economic development nonprofit Kasich created in 2011 to replace the Department of Development, is staffed mostly by former ODOD employees and other ex-government workers. Nearly all of those workers also received large raises to leave the public sector, a Dayton Daily News analysis found.

In all, 19 of JobsOhio's 22 full-time employees are former state workers, including seven people who worked for ODOD in 2010 or earlier. All but two of the 22 received raises of at least 15 percent above their state salaries.

Seven of the 19 former state employees joined state government in 2011, Kasich's first year in office. This group included three people with extensive business-related backgrounds: President/CIO John Minor, a former investment banker; managing director David Mustine, a former energy company executive; and managing director Mark Patton, whose experience includes working in marketing and sales for companies such as Apple, Kodak and Procter & Gamble.

JobsOhio staff also includes two Kasich campaign staffers: Mindy McLaughlin, a former campaign scheduler who now works as manager of direct foreign investment for JobsOhio; and former campaign compliance director Thomas Seward, now a JobsOhio project manager.

'Liberated from the bureaucracy'

Officials with Kasich's office and JobsOhio said the non-profit is different from the government agency it replaced from the top-down, even if its staff is comprised of mostly former government employees.

"We hired over people from development who brought great knowledge," said spokeswoman Laura Jones, who received a $20,000 raise to join JobsOhio after a decade in marketing and communications with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. "We've cultivated and grown those skills here with leadership."

Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said, "These people were liberated from the bureaucracy." He credited JobsOhio for the 120,400 new jobs created in Ohio since January 2011.

JobsOhio works better than the department it replaced for two main reasons, Jones said.

One: it is structured differently, and has a singular mission of business development, she said, while ODOD was weighed down by different divisions that had nothing to do with job creation.

And two: JobsOhio is quicker to respond to the needs of businesses, partially because it's not restrained by ethics laws that restrict state employees from accepting or paying for meals, or from traveling to off-site meetings, Jones said.

"I think (JobsOhio) brought flexibility to help cultivate an environment to interact and have relationships with businesses," Jones said.

She acknowledged the raises but said JobsOhio employees work long hours and don't get the state benefits they received in their old jobs. "We took the risk and gave up a lot to come to what is essentially a start-up company," she said.

Brian Rothenberg, executive director of ProgressOhio, a liberal advocacy group that is suing Kasich over JobsOhio, said staffing the non-profit with mostly former state employees undermines Kasich's rationale for creating the nonprofit.

"This confirms what people thought all along... (JobsOhio) was a ploy to take the Department of Development and privatize it to shield it from public scrutiny," Rothenberg said. "The whole ruse is that the governor was complaining about the people he ended up hiring."

Sizable raises

Although initially funded by tax dollars, JobsOhio is exempt from public records laws and required to disclose only what is required under the legislation that created it.

That makes learning about its inner workings difficult. For example, JobsOhio has to disclose its employees' titles and salaries but - according to its interpretation of the law - not their names. When asked, JobsOhio declined to state what the salaries and benefits are for certain individuals.

It is clear even with the limited amount of information made public that most former state employees got sizable raises - averaging around 20 percent - to work for JobsOhio.

Kristi Tanner made the full-year equivalent of $133,000 in her previous job at ODOD, and now makes at least $166,270 as the managing director for JobsOhio. (An actual salary amount couldn't be determined).

Kristina Clouse had a base salary of $86,700 in her final year at ODOD, where she was a regional workforce director and assistant director of strategic business investment. At JobsOhio, she is paid $117,500 a year as project management director.

Sheena Metzger made $51,700 as a program administrator at ODOD. Her new job, site selection manager at JobsOhio, has a salary of $74,700.

McLaughlin and Seward, the former Kasich campaign workers, also received pay increases. McLaughlin, who worked in the governor's office for nine months before switching jobs, had her pay jump from $70,000 to $87,500.

Seward, a former compliance director for the Kasich campaign, made the equivalent of $65,000 annually at the ODOD as "budget special projects coordinator" for six months before receiving at least $81,250 at JobsOhio. Like Tanner, Seward's actual pay couldn't be determined by the amount of records available.

Jones said two years McLaughlin spent working for the U.S. State Department and her two additional years working in the White House before joining Kasich's campaign qualified her to promote Ohio to foreign companies, primarily in Japan and Germany. "She brought with her a good skill set to allow her to grow in that position," Jones said.

Meanwhile, Seward's connections in southwest Ohio have helped JobsOhio connect with companies in that area, Jones said.

Windfall expected

JobsOhio has attracted its share of controversy since 2011.

Critics say a lack of transparency creates the potential for corruption and makes it difficult for the public to evaluate its operations. Last month, after negotiations with the non-profit broke down, Ohio Auditor Dave Yost issued a subpoena for JobsOhio's financial records, including at least $6.9 million in secret private donations, so that he could conduct an audit.

JobsOhio reluctantly turned the records over while maintaining Yost, a Republican, overstepped his authority in seeking access to anything other than the $8.4 million in state grants and fees the nonprofit had received.

Jeff Hoagland, president of the Dayton Development Coalition, a private economic development non-profit, said in a March interview he opposed Yost's attempt to inspect JobsOhio's books.

"All I keep hearing is the public sector needs to act more like private industry. I think this is an example where the state is trying to act like private industry and focus on economic development. But then it's being told potentially told, I need you to act more like a public (agency), which I think slows things down," Hoagland said.

Moving forward, the nonprofit will get its funding - an expected $100 million a year or more - from the sale of bonds backed by profits from the state's monopoly on liquor sales.

Jones said the money will allow JobsOhio to begin awarding its own grants and loans for economic development projects, and fund a state program that pays for the cleanup and redevelopment of commercial and industrial sites.

It is not clear how open the nonprofit's records will remain to government scrutiny. Yost maintains he has authority to audit JobsOhio's books because the liquor proceeds are a public resource. Minor, JobsOhio's president, has asked the legislature to act to limit Yost's authority.

Yost said in a March letter to Ohio legislators that JobsOhio needs to remain under his watch.

"While there have been no indications of misdealing, the potential for self-dealing or other mischief exists sometime in the future," he said. "This office's audit will help protect against the real possibility of human failings."

Some salaries kept a secret

JobsOhio is exempt from public records laws, which makes learning about its inner workings difficult. To research this story, the Dayton Daily News cross-referenced financial disclosure documents, state payroll records, JobsOhio's website, and individual employees' social media profiles. Identifying exact salaries for all employees based on the available records proved impossible because JobsOhio only has to disclose its employees' titles and salaries, and not their names. Employees with identical job titles but different salaries couldn't be differentiated from each other, and JobsOhio declined to offer clarification. Where salaries could not be determined accurately, the newspaper used the more conservative figure.

JobsOhio by the numbers

• 22: Number of full-time JobsOhio employees.
• 13: Number of JobsOhio employees who make more than $100,000 annually.
• $6.9 million: Amount of known private donations to JobsOhio.
• $8.4 million: Taxpayer money received by JobsOhio and subsidiary (since returned).
• 289: Number of development projects JobsOhio referred to state in 2012.
• 20,979: Number of new jobs committed.
• 54,633: Number of retained jobs committed.

Check out the entire story at the Dayton Daily News.

Gov. John Kasich's pitch for JobsOhio was that the state's development department was doing a poor job. It should be dismantled and replaced with JobsOhio, a new type of psuedo-private organization that wasn't subject to public accountability.

The Dayton Daily News is reporting that 19 of 22 JobsOhio staffers are former state employees, many of which were the same ones presumably responsible for the "black hole" that Kasich said JobsOhio would fix. What's more 20 of the 22 employees have received big pay increases of 15% or more.

ProgressOhio has been skeptical of JobsOhio since day one and is currently challenging the constitutionality of the department in court:

Brian Rothenberg, executive director of ProgressOhio, a liberal advocacy group that is suing Kasich over JobsOhio, said staffing the non-profit with mostly former state employees undermines Kasich's rationale for creating the nonprofit.

"This confirms what people thought all along... (JobsOhio) was a ploy to take the Department of Development and privatize it to shield it from public scrutiny," Rothenberg said. "The whole ruse is that the governor was complaining about the people he ended up hiring."

When asked to defend the changes, a spokesperson for JobsOhio indicated that "JobsOhio is quicker to respond to the needs of businesses, partially because it's not restrained by ethics laws that restrict state employees from accepting or paying for meals...."

A bipartisan bill proposed by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Senator David Vitter (R-LA) seeks to make banks more responsible by storing more capital, and in turn making them less dependent on government bailouts in tough economic times.

The Washington Post has the story-

Sens. Sherrod Brown and David Vitter introduced legislation Wednesday that aims to end what the markets perceive as an implicit guarantee that the government will rescue big banks if they run into trouble. That implied backing has given firms a green light to engage in risky activities that pose a threat to the financial system, the lawmakers said.

Banking industry groups immediately called the legislation unnecessary, saying that the big banks have taken major steps since the financial crisis to bolster their finances and that any additional requirements would only hinder their ability to lend.

The legislation "presents Wall Street megabanks with a clear choice: Either have enough of your own capital to cover your own losses or downsize until you are no longer a risk to taxpayers," Brown said at a news conference announcing the bill Wednesday.

Brown and Vitter are calling for institutions with more than $500 billion in assets -- JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank-- to have capital equal to 15 percent of their assets. Banks with at least $50 billion, such as Fifth Third and BB&T, would have to set aside 8 percent. Community banks, those below the $50 billion threshold, would be exempt because they typically have large reserves, lawmakers said.

The bill also presses banks to use the most dependable form of capital, common equity -- money raised from the sale of common stock and retained from profit.

That is a much stricter standard than the capital proposal of global banking regulators on the Basel committee , who include what is known as risk-weighted assets in their calculations. Risk weighting requires banks to hold more capital against assets deemed risky and less capital against those considered less risky.

"We're focused on truly loss-absorbing capital and moving away from this hyper-complicated, risk-weighted system that is very easy to game," Vitter said. If he and Brown get their way, the United States would not adopt the Basel committee's capital rules.

The lawmakers are tapping into a popular sentiment among regulators and economists who say the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law did not go far enough to end the " too big to fail" problem. The law gave the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. the authority to wind down failed firms and instituted so-called living wills, a blueprint for how banks could be resolved.

Veteran bank regulators, such as FDIC Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig and Federal Reserve governor Daniel Tarullo, are among those in support of stricter rules to ensure taxpayers are not left on the hook for another bailout.Hoenig wants to outright break up the banks, whereas Tarullo would prefer big banks hold more long-term debt to ward against losses.

Even with those powerful allies, Brown and Vitter may have a difficult time getting their bill through Congress. The chairman of the Senate banking committee, Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), has said regulators should be allowed to finish implementing Dodd-Frank. A committee aide said the chairman looks forward to viewing the details of the bill.

The ranking Republican on the committee, Mike Crapo of Idaho, recently told Bloomberg that regulators, not lawmakers, should set capital standards. On Wednesday, he declined to comment on the bill.

Critics say Brown and Vitter are simply seizing on populist outrage with little regard for the detrimental impact the legislation would have on the financial industry. Increasing capital requirements to the level the bill suggests would significantly reduce the ability of banks to lend to businesses, said Rob Nichols of the Financial Services Forum, a trade group representing the largest banks.

"It would be ill-advised to take any lending capacity out of the economy -- and away from the customers and businesses banks serve -- as it's struggling to get back on its feet," he said. 

A Bishop Watterson woman is speaking out after being unexpectedly fired from her job as a high school physical education teacher after mentioning her life partner's name in her mother's obituary.

10 Columbus has the story-

Carla Hale spoke about her feelings -- and her mission -- for the greater community in her battle to get her job back at a Columbus high school. 

"I don't want money, I don't want fame," she said. "I simply want to return to Bishop Watterson."

But the long time physical education teacher's request for reinstatement was denied by the principal Tuesday night. 
 
"I went into the meeting obviously very hopeful, but being realistic as well," she said in a press conference at the Stonewall Columbus offices Wednesday.

Hale was let go in late March after an anonymous parent complained to the Columbus diocese about Hale's homosexual lifestyle. 
 
"The decision that I made to acknowledge Julie, my partner, in my mother's obituary, is not immoral," she said.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the Columbus Diocese stated, "The Catholic Church respects the fundamental dignity of all persons but also must insist that those in its employ respect the tenets of the Church. Personnel who choose to publicly espouse relationships or principles that are contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church cannot, ultimately, remain in the employ of the Church."

The school's response to Hale's grievance said she was not fired for being gay, but for the spousal relationship published in the paper. 

"It's a bit like saying, 'We're not going to fire you because you're a woman, we're going to fire you because you're pregnant,'" said Tom Tootle, Hale's attorney. "It's a distinction without a difference."

Support continues to grow for Carla Hale.  

People from all over the world are joining her cause through an online petition to get her reinstated. So far, more than 50,000 people have signed.
 
Anna Klatt has helped organize a Facebook page in support of her former teacher.

"The world is watching; it's time for change," Klatt said. "We seek justice, we seek acceptance, and we seek love of all people in the community -- gay, straight or anybody else," she added.

Klatt says she and others would like to see a revision in the employment contract of the Diocese.

"It's disappointing we haven't seen more action from the Bishop, but you know, it's not too late," she said. "If he reverses the decision, we will forgive the diocese for the mistake, but they need to do what's right."

Hale hopes her example spreads a wider message to young people.

"Hopefully they're seeing the support and the love that's out there, assuring them that regardless of their sexual orientation, we all deserve the same equalities," Hale said.

Hale will continue her grievance complaint with the teacher's union in a process that could go to arbitration.

Her attorney says he is pursuing a wrongful termination complaint with the city's Community Relations Commission - with the backing of the city's anti-discrimination law, one of the strongest in the country.

Tootle says it comes down to a question of morality -- the church's definition and Hale's definition -- and he says a court could ultimately decide the issue. 
 
With the Columbus Diocese holding strong in its conviction, Hale's attorney says it's likely to be a long fight.  

Today, students alongside activists participated in a flashmob at the Ohio Union on the campus of the Ohio State University in order to bring awareness to gun violence. Participants traced bodies in chalk to commemorate the 27 young children and educators who were tragically killed in Newtown last December.

For more information on how you can help, please visit the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence.

All of us at ProgressOhio are saddened to learn of the passing of Common Cause CEO Bob Edgar. We were honored to share an evening with Mr. Edgar in February and were impressed with his knowledge and passion for our work.  Mr. Edgar loved quotes and he truly inspired us with one of his favorites--"We are the leaders we have been waiting for."

The progressive community has suffered a deep blow today. Our thoughts go out to all of Mr. Edgar's family and colleagues.

Bob, who served Pennsylvania in Congress for 12 years and also led the National Council of Churches, became the president and CEO of Common Cause in May 2007. He oversaw the relaunching of at least seven state chapters, travelled tirelessly to meet with and recruit Common Cause supporters and raised the organization's national profile and its critical mission to strengthen our democracy. [...]

During six terms in the US House, Bob led efforts to improve public transportation, fought wasteful water projects and authored the Community Right to Know provision of Super Fund legislation. He also served on the House Select Committee on Assassinations that investigated the deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy. Bob also served on the Veterans Affairs Committee, working on issues around Agent Orange and readjustment counseling to treat post traumatic stress disorder. 

As we reflect on Earth Day and have discussions surrounding the importance of environmental responsibility and sustainability, it's hard not to notice the elephant in the room- things aren't getting better; they are getting worse. 

Coming off one of the most turbulent years on record, 2012 was marked with some of the most extreme weather our nation has ever experienced. This dramatic shift in our weather not only has serve ecological effects, but also social and some of Ohio's insurance providers cannot keep up with the devastation. 

The Toledo Blade has the story-

As a meteorologist for FirstEnergy Corp., Pete Manousos' job is to keep the electric utility informed about any upcoming extreme weather that might cause outages, or hamper repair crews' ability to restore power.

But the last two years, that job has gotten harder and harder.

"You have to consider that part of the issue for FirstEnergy is our geographical footprint has gotten larger over the last decade. There's more exposure to events as a result," Mr. Manousos said.

"That said, for the portions of FirstEnergy that have been impacted since 2011, the frequency of the extreme events have been notable," he added.

Whether the country is embarking on a pattern of annual extreme weather events, or merely going through a temporary phase, is impossible to know, the meteorologist said.

But one segment that has a large financial stake in figuring out if the weather is growing more violent and extreme is the insurance industry.

To be sure, the insurance industry knows more than a thing or two about calculating risk, and the industry has never been healthier financially, according to the New York-based Insurance Information Institute.

However, the increasing frequency of catastrophic weather events over the last three years -- including some that affected Ohio in general and northwest Ohio in particular -- are causing some in the insurance industry to adjust their climate-risk models and consider establishing a new baseline for weather events in the future.

It also is affecting some of the insurance policies that Ohio homeowners are purchasing and causing bigger increases in annual premiums, even though Ohioans continue to pay some of the lowest premiums in the nation for homeowner coverage.

"While many are expecting catastrophe events to return to a more normalized level in 2012, it is questionable what 'normal' is. In addition, it is clear insurers should prepare for the possibility that the event frequency of 2011 may be repeated," A.M. Best Co. stated in a March briefing last year while warning about increasing extreme weather. The firm rates the financial strength of insurance companies and measures their ability to pay claims.

"There is no question the number of national disasters impacting the United States is trending upward, especially over the last 35 years or so. Those are mostly storm events, flooding events. drought, even wildfires," said Robert Hartwig, president and an economist for the insurance institute.

"It's the case that the number of events is increasing and the total cost is increasing and that's going to mean premiums will increase. It's just a reality," he said.

Currently, Ohio homeowners enjoy some of the lowest costs in the nation for HO-3 policies, the most commonly purchased homeowners insurance policy.

As of 2010, the Ohio average of $614 for a homeowners policy was sixth lowest in the United States -- 48 percent lower than the U.S. average of $909. 

From 2004 through 2010, the average annual price increase in Ohio was just under 4 percent.

But in 2011 it rose 6.2 percent to $652, and last year it rose 5 percent to $685. Part of those larger increases relate to weather claims. The question facing Ohio homeowners now is this: How much will rates go up annually in 2013 and beyond if volatile weather increases and insurers are forced to adjust for increased risk?

"Many years ago, it seemed like everybody wanted to write homeowners policies, because that's where the money was, and not write auto coverage. Now, it's a complete reversal," said Ben Brown, vice president in charge of personal and professional insurance at Brooks Insurance Agency, one of Toledo's largest independent insurance brokerages.

"Many are making money on auto and losing money on homeowners policies," he added.

By law, insurers cannot raise premiums to recoup past losses, but they can make premium increases based on potential future risk.

And from 2010-12, there were more storms that resulted in at least $25 million in insured losses in Ohio than there were in the entire previous decade, according to the Ohio Insurance Institute in Columbus.

Between 2010 and 2012, the Buckeye state had at least 12 storms near or over the $25 million loss mark, with preliminary losses totaling $1.1 billion. As claims are settled, losses will be adjusted and are expected to grow.

Among those storms was the F-4 tornado in Wood and Ottawa Counties that hit Lake High School in Millbury in June, 2010. Initial estimates put the losses at just $22.1 million, but in the 2 1/2 years since the storm, insured losses have reached $41.2 million.

The Ohio Insurance Institute measures losses in five-year periods, and the most recent period has been one of the costliest.

Disaster-related insured losses in 2007 through 2011 increased 187 percent and are approaching $2.5 billion. That compares to just $871 million for losses due to catastrophic storms from 2002 through 2006.

According to the institute, the September, 2008, storm in Ohio that was the remnants of Hurricane Ike caused $1.25 billion in damage and now tops the list for the costliest natural disaster in state history. The third-costliest disaster was just last summer when storms raked the state from June 28-July 4 and caused $440 million in damages.

And just as A.M. Best predicted in March a year ago, Ohio suffered nearly $292 million in losses last October when the western edge of Superstorm Sandy sent high winds and rains into northeastern Ohio and cut power to more than 250,000 residents, according to ISO Property Claim Services, an insurance information clearinghouse.

Mr. Brown, of Brooks Insurance Agency, said that over the last few years the increase in extreme weather has prompted changes in the policies that insurance providers write for northwestern Ohio homeowners. "They are developing new tactics. Some of the strategies are also designed to avoid raising premiums," he said.

For example, some newer policies increase deductible limits for damage caused by high winds. "In Ohio, that's something that's brand new," Mr. Brown said.

High winds have been a major source of damage in Ohio of late. Last June and July, a powerful wind storm, known as a derecho, sent gusts of 80 to 100 mph across much of the Buckeye state, coming as far north as Findlay, where it uprooted trees and downed power lines.

Extreme winds also were responsible for storms in March, 2012; April, 2011; September, 2010, the 2010 storm that hit Millbury, and a May, 2010, storm that caused damage in Wood and Sandusky Counties. Combined, those high wind storms caused $228.2 million in damages.

"Wind or even hail claims, the amount insurers are paying is astronomical lately," Mr. Brown said. "If the roofs are older, the damage hail will do on it is an appreciable amount."

In Florida, where high winds and hurricanes are becoming frequent, policies now include a wind mitigation form. It gives policy holders a break in their premiums depending on the type of window glass they use in their homes, whether their roof is bolted down, and the type of wind-resistant construction used to build their house.

"When a home is built with those standards in Florida, they find there's very little damage," Mr. Brown said. "We haven't got to that point in Ohio, but hurricanes are now starting to reach us even up here. In 2008, in 84 of the state's 88 counties, there was damage caused by Hurricane Ike coming up from the Gulf."

Mr. Brown said insurers "are not at a panic stage" over the increasing number of weather-related claims. But given the results for 2012, it wouldn't be uncommon to think some insurers might have lost money or just broke even on the homeowners policies they sold in Ohio, he added.

Last September, Ceres, a Boston-based nonprofit coalition of businesses that advocates for sustainable business practices, issued a report on the growing costs of extreme weather events. It noted that in 2011, property-casualty insurers shouldered a whopping $32 billion in losses due to extreme weather events and indicated that while the 2012 total was lower, extreme weather and associated economic costs were continuing.

The report said the threat was not just from volatile events, like hurricanes and tornadoes, but also extreme heat, which caused last year's severe drought -- affecting both farmers and insurers who provide private crop insurance -- and was responsible for an outbreak of destructive wildfires in the western United States.

Ironically, the report was issued before Superstorm Sandy, which caused an estimated $18.7 billion in damage in the East Coast and inland states, including Ohio.

"Given that weather peril losses have been trending upward for years, due to a combination of higher concentrations of property in vulnerable areas and increasingly more severe and frequent extreme weather events, there is strong reason to believe that 2011 and 2012 are not anomalies," the report warned.

But Karen Clark, an expert in catastrophe risk assessment and management and the president of Karen Clark & Co., a company that helps insurance firms refine their data gathering to better understand catastrophe risk, said that looking at the United States as a whole, it doesn't appear to her that there is a trend of increasing extreme weather events.

Ms. Clark, who founded the first catastrophe-modeling firm, AIR, in 1987, said that from a meteorological point of view storms of much greater intensity occurred in the 1930s, 1960s, and other eras than what we are seeing currently. But what is different now is the increasing amount of developed property in areas frequently exposed to extreme weather events.

The growth of "more expensive targets" -- larger, more elaborate dwellings and businesses -- are driving up insured loss totals, she said.

As the losses mount, the insurance industry has tried hard to develop risk models to predict the number and severity of extreme weather events, but those models have failed miserably, Ms. Clark said.

"At this point we obviously can't control the weather, so we have to assume that an upward trend will continue," said Mr. Hartwig, of the information institute.

In 2011, violent storms caused $15 billion in damages to the non-coastal areas of the United States, the largest losses ever for those geographical regions. "It's also the case that Ohio has seen losses from Sandy and losses from Hurricane Ike. So it seems that Ohio increasingly seems to be at the crossroads of disaster, even though Ohio doesn't really have a coastline other than Lake Erie," Mr. Hartwig said.

However, "People are not helpless against that violent weather," he said. "You can mitigate the cost of, say, hurricanes, with measures like roof tie-downs, stronger windows and doors, and for hail damage with hail-resistant shingles and better roof designs," he said.

To that end, three years ago in South Carolina the insurance industry built a research center akin to the Highway Safety Institute where it can study climactic effects on homes and buildings and learn how certain kinds of events, such as high winds, lead to high insured losses.

"We are learning about things like roof design," Mr. Hartwig said. "Something like this can pay dividends even if there's no change in the weather," he added.

Read more at The Toledo Blade.

Cambridge Police have told NBC News that there were no pun permits or petitions to carry a weapon for either Tsarnaev brother at any time. The news comes in wake of the Senate rejecting legislation aimed at making obtaining guns more difficult for criminals, dangerous individuals, and the mentally unstable. 

The Huffingpost has the story:

"The younger brother could not have applied as he is not 21 years of age and the older brother did not have a license to carry and we have no record of him ever applying," Riviello said.

Under state law, residents under 21 can obtain a firearms ID card that allows them to own shotguns or rifles that hold 10 rounds or less.

Reuters reported that the police in Dartmouth, Mass., where the younger brother was a student, also had no record of gun licenses or ID cards for either brother.

Last week, the Senate voted against expanding and strengthening background checks for firearms purchases. Under current law, people wishing to obtain a gun need to have a background check for certain types of purchases -- such as from a licensed dealer -- but do not have to go through that process for other types of sales.

A background check could have caused problems for Tamerlan. Department of Homeland Security officials decided not to grant him citizenship after what The New York Times called a "routine background check" revealed that FBI officials had interviewed him in 2011, at the request of the Russian government, which was concerned that he had ties to Chechen terrorists. He was also reportedly involved in an episode of domestic violence in 2009 against his girlfriend.

A majority of the Senate supported the legislation to strengthen background checks, but it failed to get the 60 votes needed to move ahead. The vast majority of the American public also backs expanding background checks.

Three thousand five hundred Americans have had their lives stolen due to gun violence since the shootings in Newtown last December. One hundred forty six of those deaths were of Ohioans, and while the Senate had an opportunity to enact responsible gun legislation, Senator Rob Portman helped block the bill that would require common sense background checks on all gun purchases.

This past weekend, ProgressOhio stood beside a coalition of advocates for responsible gun laws to let Senator Portman and the country know that this fight isn't over. At an organized rally in Fountain Square in Cincinnati, activists and the friends and families of victims gathered to make their voices heard.

Visit ABC 9 to watch the whole story.

This past Saturday, ProgressOhio gathered with friends, community leaders, activists, and legislators at a special reception to honor the public service of Ohio Congresswoman Betty Sutton. Representative Sutton was the recipient of ProgressOhio's 2nd Annual Progressive Hero Award. The House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, congratulated Congresswoman Sutton for receiving the progressive honor and for her service while in the United States Congress:

While serving in the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Sutton was a champion of health care reform, helping pass the Affordable Care Act and bring health coverage to thousands of uninsured Ohioans. The Representative continues to be a strong leader for labor and manufacturing, and served as the chief sponsor of the "Cash for Clunkers" program that helped save the auto industry and stablize American auto values during the great recession. Congresswoman Sutton is also a strong advocate for education, working to expand Pell Grants for schools in her home district. She is also a strong voice for women's rights and an advocate for responsible environmental policy. During her service in the United States Congress, Betty fought everyday for the progressive values and democracy our nation was built upon, and we can truly say that Ohio is a better state because of her. 

"Thank you, but this award isn't just for me. Yes, I was sent to the US Congress to do great things for Ohio, but behind me the entire time were the people that sent me there. It was you Ohio. It was you that inspired me and worked hard to make sure we could get the things done that we had to. In a way, this award is much more for you than me and you continue to inspire me every single day."  -Rep. Betty Sutton

This year, ProgressOhio was also pleased to honor a community activist with the Barbara Klass Sokol Award. Barbara was a beloved member of the Upper Arlington community who is remembered for her high level of energy, humanitarianism, love for the arts, and concern for the environment. With the Barbara Klass Sokol Award, we honor her memory by recognizing a grassroots activist that embodies the wholesome philanthropy that Barbara represents.

We are proud to announce that this year's recipient is Rev. John Aeschbury of Columbus, Ohio. Rev. Aeschbury, was presented with the 2013 Barbara Klass Sokol Award for his work as the lead organizer of B.R.E.A.D- an inter-faith, ecumenical, inter-racial, multi-issue community organization that has focused on education, public transportation, affordable housing, neighborhood safety, access to health care, and restorative justice. 

Help support these Progressive Heroes by donating to ProgressOhio. Every dollar that is donated is used to help fund our programs and help our partners to continue to bring progressive change to Ohio.

This weekend, ProgressOhio's Executive Director Brian Rothenberg took on Matt Mayor of Oppurtunity Ohio on Medicaid expansion in Ohio.

"One, there was no victory because it's 240,000 people that are going to be without insurance over this problem and are still uncovered even after the ACA, or Obamacare, goes into effect. They're caught in this middle section in Ohio...it's a real problem. Secondly, this is only part of the battle and it's only one piece of it. It hasn't been been voted out of the House and it has to go to the Senate and through conference committee. I think Medicaid expansion is going to be back in there. The serverence tax is a victory for oil lobbyists, that's what it is. They bought it because they don't want any kind of tax. The fact of the matter is that I don't like where the governor was putting the money. There needs to be a taxso that people in local governments can take care of problems that are created by this industry. Yes, there's a future for shale and shale oil in Ohio, but there's all kinds of road problems, local government problems, housing problems, crime problems, and most of all environmental problems."

Rothenberg went on to discuss the consequences of taking Medicaid expansion out of the state budget:

"In terms of our lawmakers taking Medicaid expansion out of the budget...I think it's going to change. It's not just hospitals and it's not just the governor. You're talking about churches, you're talking about groups like Ohio Right to Life, on the right, and ProgressOhio agreeing with the governor. How often does that happen? You know this is a very intense thing. These are people's lives that are in the balance, and these hospitals, the reason they're so worried about it, is because some of them could go out of business because these subsidies under ACA and Obamacare go out for uninsured care, and the reason is everybody is going to have coverage."

Check out NBC4 for Part: 1 and Part: 2

Press release from the office of Senator Charleta B. Tavares-

Columbus - Senator Charleta B. Tavares (D - Columbus) will soon be introducing the Domestic Workers Act. This bill will require that domestic workers be paid the minimum wage, be paid overtime wages, make certain conduct directed towards them an unlawful discriminatory practice and require a weekly day of rest for domestic workers.

Domestic workers are critical to the US economy. They help families meet many of the most basic physical, emotional, and social needs of the young and the old. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there are 1.5 million domestic workers across the country. New York was the first state to pass the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights in 2010. There is an estimate that this legislation will impact 200,000 people in the state of New York. Illinois and California both introduced similar legislation in 2012.  

"We have hidden workers who are caring for children, preparing meals and cleaning the houses of thousands of Ohioans who are out of sight and out of the protection of basic labor standards. We have a responsibility to ensure they are not abused financially, discriminated against or taken advantaged," stated Senator Tavares.

Three thousand three hundred and thirty. That is the number of men, women, and children that have lost their lives to gun violence since the tragedy at Newtown this past Decemeber. As the nation awaits its legislative leaders to take action, activists have taken to the US Capitol to demand a plan and remember those that have been lost.

Entitled the No More Names campaign, the round-the-clock public demonstration is intended to remember those who have tragically lost their lives by urging Congress to approve common-sense gun-violence prevention measures.

Originating under the name Filibuster the Filibuster, the No More Names campaign began last week on Wednesday, April 10, when families of gun-violence victims began continuously reading names of those killed as Republican senators threatened to not allow debate or a vote on background checks. It took more than 12 hours to read the names of the more than 3,300 individuals who have been killed by guns since the Newtown shooting. After 12 hours, the demonstration continued and advocates began reading the names again. In total, 10,076 names were read continuously for 32 hours and 40 minutes.  After the first day of action by advocates, the Senate voted 68 to 31 to allow debate on legislation to address gun violence to proceed. Reading paused when the Senate went out of session late Thursday.

When the reading of the names resumes Monday at noon, the first reader will be Eddie Weingart, who as a 2-year saw his mother shot and killed.  Others readers have included Jillian Soto, whose sister Vicki Soto died shielding her students at Sandy Hook Elementary School; Emily Nottingham, the mother of former Rep. Gabby Giffords' (D-AZ) staffer Gabe Zimmerman who was shot and killed in Tucson, Arizona, in the attack on Rep. Giffords life; Steve Barton, survivor of the Aurora, Colorado shooting; and Lori Haas, whose daughter survived the Virginia Tech shooting; Chief Jim Johnson, police chief of Baltimore County, Maryland; and Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT), who represents Newtown.

The No More Names campaign is being organized by gun-violence-prevention advocates from the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Americans for Responsible Solutions, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Coalition To Stop Gun Violence, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, chapters of the Million Mom March, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Newtown Action Alliance, Organizing for Action, the PICO National Network, Project to End Gun Violence, Protest Easy Guns, and Sojourners.

The Beacon Journal has the story:

With 20 years as one of the state's most knowledgeable education funding analysts, Howard Fleeter of the Education Tax Policy Institute in Columbus was banging his head against his spreadsheets for much of last week.

It started Tuesday afternoon, when the Ohio House's Finance and Appropriations committee released page after page of complex formula changes in Gov. John Kasich's school funding plan.

Simultaneous with the release, the legislature's research arm released spreadsheets showing how each school district would be affected by the House plan, and reporters, analysts and school officials tried to make sense of it all.

An initial inspection made it look as though fewer school districts would receive reductions in state aid than in the Kasich plan. That would be good news.

But something was wrong. The House's language sounded good, but the dollars weren't there.

A Beacon Journal analysis, Fleeter and others found that at the bottom line, the House was proposing to spend less for education than Kasich.

"They've created a formula that they have not funded," Fleeter said.

Fleeter estimates that the House version spends $114 million less over the biennium than Kasich's original school funding plan.

Former state Rep. Steve Dyer, who helped author the last school funding formula under Gov. Ted Strickland and now is the education policy adviser for Innovation Ohio, estimates the cuts to be even higher: more than $200 million.

And a Beacon Journal analysis, with two separate calculations based on reports provided by the Legislative Service Commission and the House, suggests that the state would spend $82.2 million less on education in the House version than in Kasich's plan.

That means that many of the 225 districts the House said last week were on the "guarantee" and exempt from funding cuts may in fact be losing money in the House version.

Ranking members of the House Finance and Appropriations and Education committees did not return phone calls left throughout the week. The House is expected to vote on the entire budget bill on Thursday, then send it to the Senate for revisions.

Spreadsheets provided by the House suggest that 133 districts could receive less funding in 2014 under the House proposal than they are estimated to receive this year, and 479 would receive more. However, there are so many significant changes in the funding formula and pass-throughs to charter and private schools, it is difficult to discern how accurate those numbers are.

Nonetheless, at Tuesday's introduction of the changes, Committee Chair Rep. Ron Amstutz, R-Wooster, in referring to the governor's roll-out of his own plan, said: "I do have a little piece of good news. There was some confusion on the initial school funding information that went out and I think we've been able to stabilize that in the version that's in front of us now to the point where no districts would be receiving less operating money less year and many of them are receiving more."

"We were able to accomplish this by making some changes in how the formulation and the distribution of the funds is being accomplished," Amstutz said. "And we feel that will be helpful to the districts."

Can't tell winners, losers

In all, 275 school districts, or 45 percent of Ohio schools, would receive cuts totaling $291.6 million in the first year of the House plan.

Canton City, with a high concentration of children in poverty, would lose nearly $6 million, the highest dollar amount of all districts in the five-county Akron-Canton area, but Akron, also with many disadvantaged children, would receive the highest increase, $4.1 million

Twinsburg, Woodridge and Jackson - considered to be "wealthy" because of their high-value industrial and commercial developments - round out the top 10 to be cut. But Green and Lake, also with above-average property valuation and household incomes, would be among the top winners.

The confusion in analyzing the numbers comes from several factors. There were multiple sets of spreadsheets: The governor released budget line items showing spending by each account plus spreadsheets showing the effect on each school district. The House did the same, but neither provided a set of spreadsheets that allowed simple comparison of one with the other or with current school funding.

Kasich, for example, budgeted the same special education program twice in his spreadsheet, in two different accounts, thus making it look as though he was spending $231 million over two years that he was not.

The House removed one of those accounts, making it look as though it cut $231 million, when it was not.

"It's not really a cut, it just eliminated that double-count," Fleeter explained.

What is basic?

Basic aid, also known as base cost funding, was defined in an Ohio Supreme Court ruling in 1997 as the amount needed for a basic education of a child. Additional funding was to be provided for such things as special education, vocational or career training and transportation.

Adjusted for inflation since the court's ruling, the state should be providing $5,883 per child.

However, Kasich proposed reducing basic aid from this year's $5,789 to $5,000.

The House said it was re-instating the $5,789 in current basic aid.

To achieve a real increase in basic aid from $5,000 to $5,789 for 1.76 million children would have required about $1.3 billion in additional funding in just the first year.

However, the bottom line for basic aid actually is reduced in the House budget by playing a shell game with numbers.

First, it moved transportation support into basic aid. Transportation always had been a separate line item that came on top of basic aid. The effect was that about $300 more per child was counted toward the $5,789 that previously had not been part of basic aid.

The House added Career Tech, or vocational aid, to its spreadsheets - something Kasich had excluded, further complicating any comparisons.

The rest of the confusion came from a cap.

By limiting school districts to a change of no more than 6 percent in their funding, about 364 school districts were denied about $901 million that they would have received if the formula were fully funded.

The Beacon Journal's analysis shows that those not getting full funding tend to be among the most needy districts - those with more students living in poverty, lower average property valuations per pupil and slightly larger class sizes. They also tend to have higher percentages of minority children.

"When are you just going to let the formula do its job?" asked Dave Varda, executive director of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials and a former assistant state superintendent.

"Most of those are urban districts, except for Olentangy and Westerville. The major ones, too," Varda said. "They sort of built a formula that would have helped those districts, then they capped it."

He suggested that caps are created to achieve the amount you want to spend.

"You can adjust the caps. It makes it more easy to put money in the system," Varda said.

Other variables

Varda, Fleeter and Dyer say there are other factors that make it difficult to determine how much districts will really receive.

Funding for charter and private schools is also included in district aid. However, there are proposals by both Kasich and the House to adjust funding for charters and voucher programs that could further reduce aid to traditional public school districts.

For example, the House proposes an increase from $5,000 to $5,700 for a voucher to attend a private high school in Cleveland. That amount is deducted from Cleveland schools.

In addition, the House proposes a $5 million set-aside to improve transportation options for children who attend private schools, and also allows charter schools to start up their own bus services. Money for those bus services also would be deducted from the school district.

Meanwhile, one expenditure the House did cut that affected vouchers was an academic evaluation to determine whether the Jon Peterson Scholarship program for autistic students was a worthy expenditure of state money and to evaluate how the program was affecting home school districts.

This Saturday ProgressOhio will host the Second Annual Progressive Hero Awards and we'd like you to celebrate with us.

Stop by for what is certain to be a special evening, recognizing the work of former Congresswoman Betty Sutton and 2013 Sokol Award Winner Rev. John Aeschbury.

The reception begins at 6:00 PM this Saturday, April 13th at 172 East State Street in Columbus. You can RSVP online here or get your tickets at the door.

Rev. Aeschbury is a United Church of Christ minister who has been the lead organizer of the interfaith group BREAD for the past 16 1/2 years. The group has grown to 52 congregations today that work in the public arena on issues such as healthcare access, education, affordable housing and neighborhood safety.

We're proud to recognize both of their contributions to our great state. Will you join us?

Momentum for two progressive causes picked up this week, as ProgressOhio, along with a coalition of groups, rallied across the state and nation for comprehensive immigration reform and Medicaid expansion in Ohio's state budget.

Wednesday, thousands gathered on the lawn of the US Capitol in Washington DC to demand a path to citizenship for undocumented workers. ProgressOhio, with USAction, along with a coalition of advocacy groups urged lawmakers to make immigration a priority. A bipartisan group of senators is pushing to finish a sweeping immigration bill, with the focus of the legislation being to provide a 10-year path to citizenship for the nearly 11 million people who have overstayed visas or entered the country illegally. The first draft of the bill is over 1,000 pages, but the eight senators drafting the bill have yet to sign off on all the bills provisions.


On Thursday afternoon, more than 2,500 activists, community leaders, and politicians gathered on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus to demand Medicaid expansion in the state budget. An array of bipartisan groups including Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Hospital Association, and Ohio Right to Life voiced their concern that thousands of poor, elderly, and uninsured Ohioans would be left out cold if Governor Kasich's original plan to expand Medicaid wasn't resurrected. Republican leaders in the House stripped the proposed plan earlier this week.

Click for more information on the Immigration Rally in Washington DC, or the Medicaid Expansion Rally in Columbus.

Expanding background checks is critical to reducing gun violence. The public gets this, which is why poll after poll has shown over 90% of Americans support expanded checks.

If two senators with NRA A-ratings from neighboring states can back this bill, why can't Rob Portman?

A new poll out this morning shows that veterans join gun owners, NRA members, and the general public in overwhelmingly supporting background checks:

91 percent of veterans support requiring "a criminal background check of every person who wants to buy a firearm, including 74 [percent] who strongly support it."...

Eighty-five percent of veterans surveyed said it is "important" for leaders in Washington to address gun violence. The same number said that "we can protect responsible gun owners' Second Amendment rights while still making it more difficult for criminals and other dangerous people to obtain guns."

Two years ago Texas began passing up tens of millions of dollars annually in Medicaid funds that would have gone to health care clinics that provide health and family planning services for women. What happened?

About a year after Texas slashed its family-planning budget by two-thirds, with 50 clinics shutting down as a result, the Texas Policy Evaluation Project surveyed 300 pregnant women seeking an abortion in Texas. Nearly half said they were "unable to access the birth control that they wanted to use" in the three months before they became pregnant. Among the reasons: cost, lack of insurance, inability to find a clinic, and inability get a prescription. The state's health commission says Texas will see nearly 24,000 unplanned births between 2014 and 2015 thanks to these cuts, raising state and federal taxpayer's Medicaid costs by up to $273 million.

Ohio House Republicans introduced their version of the state budget this week, which squarely targets Planned Parenthood and women's health services. This year's Freedom of Choice Ohio lobby day will be more important than ever. You can sign-up here to attend the April 17th event here.

At the same time, his consulting company was making $20,000 a month from Wright State University, Jim Leftwich made $85 an hour working for the state of Ohio. 

What exactly did he do for the state? 

Secret.

Leftwich was involved in an effort to get Wright-Patterson cleared as a test airspace site for drones. The Dayton Daily News has been trying to get the bottom of exactly what Leftwich was responsible for and ran into a brick wall trying to get answers from the Kasich administration:

"That is a perversion of the use of the term 'trade secret,'" said Brian Rothenberg of Progress Ohio, left-leaning political group based in Columbus. Progress Ohio has sued to block implementation of JobsOhio, the private non-profit job development arm created by Gov. John Kasich's administration.

"Clearly, somebody who is doing work for a public entity should be responsible for being public about what they do for the public money," Rothenberg said.

In 2008 Ohio's renewable energy standard bill was so uncontroversial that it only received one no vote on its way to passage.

However, last year the American Legislative Exchange Committee (ALEC) declared war on laws that diversified energy sources and publicly announced Ohio was in its crosshairs. Subsequently, ALEC National Board member, and Ohio senator, Bill Seitz equated the bill which he voted for to "Stalin's five-year plan."

Over the weekend the Toledo Blade took on opposition to the successful law:

The energy standards law prevents utility customers from having to pay excessively to meet its mandates. The law should be maintained and strengthened -- not gutted or even repealed, as some state lawmakers seek.

Five years after the law was enacted, 400-plus companies now employ more than 25,000 Ohioans in clean-energy jobs. Not incidentally, greater use of renewable energy helps improve the environment and limit climate change.

... Ohio spends more than $40 billion a year on energy. Nearly four-fifths of this energy comes from coal, most of it imported from out of state. The clean-energy law can curb this overreliance -- if lawmakers will just leave it alone.

Late Friday, we heard the Ohio House does not have the votes to pass Medicaid expansion and extend health coverage to 275,000 Ohioans in the state budget. 

There's still time for the Ohio House to choose people over politics and extend health coverage to low-wage Ohioans, but we need your help.

Join Ohioans across the state at the Statehouse in Columbus to stand up and make our voices heard.

• When: Thursday, April 11 from noon to 1 p.m.
• Where: The Ohio Statehouse (1 Capitol Square, Columbus, Ohio 43215)
• What: YOU and Ohioans from across the state rally to support extending health coverage to 275,000 Ohioans.

Click here to register for the rally for healthy, working Ohioans.

Even if you're not able to join (or if you are), there are lots of other ways you can help. Get involved in 2 steps.

1. Spread the word on email and social media

• Share this email about the rally with your friends and colleagues.
• Join and share the "People! Not Politics." Facebook event at bit.ly/megarally

2. Call your legislator

• Tell your legislators to choose people over politics and support health care for 275,000 Ohioans in the state budget. Call your legislator at this toll free number: 888-844-5009.

This is an unprecedented opportunity. If Ohio accepts federal dollars and extends health coverage to hundreds of thousands of Ohioans, we can save lives, strengthen Ohio's communities, and strengthen our economy.

Please give as much time and energy as you're willing to give to help us show the Ohio House our support for including Medicaid expansion in the state budget.

Thanks for your commitment, participation and for spreading the word to your community about this critical rally.

Below is Brian Rothenberg's speech as prepared for the Norman Thomas Memorial Lecture at Ohio State University at Marion.

What Is, What Was, and What Will Be: The Progressive Movement in the 21^st Century

A journey must always have a destination and the progressive roadmap to where we stand today is a convergence of circumstance, society and history into our moment in time.

It is as if the long solved challenges of the past give insight into the challenges of the present and foretell struggles that lurk into our future.

So here today at the Norman Thomas Memorial lecture, we find ourselves in such a time. We find ourselves at the precipice of What is, What was and What will be of the Progressive Movement.

And we do so in a time of gridlock - not just gridlock in our politics, but gridlock of the mind and spirit -- where our media, online influences and even books reinforce our views rather than expand the minds frontiers. And as a progressive leader such expansion of worldview is more than anything the roadmap of the progressive movement.

In fact, at Forbes College, which is part of Princeton University, the library is named for the man we honor, Norman Thomas.  Inside, a plaque honoring him reads, "I am not the champion of lost causes, but the champion of causes not yet won."

Those "causes not yet won" plague our politics, challenges that Mr. Thomas would likely confront if he were alive today.

Nearly every battle he fought throughout the twentieth century has a descendant in today's politics - from perpetual war to corporate greed, women's rights to environmental protection, immigration to health care, we are still fighting Norman Thomas' fight and then some - LGBT rights is in fact the civil rights epoch of our current day; while fracking is in fact the Love Canal of a not so distant past.

But we take comfort in causes not yet won because as Dr. King once eluded - the moral arc of history bends toward justice.

Norman Thomas knew that. And I must say there are days on the left where one wonders whether the fruits of our work will ripen; where the politics of division and derision lead less to a moment of fruitfulness and more to a bounty of draught and despair.

That's why reminding ourselves of Mr. Thomas each year, at this place, grounds us in the longer vision of the progressive movement and our position within it.

Mr. Thomas was born in Marion, Ohio in 1884.  He was one of six children, and in order to support his family during high school, he worked as a paper carrier for the Marion Daily Star.  He attended Bucknell University for a year before transferring to Princeton University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1905.  He went on to attend Union Theological Seminary, and became an ordained Presbyterian minister in 1911.  Mr. Thomas began working in New York City, preaching a pacifist message in opposition to the First World War.  He was met with heavy criticism, and when his church lost funding as a result, he resigned his pastorate.

In the years that followed, Mr. Thomas became an active member of the Socialist Party.  Compelled by the party's anti-war message, he took on leadership roles and began working as a journalist for Socialist publications and later for The Nation magazine.  In 1922, Thomas became the co-director of the League for Industrial Democracy, and later, one of the co-founders of the National Civil Liberties Bureau (the predecessor of the ACLU).

Thomas ran for public office as a socialist several times, beginning with a 1924 campaign to be governor of New York.  He later ran as a socialist candidate for president in six consecutive elections beginning in 1928.

Mr. Thomas was vehemently anti-war, and though he did support U.S. involvement in World War II, he did so only after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was one of only a few Americans to bravely speak out against the internment of Japanese Americans during the war.  Mr. Thomas was a friend and fellow activist of Margaret Sanger, whose groundbreaking efforts changed the perception of and access to contraception in America.  Mr. Thomas supported labor unions, the protection of the environment, and bitterly opposed racial and ethnic segregation. 

Many of these issues sound dated in past struggles, and it is easy to view Mr. Thomas' activism as the product of a close-minded society that has since evolved.  Yet for all that we might like to think these battles have been won, the challenges confronting progressive activists today are not that different from those that Norman Thomas faced:

• the struggle against perpetual war,
• to protect the environment,
• to guarantee that women are free to make their own healthcare choices, that workers are free to organize, and that every child has the opportunity to achieve the American dream,
• that loving individuals and families are free from discrimination and to marry as they choose,
• and yes, that our precious land and resources sustain us but protect us from our own ecological destructive behavior.

Each of these causes is not yet won, and as progressives, it's our responsibility to attack each challenge head on.

Lessons of Wall Street

One thing that has not changed is the fundamental way in which Americans struggle to broaden prosperity.

Although Norman Thomas and I do not share the socialist mantle, we do share an orthodoxy on how wealth best accrues.

In Thomas' words from a 1932 book, "Wealth is created by the labor of hand and brain of the great mass of workers.  At no time do they collectively get in social income (schools, roads, parks, etc.) what they produce."

Today in the titanic DC struggles over wealth disparity, often I put it in more modern frames - the more money in the hands of consumers to spend, the better our economy flourishes. The more money disproportionately tied up in Wall Street investment, the more the economy stagnates and slows in growth over a Wall Street recovery that leaves behind Main Street consumerism.

Perhaps that is where Thomas and I slightly differ. I do believe in capital spending, just not in the hands of a few profiteers at the top of the pyramid - I believe in true consumer capitalism for shareholders and consumers alike.

I predict Norman Thomas would have a lot to say about our current deficit reduction debate if he were alive today.  As you probably know already, our national debt amounts to roughly $14.8 trillion.  Fueled by a tax cut under George W. Bush and the costly expense of War these estimates also predict that the share of our national economy accounted for by public debt will rise from about 73 percent today to nearly 90 percent by the end of the decade.  This is simply not sustainable, but why?

Dozens of the nation's largest corporations such as General Electric, Verizon and Boeing paid no income taxes over the last four years. Fueled by lobbyists 440 corporations spent more than $200 million lobbying Congress in just a three month period last year. It's no wonder American oligarchs have over $1 trillion dollars in tax loopholes while shielding profits overseas to avoid U.S. taxes.   

We've prioritized the wrong spending projects - we pay more for our military than any other nation in the world, but we also claim that funding for better schools and healthcare is unreasonable.  The arc of injustice spreads these disproportionate tax breaks to corporations and wealthy individuals while placing the brunt of the tax burden on middle and working class families.  For example: between 1979 and 2007, the top 1 percent saw their pre-tax incomes more than triple, while their tax rates declined by roughly 20%.  This system is incentivizing rich profits to be hoarded on Wall Street, while making it harder for blue-collar families to move into the middle class by stifling America's consumer recovery.

We have built a system that advantages the already advantaged, which Norman Thomas hated.  In a 1922 paper, Thomas expressed resentment for the disconnect between the demanding labors of the working class and the opulent lifestyle of the wealthy.  But in today's lense of a more liquid economy we harbor no grudge against success toward shareholders or consumers. Rather, today we just believe in a recovery where a rising tide lifts all boats - rather than a rising tide lifts a few yacht owners.

Today's progressive viewpoint values individual work ethic, freedom, and opportunity, all of which are created by a vibrant consumerism and middle class investors and shareholders.  Capitalism is and always will be the backbone of the American identity - it brought us the light bulb and the telephone, the airplane, the computer age and the automobile.  American capitalism has motivated many of the world's most important advances in science, technology and culture.  So, while I agree with Norman Thomas on many things, I do not agree that socialism is the answer.  Rather, we should strive to build a truly consumer-oriented capitalist system; a system that understands the role of government in protecting the economy is to incentivize consumer spending through an expanding middle and working class, which in turn fuels a trickle UP economy. Simply put there is a difference between a society that values success and one that encourages greed. We can and should be an economy where consumers become shareholders and wealth is spread through the investing and spending of mass consumers instead of the hoarding of cash in the hands of a few. In fact, our economy expands best when consumers broaden the scope of our spending and investment. Success breeds success, but greed leads to stagnated spending. That is why I can say with complete clarity that today's progressive movement is a firm believer in consumer-focused capitalism, despite what our critics might say.  

After 35 years of trickle down stagnation, there are changes we can and should make that would encourage and trickle up - and expand the opportunity to succeed in this country. While corporate leaders decry the nation's corporate tax rate, a recent study showed that of 280 Fortune 500 companies they paid on average only 18.6 percent in taxes because of loopholes and shelters.   That is why both on the revenue side and the spending side of the equation, these require changes that we can make that would level the economic playing field in realistic, sustainable ways - and revenue -- yes equitable taxing -- is a key component of the equation.

Civil Rights in Our Day

In today's world, the idea of judging an individual by the content of their character as opposed to the color of their skin has made great strides.

That is not to say the constant struggle and vigilance of African-Americans in today's culture are over.  African Americans and other minority Americans face drastically higher rates of unemployment and continue to lack access to quality educational opportunities compared with their white counterparts.  There are constant reminders of subtle, individualized bias lurking beneath the surface of everyday life, often invisible to those of us who don't experience these realities. 

Even when so much injustice has been eradicated from our society, challenges remain for those of us who labor to bend the moral arc of history toward a more egalitarian world.  We must continue the fight to protect women's healthcare choices, to reduce the prevalence of gun violence particularly among African American youth, and ensure that all Americans have the right to marry the person they love.

Norman Thomas labored for many of these causes during his lifetime, and would do so if he was alive today.  He was a friend and ally of Margaret Sanger, the leader of the birth control movement and pioneer for women's rights.  Thomas and Sanger both believed that access to birth control was a positive step for women and for society, and would clearly be horrified by the invasive and aggressive attacks on women's health across our country today.  Despite the bend of history's arc toward freedom for women, we find ourselves in a moment where we are fighting the same battles that Sanger and Thomas seemed to have won generations ago.  Bills are passing at the state level limiting funding for Planned Parenthood and challenging women's access to birth control altogether.

The state of Texas is a particularly dramatic example, where legislators and Gov. Rick Perry declined a $30 million expansion of Medicaid largely to avoid providing additional funding to Planned Parenthood.  As a result, nearly 200,000 women could soon lose (or have already lost) access to contraception, cancer screenings and other basic preventative healthcare services.  Not surprisingly, those who live in rural or low-income areas are more likely to be affected by these policies.  Texas has above average rates of unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and ranks dead last in the nation for the prevalence of diabetes among women.  It's clear that the state's policies are not improving the quality of life for women, and are making it harder to gain access to contraception and other basic healthcare services.

But it doesn't stop there: nine other states have tried to slash their family planning budgets, forcing clinics around the country to shut their doors to women in need.  Norman Thomas would certainly have fought back, just as we must.  After all the progress that was made during the twentieth century, Texas has become the standard-bearer for those, yes those in Ohio too, who want to turn back the clock.  As progressives, we must ensure that the arc of history continues to bend toward justice, toward women's freedom, and toward better healthcare regardless of an individual's gender or geographic location.

This fight for freedom is complex, and often comes at a high price.  As I mentioned before, Norman Thomas was fiercely opposed to both World Wars, and only supported World War Two after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Since many of his objections were out of a fundamental opposition to war itself, it is hard to imagine he would tolerate the tragic proliferation of gun violence in America today.

Gun violence is the second leading cause of death in children ages 1 to 19 in this country.  33 Americans are murdered by gun violence every day - one of the highest rates of gun violence in the world, with twenty times more gun murders than other high-income countries even after controlling for population.

Adolescent African American males are at the highest risk for youth gun homicide, and are more than twenty times more likely to be victims than their white peers.  Our inaction on preventing gun violence is having a far greater impact on African American youth than on white youth, a kind of subtle, under-the-radar racism that cannot be ignored.  Especially when simple, straightforward steps like universal background checks could reduce (if not totally prevent) much of this brutality, progressives must take action to create safer streets, communities, and schools for all children.

In Thomas' day, American racism revealed itself in a particularly ignominious moment our history - Japanese internment camps.  Somewhat incomprehensibly, in Thomas' day, opposition to the camps was virtually nonexistent.  He was a lone voice.  But the arc of history has a way of correcting the dark lenses of our past.

As Thomas said in 1942:

 "Under the best imaginable circumstances, the compulsory migration of thousands of people is a pitiful business."

"In other words, it is clear that the American feeling about the treatment of the Japanese is not born exclusively of the fact that we are at war with the country of their origin, but arises mostly from race prejudice..."

"The greatest victim of our procedure against the Japanese is not the Japanese themselves; it is our whole concept of liberty, our standard of justice, and the appeal which American democracy should be making to the oppressed peoples of the world."

For Native Americans, one could reimagine their own struggles over mass migration.  Thus, history had repeated itself - the American majority was complicit as a minority population was removed from their homes and forcibly quarantined elsewhere.  The moral arc of our history has thankfully bent away from these ugly chapters, but to continue this trajectory, we cannot forget or close our eyes to the events of the past.

Ironically it was majority immigrants who afflicted Native Americans on their own land in much the same a majority of immigrants' descendants afflict our new undocumented brothers and sisters. Justice can only come soon for immigrant families in America.

Taking nothing away from those struggles, it is with respect for the continued American struggles of minorities - including my own religion's struggles as Jews - that we now see the curving of history toward a greater acknowledgement of the dignity of those of us who are Gay Americans.

I often say as a Gay American it is a part of me, not all of me. Much like being an Ohioan, or being a Jew, or even being male.

Being gay in Ohio however, has legal and constitutional hurdles that show little growth from Thomas' day.  It's important to remember that in Ohio, there is in our constitution a provision wholly meant to discriminate against me, and limit my equality to marry.  In fact, legislatively even today, gay citizens in our state can be discriminated in housing, fired for being who they are, and denied the legal rights of all other Ohioans - and it's all legal.

Religious groups are split over the issue, and yes, even some groups that have struggled with civil rights in their own pasts fail to see the magnitude of discrimination in this area.  But in the moral arc of history, discrimination against the gay community is a future black mark destined for our history books.

Make no mistake about it, gay rights are the civil rights struggle of our day, and it is clear that the irrational, intentional denial of rights to an entire class of American citizens permeates nearly every aspect of our lives - even the right to donate blood at blood banks; assaults on the right to adopt; lack of protections over bullying; and the right to make decisions for a loving partner in health distress; even the right to be a Boy Scout.  This cannot, and as we're increasingly seeing, it will not, continue.

It is in the spirit of Norman Thomas that even when other classes once defended may look with blinders at discrimination - it is the role of the progressive movement to see with clarity the path to moral justice. Just as Thomas stood firmly against the majority populace over internment of Japanese Americans, we too must stand firmly against discrimination and disenfranchisement.

Progressive Challenges of Today

So how is it that we have come to be a society that values the freedom to pack a gun more than the freedom to love? We allow extremists to hold women's health care hostage in states around the country.  We value identity protection except in the case of access to the polls, where one must have a photo ID. We value the right to work, rather than the rights of workers. We value welfare reform for citizens but not corporate welfare reform from companies using public money for elusive jobs. We value Main Street's small businesses, but build Wall Street's brilliant glass tower monuments to excess.

Today in America the 40-year assault on our nation's federal courts has led ironically to right-wing activist courts that give corporations the rights of people, while actual people struggle to gain legal protection for their basic human rights.

Make no mistake, these are not fringe groups, Tea Party conservatives, or the religious right.

The right today represents what the moderate Dwight Eisenhower once warned against in defense spending - the vast military industrial complex. Today's conservative infrastructure is fueled by transactional politics - a Wall Street and Millionaire industrial complex that morphs our laws through political influence - transactional politics as opposed to right wing ideological politics.

The American Legislative Exchange Council, also known as ALEC, isn't even a tool of the political right - it is a tool of corporate America that seeks to bend the arc of American politics to a hierarchy of American oligarchs.

• Frackers that need not reveal what chemicals they put in the ground to the public.
• Secrecy in corporate welfare public money that shields companies from disclosure of use of public money.
• Limits on election laws that make voters struggle through layers of proof of their rights.
• Efforts to make it harder for grassroots public voters to overturn legislative laws unless they have access to money
• District lines that allow for a "purple state" to have fewer than 10 competitive races in the 99 seat Ohio House and allow for a 60-40 one party majority despite the other party receiving over 1 million more votes statewide.
• Courts that shield constitutional challenges of obvious unconstitutional state laws by limiting or eliminating the right of citizens to sue.
• Rights of gun owners that usurp the rights of consumers to enter a safe environment.

In fact, ALEC operates in relative secrecy, putting select conservative legislators on panels at conferences paid for by corporate industry leaders who serve on the same panels and write model legislation to do their bidding putting greed and profit before prosperity and opportunity for the middle class engine of our community.

If Norman Thomas were alive today he would be one of the first to bring to the forefront the fact that corporations are "not people," and that these protections are really court fictions that hurt not just the left - but ultimately the right - by taking government out of the hands of voters and placing it in the hands of a vast Wall Street Industrial complex that undermines American democracy through its transactional politics.  We're not losing our democracy to socialism, we're losing it to corporate oligarchy and the hoarding rather than spreading of profit - where the leveraged buyouts and offshoring for profits sake vanquishes the opportunity for consumer spending that supports the base of the pyramid. Where Wall Street prospers while Main Street withers.

Thomas might predict that the moral arc of history will naturally bend away from ALEC in time - and lone voice or not, his memory today begs for leaders on the left to rise up as voices joined together to begin a long chorus toward justice.

And cries of socialism ring quite hollow. Even back in 1936, Thomas himself said of the post-Depression New Deal that Franklin Roosevelt was far from a Socialist.

Thomas wrote that Roosevelt's "slogan was not the Socialist cry: "Workers of the world, workers with hand and brain, in town and country, unite!" His cry was: "Workers and small stockholders unite, clean up Wall Street.""  President Obama, like Roosevelt, has frequently been labeled a socialist by those who are on the wrong side of history - those who rush to judge before considering the true substance of his policies. 

As Thomas wrote of Roosevelt, "Some of it was good reformism, but there is nothing Socialist about trying to regulate or reform Wall Street. Socialism wants to abolish the system of which Wall Street is an appropriate expression. There is nothing Socialist about trying to break up great holding companies. We Socialists would prefer to acquire holding companies in order to socialize the utilities now subject to them."

Thus, much like Roosevelt, President Obama and progressives have come under fire for so-called radical and socialist policies, despite the fact that these policies are not socialist at all.  Bringing tougher regulation to Wall Street will create the kind of trickle up economics that strengthens our middle class and builds a more robust capitalist system broadening opportunity for prosperity - a far cry from the goals of socialism.

Conclusion:

So here today, the challenges we face, though born of the same dark corners of our democracy, are different than those faced by Norman Thomas.  And while we shed light on those dark recesses of our great American experiment we know there will be other shadows - that is the true challenge and DNA of our great Democratic experiment.

It is easy to dismiss friend and foe with titles. The Tea Party may not agree on all progressive issues, but we can find commonalities on public policy with them, with other libertarians and with Republicans if we communicate and work together.

Dismissing Barack Obama as a socialist is equally a disconnect from who he is and what he has done. Citizens and lawmakers in a democracy are called to higher standards - to engage in a constant conversation in order to improve our society.

The danger in American society is fundamental when the rights of citizens are tempered to silence by money or influence or political gamesmanship. The true threat to freedom, as Norman Thomas knew, is the transactional political power that buries those rights by hoarding profit rather than expanding consumers, walling off debate through the power of the purse in politics, and silencing the sounds of dissent through a blare horn of advertising funded transactional media.

Today in America the marginalization of groups on both the right and the left of each other obscures the true danger that befalls grassroots movements - a vast Wall Street Industrial Complex.  Grassroots organizations on all sides of the political spectrum should feel threatened by the pervasive influence of money and corporate interests in our politics, and should recognize the shared responsibility to fight back from gridlock of the mind.

And so, it is today, that we honor the memory of an American who recognized that America need not agree with him, and that the value of an election is not always found in winning it.

For Norman Thomas knew it requires someone to take what is and learn from what was to lead us to what will be long before we see their vision.

What is and was and what will be - the future of the progressive movement lies not in hatred of the right - but in shared protections of the liberties of debate; of the sanctity of our individual rights regardless of the public sentiment of our day; and the right to participate in our governing even when we disagree - even when we lose an election.

And sometimes in the arc of history with all its ebbing and flowing flourishes, it takes vision to see the landing, long before others reach the crest of change.

For to be progressive there is one sure truism I think that defines and binds the past and present with what we see around the bend  -- the just through histories lenses shall always overcome.

Thank you for inviting me and allowing me to participate in Norman Thomas' legacy of what the progressive movement is and always will be. The arc of moral history will always bend toward the just.

When the US Senate takes up gun legislation next week, a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines unfortunately won't be apart of the main debate. Even so, advovates of sensible gun-control measures-and they include a large majority of Americans- can still hope, and push for, life-saving changes in our nation's firearms law.s

The Toledo Blade has the story-

A bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee would expand federal background checks for firearms buyers and impose stiffer penalties for illegal gun trafficking. Both measures are more achievable politically than an assault weapons ban, and probably would be more effective in reducing gun violence. Handguns, not assault weapons, are used in the vast majority of gun homicides.

A bipartisan group of senators appears to agree that background checks need to expand to cover most private sales, including those conducted at gun shows and over the Internet. As many as 40 percent of gun transfers occur privately.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman could play a pivotal role in determining whether expanded background checks and other measures pass the Senate. He is among senators targeted by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his advocacy group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, in TV ads that promote legislation to reduce gun violence. Senator Portman should take this historic opportunity to help make his state and nation safer, and less likely to suffer the kind of horrific mass murders witnessed at Newtown and Columbine.

Universal background checks would close a gaping hole in the system that allows guns to flow from legal to illegal hands. They would not eliminate illegal purchases, but they would make such transactions more difficult. Even under the current system of background checks, more than 2 million prospective purchasers have been denied.

In the debate on universal background checks, record-keeping requirements for sales continue to be a sticking point. The big question is whether private sellers should conform to the same requirements as licensed firearms dealers to maintain sales records.

Of course they should. Common sense dictates that gun sales should be handled no differently from automobile transactions. Expanded record-keeping would help police trace guns and ensure that private sellers make background checks.

Gun-control and safety laws unquestionably reduce violence. With some of the strictest gun-control laws in Europe, Britain reported 138 gun deaths in 2009. With five times the population, the United States reported nearly 10,000.

To be sure, cultural differences between the countries partly account for the disparity in gun deaths, but stricter gun laws certainly played a part. Americans don't favor the heavy restrictions imposed on British citizens for gun ownership. Still, they are way ahead of their political leaders on this issue.

Unfortunately, the massacre of 20 children - and six educators who were trying to save them - at Sandy Hook Elementary School last December wasn't enough to prod Congress to stand up to the gun lobby and support an assault weapons ban. But politics is the art of the possible.

Inserting an assault weapons ban into the main gun-control bill could have prevented even a debate on the legislation. Now, the Senate must focus on other gun-safety measures.

Universal background checks would mark a real step forward. Americans must keep the pressure on Congress to take that step.

Read the whole story at the Toledo Blade.

Only a few weeks ago the Supreme Court heard two cases regarding the legality of California's Proposition 8 and the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act. Everyday more legislatures, community leaders, and everyday citizens are changing their attitudes to stand on the right side of history and support equality for LGBT Americans. A March 2013 poll conducted by the Washington Post showed 58% of the nation supporting same-sex marriage.

Although recently the LGBT community has witnessed great landmarks towards equal rights, the battle is far from over. On Wednesday, May 8, Equality Ohio is hosting the "2013 Lobby Day" aimed at discussing LGBT issues with our legislators and board members.

Registration to the event is free.

Date & Time:

• May 8, 2013 at 10:00 AM

Location:

• Statehouse Atrium, 1 Capitol Square Columbus, OH 43215

Agenda:

• Elyzabeth Holford and Key Legislators Speak
• Lunch (on your own)
• Lobbying and Action Tables
• Reception With Legislators

Please click here to reserve your seat.

The Toledo Blade is reporting that a conservative group by the name of "Checks and Balances for Economic Growth" has come under heavy fire after is was discovered that the group failed to publically disclose their hefty spending on political advertisments, as required by law.

The group reportedly spent at least $896,290 in October to run TV commercials critizing Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and President Barack Obama. The ads said the two were harming coal mining jobs through excessive regulation.

Despite attempting to come off as a bi-partisan group, (as the name implies), it is fairly clear that Checks and Balanaces might not care for the checks, balances, or even public disclosure when they faield to report any of this to the Federal Election Commission, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, and independent ethics watchdog.

CREW has reported that Checks and Balances failure to file independent electioneering activity to the FEC could be subject to criminal penalties.

Read more about the story at the Toledo Blade.

Join the Cleveland Jobs with Justice Immigration Committee Advancing Worker's Rights & Immigration Reform, Fight for a Fair Economy Ohio, and the Service Employees International Union for the Cleveland Rally for Comprehensive Immigration Reform on Wednesday, April 10 at 3:00 PM.

The rally will highlight the importance of immigrants both as a central part to our communities and economy. An immigrant family's income rises by 14 percent when the head of their household becomes a US citizen. If 11 million aspiring citizens come out of the shadows, it will boost our economy by $1.5 trillion over the next decade.

Come out to show that we are have stronger communities and a stronger country because of these hard-working women and men. Stand up and demand a reasonable path for our friends and neighbors to gain citizenship.

What: Cleveland Rally for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
When: Wednesday, April 10, 2013- 3:00 PM
Where: The Free Stamp (Corner of East 9th & Lakeside)

Mayor's Against Illegal Guns, Mayor Bloomberg's nationwide alliance fighting gun violence by pressuring law-makers to pass common sense gun legislation, have come out Tuesday to publicly oppose Senator Graham's proposed mental health records bill (S. 480).

Because the bill purports to clarify which mental health records must be submitted to the gun background check system, S.480 would allow virtually all individuals who have been involuntarily committed or otherwise found to be seriously metally ill to possess guns.

For more information about S. 480 and background checks visit MAIG.

Join us this Friday, April 5th, at The Ohio State University- Marion Campus, as we celebrate the life and legacy of a great progressive leader and Marion resident- Norman Thomas.

ProgressOhio's Brian Rothenberg is honored to deliver this year's Norman Thomas Memorial Lecture titled: What Is, What Was, and What Will Be: The Progressive Movement in the 21st Century.

Throughout the twentieth century, Norman Thomas advocated for progressive change on issues ranging from civil rights to environmental protection, economic equality and pacifism. Learning from the lessons of what was during Norman Thomas' lifetime, the talk will examine the political realities of what is today, and evaluate what can and will be the future.

Speaker: Brian Rothenberg- Executive Director, ProgressOhio
Date: Friday, April 5, 12 PM - 1 PM

The Ohio State University at Marion
Maynard Hall, Guthery Community Room
Marion, Ohio 43302

For more information about this event, please visit OSU- Marion Events.

The staff at ProgressNow has released the list and tournament seeding of the sixteen most outrageous, radical, out of touch right-wingers who over the past year have proven that, for one reason or another, they belong in this year's Not-So-Sweet 16. The competition is stiff this year; from preliminary radical right-wing powerhouse and one seed Michele Bachmann from Minnesota, who managed to earn two "Four Pinocchio" ratings from the Washington Post fact-checkers and a Pants on Fire rating from PolitiFact, to the Cinderella story of the 11th seeded Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who compared state employees and Iowans without health insurance to people needing to be cut off at an open bar during a wedding, this year's tournament is anyone's to win.

Click here to vote for the right-winger you think deserves to go to the next round. Share this on your social network of choice and we will tally the results at the end of each round to see who advances. Be sure to check back at the end of every round of the real-life Basketball tournament to see who advances in March Badness!

The fate of thousands of undocumented workers living in Ohio lies in the hands of the United States Congress. Activists that support a pathway to citizenship say undocumented workers only want a chance to a productive member of a country they love.

Among them is Maria Sanchez, 21, who said her future hinges on what Congress chooses to do. Sanchez said she has already benefited from a temporary work permit that allows her to work for two years, however her dream is to go to college and study Anthropology at The Ohio State University and her undocumented status means she would have to pay the international student tuition rate which is three times what she would normally pay. Higher education, however, is still her dream

Brian Rothenberg of ProgressOhio agreed with Ms. Sanchez and the thousands of undocumented workers living and working in Ohio, saying that from a labor perspective, it is important for both U.S. citizens and undocumented workers that a deal is reached.

"It's not just important for current workers. It's important for immigrants because it's unfair to them to have to work for pennies on the dollar. So there are all these types of things that are going on within this agreement that give this path to citizenship and make America a better place. I think it will be a much more stable place in the work force." Rothenberg said.

Check out the rest of the story and check out the video at NBC 4.

No one in our office was familiar with Windell Wheeler when we received an email from him last week, but his message certainly raised eyebrows:

A quick google showed that the man that decided to send us this and eleven other similar, questionable images was in fact the vice mayor of Delaware, Ohio. Wheeler, however, truly outdid himself with this one:

Wheeler also continued the trend of fake Hitler quotes fabricated to gin up opposition to modest gun safety reforms:

The Dispatch contacted Wheeler to find out why a public official would send this to anyone, let alone ProgressOhio, weeks after Ohio Board of Education President Debe Tehrar nearly lost her job for much less:

A photo of a woman baring her midriff to reveal a gun with the caption "properly dressed teacher," a photo of bodies of Holocaust victims, and references to a second American revolution: All were in a pro-firearms email that Delaware Vice Mayor Windell Wheeler forwarded this month from his personal email account.

Now, Wheeler's the one under fire.

The Republican councilman said he thought he was sending the email to people who agreed with his opinions that Congress should not ban assault rifles or otherwise limit the right to own guns.

Wheeler shouldn't be so confident that others agree with his opinions (let alone how he expresses them), as polls have consistently shown over 90% of the public agrees with universal background checks.

Finally, here's the "second American revolution" photo referenced in the Dispatch article:

ProgressOhio's Brian Rothenberg hosted a press conference with Rob Walgate of the Ohio Roundtable, a conservative organization, to talk about the common ground they share on some serious constitutional questions:

Rothenberg's concerns are echoed by Rob Walgate with the Ohio Roundtable. Both groups are upset over laws that are being passed that they say restrict Ohioans access the ballot to change state laws through voter referendums.

Both men also question the constitutionality of Gov. Kasich's JobsOhio, the state's new non-profit private corporation. Walgate, a conservative who is usually an ally of Republicans, says the Gov. Kasich is not listening to his group's concerns.

"They don't want to talk to us about this. They've taken the attitude that they are smarter than the rest of us, they know more than the rest of us and they can make decisions that will benefit everybody, regardless of whether that means breaking the law or not."

Another issue tackled during the press conference was the state's recent attempts to deflect a range of lawsuits by saying no one has the grounds to sue:

 

But the state has argued that the two groups don't have legal standing to sue.

"They've been arguing that nobody has standing to enforce these to sue to enforce the constitution. It literally leaves the constitution a defenseless document," Rothenberg said.

"This is about Ohioans, citizens, taxpayers, having their day in court and being able to enforce the constitution because if you are not given the day in court, the constitution is worthless, because elected officials can do whatever they want," Walgate said.

Every year, thousands of low-income families, children, and disabled Ohioans rely on Medicaid for health care coverage in order to live healthy, productive lives.

Join us with community members, lawmakers and advocates at a Medicaid forum in Columbus this Thursday, March 28, 2013. The forum will be focusing on issues surronding extending Medicaid coverage, the potential impacts on Ohio citizens and local businesses, and how it will impact the rising cost of health care in 2014.

Please plan to attend and hear information from the following speakers: Greg Moody, Health Transformation State Director; John McCarthy, Medicaid State Director; John Martin, DODD Director; and John Hannah, Arc of Ohio President.

WHEN: Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
WHERE: Goodwill Columbus- 1331 Edgehill Rd, Columbus, OH 43212

Please RSVP at (614) 583.0329

This even is being hosted by The Arc Ohio, Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities, OPRA, Goodwill Columbus, OACB, Columbus Chamber of Commerce, Human Service Chamber of Franklin County, and the Columbus Center for Human Service Inc.

Immigration reform is once again becoming a part of the national conversation. Here are some facts to keep in mind as this discussion continues during the coming months:

Public support for reform

Polls have shown that an overwhelming majority of our country want to fix our nation's broken immigration system, including a path to citizenship.

Millions of families affected

16.6 million people belong to mixed-status families with at least one U.S. citizen and one undocumented member, many of whom are parents or heads of household.

Good for the economy

Bringing undocumented immigrants off the economic sidelines would generate $1.5 trillion in cumulative GDP over 10 years. And it would add around $5 billion in federal tax revenues over the next three years.

Good for all workers

If the 8.5 million legal permanent residents who are eligible to naturalize did so, they would see an 8 percent to 11 percent boost in wages, leading to a $21 billion to $45 billion cumulative increase in wages, which would then ripple through the economy, creating significant gains overall.

Immigrants are part of our tax base

Immigrants paid $11.2 billion in state and local taxes in 2010 alone, adding a significant amount of money to help state and local finances.

Border security is already a priority, and we have the results to prove it.

We've spent the money and done the work to make sure the border is safe. The number of border patrol agents more than doubled from 2004 to 2011. Concerns about the border can no longer derail a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

ProgressOhio joined faith leaders and citizens outside of a gun show at the Summit County Fairgrounds to talk about :

David Eggert of South Euclid was in Tallmadge with his wife, the Rev. Kristine Eggert of Disciples Christian Church of Cleveland Heights. "Our church is taking a stance against violence and we are looking for a way to get more active," he said.

His wife said recent gun incidents have had a profound effect on her congregation.

"Children in our congregation do not believe us when we say 'you are safe' because they have been on [school] lockdown," she said.

Three recent polls have shown that over 90% of the country supports universal background checks on all gun purchases:

Today marks the third anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, a landmark law that will extend health benefits to more than 30 million people who are now uninsured. Since the law survived a Supreme Court review and the 2012 election, we now know the law is here to stay. Affordable, quality health care will be woven into the fabric of American society, making us stronger and healthier as a nation.

Already, we've seen people with pre-existing conditions enabled, for the first time, to buy affordable insurance. Children with health problems can no longer be turned down for coverage. Small businesses have access to tax credits to get health insurance for their employees. Women have access to preventive care without co-pays, seniors are paying less for prescription medicines and health insurers now must adhere to strict guidelines on the share of your premium dollar that must be used on medical care rather than overhead, salaries and marketing costs.

Starting in October, individuals and small business owners will be able to buy health private insurance in state-based marketplaces or enroll in expanded Medicaid programs. Both will increase access to no-cost preventive care millions.

In 2014, with law in full effect, annual limits on insurance coverage will be eliminated, exclusion of people with pre-existing conditions will be outlawed and tax credits for families and small business will be expanded.  

Despite the good news, the fight to make sure that all Americans benefit from the law isn't over. This week the House passed the 2014 spending plan put forward by GOP Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, the failed GOP vice-presidential nominee in 2012. This extremist budget would repeal Obamacare and end Medicare as we know it. Meanwhile, some states are fighting the Medicaid expansion needed to make the Affordable Care Act work for those most in need.

So even though we celebrate this great anniversary, HCAN will continue the fight to make sure everyone has access to quality, affordable health care. We will fight to ensure that the Obamacare provision guaranteeing no-cost contraception stays on the books. We will resist every House GOP repeal attempt, and oppose every budget item that raises prices for consumers to protect insurance and pharmaceutical companies.

Former congressional representative Betty Sutton announced this morning that she will not be running for governor in 2014.

"I want to thank all who have encouraged me to run for governor of our great state," Sutton said in a brief announcement emailed to The Plain Dealer. "I will always be honored by the support and encouragement I have been given, but after thoughtful consideration, I have decided that I will not run for governor in 2014."

After Rep. Tim Ryan announced last week that he is also sitting the race out, the path to the Democratic nomination is seemingly clear for Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald. Former State Treasurer Richard Cordray is the only other name that has been widely considered, and his entranace would seemingly hinge on whether Senate Republicans OK his nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Over the past month as more and more questions have been raised about the secrecy regarding Kasich's semi-privatized development agency, thousands of Ohioans have been left wondering exactly what the governor's aides are so frantic to hide. The panic has come just weeks after State Auditor Dave Yost issued a subpoena to audit the agency, following a systematic "cleaning-out" of several Development employees from the top-down.

Kasich and Yost are both Republicans. So maybe turf is all that's at stake -- or ego. GOP House Speaker William Batchelder, a close Kasich ally, has implied Yost should just shut up and listen to his GOP elders.

For now, Kasich has relented and complied with Yost's subpoena to turn over JobsOhio documents for a state audit. But the quasi-private jobs agency also said it would refund millions in certain public funds it's received -- potentially setting up further tussles. And it's likely that Kasich and his allies, spearheaded by Batchelder, will either try to ram through legislation fencing Yost out or seek a Kasich-friendly plaintiff to sue him.

Yet a state-authorized corporation whose operating funds derive in part from a bond issue underwritten with public dollars needs to be more transparent, not less so.

The administration contends that JobsOhio is a private, nonprofit corporation, albeit authorized by the General Assembly, and that the state liquor monopoly profits used to underwrite bonds and otherwise to help finance JobsOhio don't entitle Yost to audit what they consider the "private" money that JobsOhio spends.

The administration also argues that if Yost fishes in JobsOhio's pond, audits might expose confidential private business data given to JobsOhio in good faith by businesses that seek the corporation's help in bringing jobs to Ohio, scaring off any business that might otherwise invest in Ohio.

But Kasich aides have not cited any instance when such private information leaked from the state Development Department that JobsOhio replaced. Development had its faults; Kasich aides can recite them in their sleep. So if Development (incontestably a public agency, publicly audited) ever leaked, the administration would cite that in its war with Yost. It hasn't.

Finally, state liquor profits are indeed the state's profits. More precisely, they're profits of a business staked by and operated for the people of Ohio.

For 50 years, Ohio judges have cited an open-records maxim that, reworded this way, the Kasich administration ought to heed, rather than dicker with Yost: The rule in Ohio should be that public funds are the people's funds, and that the officials in whose custody that money happens to be are merely trustees for the people.

Read the full story at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The biggest news in Ohio politics yesterday was the showdown over Gov. John Kasich's JobsOhio program. Brian Rothenberg did interviews on the controversial program with two television stations:

Earlier this year, before Congress allowed our nation to fall off the "fiscal cliff", many were discussing the consequences of the sequester. Now that the deadline has come and gone, many are starting to notice the very real impacts sequestration is having, and also its disproportionate effects on students, the elderly, and military families.

Rachel Maddow covers the story:

We talked last week about the effects of sequestration cuts on the military, which have already led to cuts in the Army's Tuition Assistance program, benefiting veterans looking for financial aid to get a college degree. It's not the only military program related to education hurting under the sequester.

On the 10-year anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, and scholarships for children of troops who died fighting in that conflict are being cut by thousands of dollars, thanks to sequestration.

The awards, called the Iraq and Afghanistan War Grants, go to undergraduate students whose moms or dads died "as a result of military service performed in Iraq or Afghanistan after the events of 9/11," according to the Department of Education.

Awards that have already been established are safe, but as of March 1, the dollar amount for each new grant is being reduced by 37.8 percent from what a student would have received last year. That means young adults will receive up to $2,133.81 less if they apply for a grant for the first time this year. 

Remember, all of this is entirely unnecessary. Congress could just turn the sequester off and allow the deficit to shrink on its own. The Iraq and Afghanistan War Grants may have to cut under the damaging policy, but the policy itself doesn't have to happen.

But congressional Republicans see these cuts as a "victory," so they're inclined to leave them alone.

What's more, let's not forget that it's not just military servicemen and women and their families feeling the pinch. It's the Head Start centers who are having to exclude kids, the furloughs for those who help keep Americans' food supply safe, the hardship on low-income Americans who rely on housing assistance, and on and on.

For all of the Beltway assumptions that sequestration was a dud, that President Obama "cried wolf" when he warned of damaging consequences, and that "no one noticed" the effects of the policy, real people are facing real hardship for no good reason. Much of Washington appears to have largely moved on, but for those feeling the pinch, that's not an option.

Read the entire article on The Maddow Blog.

Ohio Representative Denise Driehaus, a member of the Ohio Finance and Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Development, is bringing to light questions raised by ProgressOhio regarding the lack of transparency at Kasich's development agency, JobsOhio.

JobsOhio is a public/private entity that was created in the last budget cycle. Two years ago, the testimony regarding JobsOhio was heard in this same subcommittee of finance and appropriations. Since then, JobsOhio has taken over the liquor operation for the state and now houses millions of dollars in public bond profits.

Additionally, JobsOhio has received millions of tax dollars directly from the state budget. Yet, they did not feel compelled to come before this or any other committee to detail what money has come into their budget, nor have they disclosed how this money has been spent. So, as a member of the most appropriate committee to hear such testimony, Driehaus requested that they come in to give an overview of their work. The request was denied. She asked again, and the request was denied for the second time.

In a press release on JobsOhio from Jan. 20, 2011, Gov. Kasich highlighted some of JobsOhio's features including, "A focus on accountability and transparency, which will be an integral part of JobsOhio, from financial records and audits to the names and compensation of all employees."

Representative Driehaus comments on the matter:

"On the contrary, it seems as though, each time we get a little closer to transparency and hearing from someone who can answer questions about JobsOhio and DSA, a new roadblock goes up. We should be able to do our jobs to represent the public's interest by accessing all pertinent information.

Not having JobsOhio testify is troubling for a couple of reasons. First, JobsOhio is a public/private partnership. There are public dollars running through this organization that are supposed to be serving a public purpose. Secondly, the lack of transparency coupled with the refusal to come in to be accountable for the dollars that have been spent raises questions about what they are doing and how they are doing it.

We do not know that anything inappropriate has transpired, nor do we know if public dollars are being wisely spent by JobsOhio - that is a problem. But, the larger problem is that we may never know"

Read the entire Op-Ed at the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Over the past two years, Texas has made $30 million dollars in funding cuts to organizations like Planned Parenthood that provide low cost/no cost women's health services. As a result, 50 clinics have shut their doors and the results have been dramatic:

[T]he Texas Policy Evaluation Project surveyed 300 pregnant women seeking an abortion in Texas. Nearly half said they were "unable to access the birth control that they wanted to use" in the three months before they became pregnant. Among the reasons: cost, lack of insurance, inability to find a clinic, and inability get a prescription. The state's health commission says Texas will see nearly 24,000 unplanned births between 2014 and 2015 thanks to these cuts, raising state and federal taxpayer's Medicaid costs by up to $273 million.

In a state where half of all pregnancies were unplanned in 2011, and 1 in 3 women of childbearing age lacks health insurance, this is only going to get worse.

A bill with similar intentions was introduced last November in Ohio. 

Senator Rob Portman has received a lot of attention for becoming only the third Republican currently in Congress to come out in favor of gay marriage.

Portman credits his shift to finding out two years ago that one of his children is gay. Correleations between policy decisions and family composition isn't limited to this issue. A study from Yale found that not only does having a daughter influence the rate at which politicians support women's issues, but that having more daughters is related to higher scores, even across party lines.

Yesterday on Meet the Press, House Speaker John Boehner was asked about Portman's decision and all but ruled out changing on the issue, saying he had "made clear" his opposition and that he "can't imagine his position would ever change."

These twenty children and six others lost their lives to gun violence in Newtown, Connecticut.
The Associated Press visited the new school building, where Sandy Hook staff and students are living on edge:

A group of Sandy Hook Elementary School third-graders attending a Brownie meeting on a recent day heard a loud noise and looked around nervously. Though the troop leader assured them it was probably just someone pushing a cart, one girl began to cry.

"You can tell that every little sound that is made in that school, the kids are still extremely scared," said Brenda Lebinski, parent of a third-grader who witnessed the episode.

At home, Robinson said, parents say children have cried and asked, "Is the bad man coming back?"

The Senate continues to consider common sense legislation to help prevent the next tragedy. You can call Rob Portman at 202 224-3353 and tell him the families of these children deserve a vote.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson took an unconventional approach to his annual State of the City address. This afternoon he sat down with a local television reporter in front of an audience of over a 1,000 people for unscripted conversation about Cleveland:

Mayor Jackson told Leon and members of the Cleveland City Club in summary he wants to improve the overall vision of Cleveland. To do that, the mayor said, "The measure of a great city is the participation of the people."

He went on to say, "We haven't arrived yet. We are still at the point where it can go either way despite the great things we have going on here. Our main obstacle is our underdeveloped infrastructure. We overcome that and we can guarantee future success." The three keys to that success, the mayor offered, is education, community benefits and community involvement.

 

ProgressOhio released a report today prepared by Citizens for Tax Justice in Washington, D.C., showing that four Ohio corporations - Proctor and Gamble, Eaton, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, and Owens-Illinois - collectively had $53.2 billion in offshore profit holdings in 2012 - an increase of $ 6,800,001,010 (14.7%) from 2011 when the four companies had $46.4 billion in profits stashed offshore.  These four companies are among 92 Fortune 500 companies that had nearly $1.4 trillion in profits parked offshore in 2012.

"By stashing their profits overseas these companies may avoid paying their fair share of taxes and that's just not right," said Brian Rothenberg, ProgressOhio.  "We should end these tax loopholes that encourage big corporations to ship profits and jobs overseas, and use that new revenue to invest in jobs in America improving our roads and bridges, rebuilding manufacturing and making us energy independent."

"We need to close these tax loopholes that allow companies to hide their profits in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens, so that we have the revenue needed to invest here in America. It's a simple choice: continue tax loopholes for big Ohio corporations, or protect Ohio's seniors, kids and working families from vital service cuts."

The four Ohio companies and the foreign profits they are avoiding U.S. taxes on are:

For the full report visit: http://ctj.org/pdf/offshorechampions0313.pdf

In recent years, U.S.-based multinational corporations have systematically accumulated staggering amounts of profits offshore. Much if not most of these profits were actually earned in the United States but have been artificially shifted to foreign tax havens to avoid U.S. corporate income taxes, according to the report.

Under current law, so-called "foreign" corporate profits are not subject to U.S. tax unless and until the profits are repatriated into the United States. According to the congressional Joint

Committee on Taxation, this indefinite deferral of tax on profits ostensibly earned or shifted overseas will cost the federal government about $600 billion over the upcoming decade. There is legislation in Congress sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that would end this practice.

Lobbyists for multinational corporations are urging Congress to make the loophole even bigger in upcoming tax reform legislation, by permanently exempting from U.S. corporate income taxes all profits that U.S. corporations manage to have treated as "foreign." Such a change would make it even more profitable for multinational corporations to shift jobs and profits out of the United States, and could cost the U.S. government hundreds of billions of dollars in additional lost revenues.

It is expected that during the debate in Congress this year over tax reform there will be an effort to close foreign tax loopholes that encourage Ohio companies to offshore profits generated here in America.

"We should end tax breaks for companies that ship profits and jobs overseas, and level the playing field for small businesses that create jobs in America," said Brian Rothenberg, Executive Director, ProgressOhio.  "These successful companies should pay their fair share of taxes because if you do well in America, you should do right by America."   

As Catholic leaders gather in Rome to select a new pope and as the Senate Judiciary Committee resumes its markup of gun bills, leaders of diverse faiths in the U.S. are taking action today to demand that Congress pass common-sense gun law reforms to prevent the gun violence that claims the lives of 33 Americans every day.

Gov. John Kasich's attempt to avoid an audit of his JobsOhio program has come under intense scrutiny. 

Yesterday, Brian Rothenberg joined State Rep. John Patrick Carney on All Sides with Ann Fisher to speak about the effort being led by Carney and Republican state auditor David Yost.

Brian also spoke about the secrecy surrounding JobsOhio on 10TV:

FitzGerald Announces Gubernatorial Committee

Cuyahoga County Executive Readies Run Against Kasich

Lakewood, OH-Today, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald announced the formation of an exploratory committee to run for Governor in 2014.

"Today, I'm announcing the formation of an exploratory committee to run for governor," said FitzGerald in a video released on his web site.  "But more than that, I'm beginning a conversation with you, the people of Ohio."

FitzGerald highlighted his lifelong commitment to public service and touted his credentials as an FBI special agent, an Assistant County Prosecutor, the Mayor of Lakewood and Cuyahoga County's first County Executive.

"When I started my career I took an oath to serve the public - to put you first.  As a special agent with the FBI, I helped put crime bosses and corrupt politicians behind bars," said FitzGerald.  "Now as County Executive, I dismantled a corrupt political patronage machine that was choking my county and holding us back." 

FitzGerald channeled the concerns of many Ohioans about the current state of affairs in Columbus.

"One thing I've learned is that many of us have the same concerns and questions about the direction of our state.  I believe Ohio has been let down by its leaders, especially a political establishment in state government who stopped listening to the people.  They're more interested in scoring partisan points or taking care of the insiders than focusing on what's best for the middle class."

FitzGerald criticized the Kasich administration's record of gutting funding to communities and plans to raise taxes on middle class families.

"Do we really have to settle for a state government that robs our communities, forcing cuts to police, firefighters and teachers?  Or is something better possible?  Do we really have to settle for a Governor who wants new taxes on everyday Ohioans while giving big tax breaks for those at the top?  Or is something better possible?  I think something better is possible,

FitzGerald invited Ohioans from all corners of the state and political parties to join his campaign to reclaim Ohio.

"If you're tired of state government taking its cues from the wealthy and well connected instead of Ohio's middle class, join me.  "If you're tired of a status quo that passes the buck to local communities, while you get nickled and dimed to death, join me."

FitzGerald closed by saying "Ohio belongs to all of us, not just political contributors or big corporations and everyone has a role to play in shaping Ohio's future."

For more information, visit www.EdFitzGeraldForOhio.com.

The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus first demanded the restoring of a separate Minority Business Division last month when they unveiled their comprehensive Action Plan at the Statehouse.  Yesterday, the members met with Governor Kasich and his cabinet about the Action Plan which includes, Jobs, Education, Healthcare, Voting Rights, and Minority Business initiatives. Today the first step of the Action Plan was implemented.

The Dispatch has more on the details:

Members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus met with Gov. John Kasich yesterday, nearly a month after the legislators laid down an "action plan" to advance their agenda.

Turns out, the Kasich administration is taking at least one action the caucus members requested.

After the Ohio Development Services Agency heard feedback from state legislators and minority business owners, it was determined that the Minority Business Office deserves to have its own division instead of being merged with two other offices.

"We were pleased to hear how the Black Caucus action plan brought attention to this issue and how important it is to keep it going," said Rep. Alicia Reece, D-Cincinnati, after meeting with Kasich.

The three offices merged in August 2011 to make a "one-stop shop" under the Business Assistance Office with the Small Business Office and Export Assistance Office.

To restore the Minority Business Office as its own division within the agency is "in the interest of all parties to better meet the needs of the minority business community," said Todd Walker, a spokesman for the agency.

Click here to check out the whole article at The Dispatch.

Our friends over at Policy Matters Ohio issued a statement today on why social services, programs, and investment are important for Ohioans during a weak recovery.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services survey of households released today shows that Ohio's unemployment rate ticked up slightly in January, from 6.7 percent to 7.0 percent. This is the first increase in the unemployment rate since June 2011, and the largest month-to-month increase since May 2009.   A separate survey, the establishment survey, which provides the job count by surveying firms and generally carries more statistical weight, showed that Ohio added a modest 3,800 jobs in January. In addition, revised numbers issued today by the department show that job growth was weaker than was earlier reported in 2012, and that there has been little growth in last six months.

Today's numbers included revisions based on the department's annual benchmarking using unemployment tax records. Benchmarking helps to improve accuracy and frequently leads to changes in previously-released data. This year's revisions are significant, with every month since the start of the 2007 recession being revised and with revisions extending to January 2000.  

Based on preliminary examination of the revised numbers, Ohio's overall recovery is about the same as previously reported. Ohio has added 135,600 jobs since the official end of the recession in June 2009. The state is still a long way from recovery, and is still down more than 239,000 jobs since that recession began.  

"It appears that job growth slowed in 2012," said Hannah Halbert, workforce researcher with Policy Matters Ohio. "We have to be concerned about the weakness of the recovery."  

Earlier years appear to be stronger than previously reported, and 2012 had weaker growth than previously reported. December 2010 through December 2011 was revised up from 0.7 percent job growth to 1.5 percent while December 2011 through December 2012 was revised downward from 1.8 percent job growth to 0.8 percent.  

The revised data suggests that the slowing trend is continuing, with only 5,600 jobs added since July. The same time period in 2011 showed an increase of 49,300 jobs.  

"Ohio needs investment to move forward, to grow jobs, educate kids, and build strong communities," Halbert said. "The current rate of job growth will leave our state behind."

A report released this week from NARAL Ohio exposes the harmful and misleading claims made by crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) throughout the state.  The yearlong investigation exposed "widespread use of medically inaccurate information designed to coerce women from making health care decisions they believe are best for them."

There are about 107 CPCs throughout the state, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.  The CPCs drastically outnumber the 15 medical clinics that provide abortion services in Ohio.  Some CPCs do supply maternity clothes, baby formula, and other necessities (which NARAL supports).  But according to the Enquirer, "many of the centers present themselves as medical facilities" despite the limited nature of their services.  In fact, "less than 2 percent of the centers provide direct medical care."  Even the ultrasounds provided by 38% of CPCs are misleading - 95% of facilities "did not mention" that these ultrasounds were "for non-diagnostic purposes."

Beyond simply misleading women about the scope of their services, CPCs also misrepresent the medical and emotional results of having an abortion.  The NARAL report states, "47% of CPCs gave misleading information on the connection between mental health problems and abortion...[and] 38% provided false information about the connection between breast cancer, infertility and abortion." 

"No matter how a person feels about abortion, everyone can agree that women should never be misled when seeking information about pregnancy, birth control, abortion, or sexually transmitted infections. Yet it is happening across the state," Jaime Miracle, Policy Director for NARAL Ohio, said in a statement.  "Our investigation makes it clear that crisis pregnancy centers should not be promoted by the State of Ohio or receive taxpayer funding."

None of the CPCs provided referrals or information about contraceptive services beyond natural family planning or abstinence.  "When making a decision about their health women deserve comprehensive, non-judgmental and medically accurate information, so that she can make an informed decision. It's wrong to mislead anyone seeking medical information," said Miracle. 

State Representative Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) announced today that he has introduced legislation to impose tougher penalties for the illegal dumping of waste from oil and gas drilling. The bill's introduction follows the federal indictment of Mr. Ben Lupo, owner of local oil and gas company Hardrock Excavating, who directed employees to illegally dump hundreds of gallons of brine and oil into waterways leading to the Mahoning River. 

"Ohio's oil and gas laws need to reflect the seriousness with which we regard both the health of our communities and our environment," said Rep. Hagan. "This legislation serves as warning that we will not sacrifice our safety and well-being for industry profit."

House Bill 93, introduced this week, will stiffen the criminal penalties for violating state oil and gas law relating to the improper disposal, transport and management of brine so the punishment matches federal law. The legislation would also require the state to revoke and deny future permits to any individual or company convicted of illegal dumping.

"Companies that recklessly disregard our environmental laws should not be allowed to continue doing business in the state of Ohio." Rep. Hagan said. "In this instance, the perpetrator had racked up at least 120 violations  across two states, yet somehow was still operating right in our backyard. That can no longer be permitted."

The bill, which will serve as companion legislation to Senate Bill 46 - sponsored by Senators Schiavoni and Larose - elevates the crime to a felony and imposes a minimum sentence of three years in prison and a $10,000 fine for anyone who knowingly violates the law. Additional convictions would carry a six year minimum sentence and a $25,000 fine.

To learn more about the dangers of fracking click here.

Sen. Sherrod Brown has found an unlikely ally in his effort to end too big to fail in Republican Sen. David Vitter. 

Brown gave his reasoning for the bill the pair are working on, which seeks to break-up the largest banks:

The best example is that 18 years ago, the largest six banks' combined assets were 16 percent of GDP. Today they're 64-65 percent of GDP. So the large banks are getting bigger and bigger, partly because of the financial crisis, partly because of the advantages they have.

Vitter has emphasized the gravity of the problem by emphasizing that this is an issue which crosses ideological boundaries:

I think the fact that Sen. Brown and I are both here on the floor echoing each other's concerns, virtually repeating each other's arguments, is pretty significant. I don't know if we quite define the political spectrum of the United States Senate, but we come pretty darned close. And yet, we absolutely agree about this threat.

The Dispatch has reported that Gov. John Kasich's privatized development agency, JobsOhio, raised about $7 million in private donations and paid four employees more than Kasich's annual salary during its first year in operation.

According to financial records JobsOhio filed with the state, the nonprofit entity pays president and chief investment officer John Minor $225,000 per year. He is one of four JobsOhio employees who make more than Kasich's annual salary of about $149,000 according to the report filed December 31, obtained by The Dispatch through a public records request on January 29.

The Dispatch reported that half of JobsOhio's 26 employees make at least $100,000 per year.

Read the full article here.

They're at it again. Insurance companies supported the Affordable Care Act agreed to stop consumer abuse in exchange for getting their top two priorities: the individual mandate and no public option.

Now that the insurance companies got what they wanted, they are finding it difficult to stick to their end of the deal.  We might do well to consider that the insurance companies are out on bail with regard to their commitments to the new ACA consumer protections, and, it would be a big mistake to release them on their own recognizance.

The Universal Health Care Action Network reported that the insurance companies remain key players in the state insurance marketplaces (aka exchanges), in the insurance markets outside the exchanges, and in the rule-making process that is deciding how (and to what extent) the ACA is implemented. Therefore, we need to make sure we know what the insurance companies are doing at all times.

Moving forward with enrollment in the exchanges and the Medicaid expansion are critically important, but UHCAN urges health care justice advocates to also be vigilant about "watch-dogging" the insurance industry, too. The industry's most recent public relations actions with regard to the age rating band - the ACA's prohibition against charging older people more than three times what they charge younger people - is a perfect illustration of the urgency of the need to watchdog them.

The insurance companies have started using the new term, "rate shock." The insurance companies have thousands of high-paid, full-time employees working every day to undermine health care reform. Our response is the same as it always has been, only we need to step it up now - keep out eyes on what they insurance companies are doing and demand transparency and accountability!

Despite heavy lobbying of the insurance industry and their allies, the Department of Health and Human Services just upheld the age rating band rule, but America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) is tenacious in trying to convince the public that this will mean shockingly high premiums for young people. Here are links to just a couple of the national new stories picking up on the insurer's messaging:

-Insurers: New rules will cause health costs to spike 'overnight', The Hill, Sam Baker (2/22/13)

-Will young adults face 'rate shock' because of the health-care law?, Washington Post, by N.C. Aizeman (2/15/13)

The sequester is almost here. Unless a deal is made, on Friday mandatory cuts will hit much of government including programs that benefit Ohio. According to Policy Matters Ohio, our state will lose $187 million in federal funding, including $75 million for primary education. 

This morning ProgressOhio was joined by former Rep. Dennis Kucinich who shared his vision for righting the budget and addressing pork in the Pentagon. Following a conversation with the press, Kucinich had a lively talk with activists that gathered from across central Ohio that had gathered at our offices. 

After the conversation, those gathered took actions to contact their representatives and urge them to avoid the sequester by addressing the Pentagon budget. 

For more information on how you can get involved, visit PullthePork.org

Common Cause Ohio and ProgressOhio are hosting a special screening of Bill Moyer's documentary The United States of ALEC on Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 7:00 PM in the atrium of the Ohio Statehouse located at Broad and High St.

The film will be introduced by Common Cause President Bob Edgar.  Bob served 12 years in the US Congress representing Pennsylvania's Seventh Congressional District. Prior to joining Common Cause in 2007, he was the general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA for seven years.

A discussion will follow the film.  The panel examining ALEC's impact on Ohio will include Cheryl Johncox of the Buckeye Forest Council, Marian Harris of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence and Bret Thompson of ProgressOhio.

Admission to the showing is free.

The United States of ALEC examines the most influential corporate-funded politicalforce most of America has never heard of - ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. A national consortium of state politicians and powerful corporations, ALEC presents itself as a "nonpartisan public-private partnership". But behind that mantra lies a vast network of corporate lobbying and political action aimed to increase corporate profits at public expense without public knowledge.

In state houses around the country, hundreds of pieces of boilerplate ALEC legislation are proposed or enacted that would, among other things, dilute collective bargaining rights, make it harder for some Americans to vote, and limit corporate liability for harm caused to consumers - each accomplished without the public ever knowing who's behind it.

NBC 4 reports on Saturday's rally against gun violence at the Ohio Statehouse:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Hundreds of parents rallied in front of Columbus City Hall Saturday to urge lawmakers to toughen local gun laws.

A mothers' group supporting common sense gun laws sponsored the event which was backed by victims of gun violence and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman.

Nate Mueller, a student survivor of the school shooting in Chardon, Ohio, said he wanted to stand for something.

"I think if I would have died, then I would have been just another statistic, but now that I'm still here I can do something about it," he said.

Jodi Sandoval's 14-year-old son, Noah died when he was struck in the chest with a bullet while he and a friend played with an unsecured gun."I cry.  I wail.  I writhe around on by bed. I lament.  I sit in his room and smell his dirty laundry.  I just feel it," she told those at the rally.

Read the whole story here.

The White House has released a report detailing the impact of sequestration on Ohiocommunities. The sequester - the automatic budget cuts that, absent action from Congress, willtake effect on March 1 - will "threaten hundreds of thousands of middle class jobs, and cut vitalservices for children, seniors, people with mental illness and our men and women in uniform."The cuts will impact government funding for many programs including (but not limited to)education, law enforcement, public health, and military spending.
In this year alone, sequestration cuts in Ohio include:

• Roughly 26,000 civilian Department of Defense employees will be furloughed About 34,000 fewer students and 100 fewer schools would benefit from federal funding,while the state would lose an estimated $25.1 million in funding for primary andsecondary education Funding for Head Start and Early Head Start will be eliminated for about 2,500 Ohiochildren Ohio will lose approximately $1,786,000 in funding for job search assistance, referral, andplacement, denying critical support to roughly 57,100 people Approximately $823,000 cut from funds that provide meals for seniors

According to the Dayton Daily News, "Republicans say that the White House is painting thebleakest possible scenario about the cuts' impact in order to force their hand." The article citesan appearance on Fox News Sunday by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-OK, who suggested, "that theObama administration was exaggerating the effects of the cuts." Coburn said, "We see all theseclaims about what a tragedy it's going to be," but suggested that the government had "plenty ofdiscretion" about spending money.
In contrast to the apathy displayed by Sen. Coburn and other Republican lawmakers, manyDemocrats are eager to stave off sequestration. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, a Democratfrom northern Ohio, released a statement calling on Congress to act quickly in order toprevent these cuts. "Our economy is beginning to recover strength, but sequestration is ablunt instrument that is already stifling job creation and acting as a drag on economic growth,"she said. Kaptur, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, argued for a"balanced plan," saying, "This is no time to play politics. I hope when we return to Washington,Republican leadership gets serious and takes action on a balanced plan to avert these damagingand mindless cuts." 

A rally calling for Congress to pass common-sense gun laws filled the south plaza outside Columbus City Hall today.

After an opening song by local student Lizzie Shockney, Bishop Thomas A. Burns led the crowd in a prayer. The event MC was State Rep. Tracy Maxwell Heard, a strong supporter of legislation at the state and federal level to address the gun show loophole in Ohio. The leaders of the two sponsoring organizations, Moms Demand Action & Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence (OCAGV) spoke next.

After the Newton tragedy, Indiana mother Shannon Watts started a Facebook group called One Million Moms for Gun Control which has turned into a national organization called Moms Demand Action. Shannon spoke of her journey saying, "I am not a politician. I am a mom from Indiana. I am an accidental activist. Together we will be the voice of reason. We will do everything in our power to make sure Newtown, Aurora, Virginia Tech, Oak Creek, Columbine, that every tragic death from gun violence will be the reason for change in our country."

Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence Executive Director Toby Hoover spoke next saying, "As a survivor of a gun violence victim I am overwhelmed by and grateful for the new support and enthusiasm of families, legislators and especially the victims and survivors of gun violence.  We should all make our children our idols instead of guns and we invite all Ohioans to join us to change this culture."

Speaking next was Mayor Michael Coleman who is the Ohio chairman of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. He spoke about standing for his convictions when the NRA threatened to move their convention over a proposed citywide assault weapons ban he supported. He introduced Congresswoman Joyce Beatty who recently dedicated her first speech in the House of Representatives to the issue of gun violence.

Dr.  Jonathan Groner who is a pediatric trauma surgeon shared the unique perspective of someone who has operated on gunshot victims.  He was followed by former State Rep. Ted Celeste who recounted his past activism on the issue and called for civility in the debate. 

Three survivors of gun violence gave powerful testimony as to how their lives have been impacted. Jodi Sandoval and Deborah Maddox both had children that were shot. Nate Mueller was a student from Chardon that lost classmates during the school shooting there a year ago.

The final speaker was Ben Famous, Regional Representative for Sen. Sherrod Brown, who delivered a personal message from the senator.

Gun violence is the second leading cause of death of children between the ages of 1 and 19 in America, and 30,000 Americans are killed by gun violence every year. President Barack Obama and many advocates have called for Congress to address this issue by requiring background checks on all gun purchases and banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines.

ProgressOhio alongside Democratic lawmakers, progressive leaders, and activists gathered at the Statehouse Thursday to call on state and federal officials to support common sense law changes aimed at assisting immigrants wanting to become US citizens. 

Dix Capital Bureau reported on the conference:

"It should take place within a reasonable timeframe," said BrianRothenberg,executive director of ProgressOhio. "Immigrants rooted in this country should not have to wait decades to obtain citizenship. And we need fair immigration reform and smarter enforcement, includgin an end to troubling laws and policies that have eroded our individual rights and made our communities less secure and our job and word force less secure."

At the state level, two Democratic lawmakers said they will pursue allowing children of undocumented residents to attend college and changning driver's license policies.

"We want everyone to be included in all systems that we have to offer in the United States and here in the state of Ohio," said Sen. Charleta Tavares, from Columbus. "We need comprehensive immigration reform so that all of those who are working in our employment centers and our manufacturing centers and our fruit and vegetable and farming community and our education institutions to be fully incorporated as citizens."

Rep. Dan Ramos, a Democrat from Lorain, voiced concern about conflicting practices in place at the state's bureau of motor vehicles, with some immigrants holding Social Security cards unable to obtain driver's licenses. 

"In some cases the driver's licenses are being granted, in some instances they're being denied," Ramos said. "I'm told recently some folks have been denied and then they show up with a lawyer and a reporter and some TV cameras...and in the light of public scrutiny, then they get their driver's license. That shouldn't be necessary."

Read the whole post on The Daily Record.

78 people gathered at Rep. Boehner's West Chester Office Wednesday to protest possible March 1st Secquestion cuts to vital services. Activists demanded that more revenue be discussed and that corporate tax loophole should be closed so that corporations pay their fair share of taxes, Congress considers cutting vital programs to important services that Ohioans rely upon. Activists then delivered 1000's of petitions from the various groups.

Local media including the Dayton Daily News, The Associated Press, WCPO TV, WLW Radio, Hamilton News Journal and the Middletown Journal all covered the event.

Groups involved included: ProgressOhio, Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, Cincinnati AFL-CIO, Dayton Miami Valley AFL-CIO, Ohio Working America, Alliance for Retired Americans, Ohio Chapter of the National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare, Cincinnati Council on American Islamic Relations, Ohio Nuns on the Bus, Contact Center, GlobalSolutions.org, Cincinnati Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, Health Care for America Now,Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center, Miami Valley Full Employment Council, & National Jobs For All Coalition

Megan Allen gave a very compelling testimony before Congress yesterday about the effect violence and budget cuts have on her elementary school students:

My name is Megan Allen. I am the 2010 Florida Teacher of the Year and a National Board Certified Teacher. But I am most proud of being a fifth grade teacher.

I teach at a Title 1 school in Tampa, Florida named Shaw Elementary School. We have about 600 students and more than 90 percent of them qualify for free and reduced-price lunch. I teach two language arts classes and have a total of 36 students. To them, I am Ms. A.

Let me paint a picture, showing you the faces of my students. Let's dive into what it means to be a student at a high-needs school, because today I speak for them.

Of my 36 students, I have 10 with special needs, who work with the support of an exceptional education teacher.  They have disabilities ranging from Emotional Behavioral Disorder to Schizophrenia.

I have two students who are Haitian, whose families show up to every school event dressed in their best, for their dreams and hopes are placed in their children.

I have five students who are English-language learners, receiving daily support from a translator so they can better understand their academics and so I can communicate with their families.

I have two students with arrest records, one who is in a live-in program for troubled youth.

I have four 10 and 11 year-old boys in a special program for our most troubled boys, where they learn manners, wear coats and ties, and learn what it means to be a man.

I have five girls who receive extra support in a lunch group for girls with low self-esteem.

I have two young ladies who receive intense counseling at school, one because she is a rape victim, one because she is a ten-year-old with an ulcer due to anxiety about taking care of her siblings now that her mom has been deported.

Just yesterday morning, I had one of my girls act out and refuse to work. Upon a little prodding and a whole lot of love, she confided in me that she is a victim of violence, crying on my shoulder. Once she had told me, she returned to reading the day's Robert Louis Stevenson poem and interpreting the author's meaning. I don't know how she did that.

I have one student who is checked out of school every Thursday to visit her mother, who is in jail.
I have students who go to bed afraid because of violence in their neighborhood, who look to school as their place to call home. Who go home hungry on the weekends and look forward to two solid meals a day during the school week.

But most of all, I have 36 students who dream. Who have beautiful goals. Who see school as the lever to break the chains of poverty and achieve something amazing in life for themselves and their families. And our school is working to make that happen. Our students are winning county science fairs, making great gains in their student learning, and shining in and out of the classroom. Our students are moving towards greatness.

So, how does that happen? Why is our school successful despite all of these challenges? And how do we help our students with these intense levels of emotional and academic needs?

We use Title 1 funding to provide our students with a lower teacher-to-student ratio, with additional teachers such as math resource teachers, reading coaches, and academic intervention specialists. These supports help lift our kids to their full potential, while helping me and other teachers make sure we are meeting the needs of every child.

We have more social supports so our students can then narrow in and focus on their academics. School psychologists, counselors, Title 1 teachers, and teacher aides work with our students in small groups, providing the care and academic support our students need.

Head Start and solid pre-kindergarten programs are vital to our success. We battle the achievement gap every day, and this academic and social instruction is one of our primary weapons. It is crucial to our students' success.

My students live in poverty and have special needs that federal funding helps meet -- for example, keeping class sizes manageable so teachers can provide individual attention and support. For my students, a low student-to-teacher ratio is a dream lifter and life changer -- essential if they are to realize their full potential. 

To put one more human face on the looming cuts, I would like to tell you about one of my students. But remember that even though I share just his story, there are hundreds like him in my school alone and millions like him all across America.

My story is about a boy named Daniel. He was shy, started the school year with very low self-esteem, but blossomed into a writer I can only describe as "poetic." One day, toward the end of the year, Daniel shuffled up to me after school and said: "Ms. Allen, I have something special for you. It's one of my favorite things."

I knew that Daniel didn't have many material possessions, so I tried to decline the offer. I told him the thought was enough. But Daniel was having none of it. He stuck out a closed fist, slowly opened it, and unveiled ... a rock.
"Ms. A.," he said, "I was thinking. School is my rock. I know I can always hold onto it, that it's always there for me."

That's when I realized the power and importance of education, school, and teachers. Straight from the mouth of a child, the truth hit me like a ton of bricks. School is the rock in this child's life, the one place he knows he can count on. For no matter what instabilities our students have, there is one thing they can depend on: school.

Daniel helped me realize that we are not there as teachers to only help our kids pass a test. That is important, but not our main purpose for this child or for any child. We are there to be the rocks for these children, to be the one stable force in many of their lives. We are there to help them see education as a vehicle to take them far in life, to help ignite a love of learning.

The looming cuts threaten all of that.
 
We may lose the momentum from the successes that our students are building upon due to massive across-the-board cuts -- the "sequester." Those cuts are scheduled to take effect on March 1, just a week and a day from now.  
 
In my school district -- Hillsborough County in Florida -- 142 schools stand to lose $3 million in Title I funding. On top of that, we'll be getting $2 million less for special education -- the equivalent of shifting the entire cost of educating 1,500 students with disabilities from the federal government to Hillsborough County. Programs serving English-language learners -- we have 25,000 -- will be cut as well.
 
The impact will be harshest on students in Title I schools -- like the one I teach in. Students like mine -- my little learners, my Daniel -- are the reason the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed in the first place, back in 1965. As Title I of the law says, the goal is "to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education."
 
Students like mine are the reason the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was passed in the first place, back in 1975. IDEA ensures that children with disabilities have the opportunity to receive a free and appropriate public education, just like other children. It governs early intervention, special education, and related services.
 
In the name of Daniel and the 36 students that I work to nurture and inspire every day, I urge you in the strongest possible terms to stop the sequester. Think of what it would mean to them -- and to millions of students just like them all across America.
 
Some say we cannot afford to keep spending as much on education. I say we cannot afford to spend a cent less. In fact, we should be spending more. We owe it to our youngest dreamers. Our learners. Economic recovery begins in our classrooms. Investing in education is investing in the future of America. The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow -- our living legacy.
 
Thank you for hearing my testimony today.

Ohio labor, faith and community leaders took part in the "Power Up for Citizenship!" week of action, to call for immediate action by Congress for an immigration reform bill that offers a clear path for citizenship for the more than 11 million Americans in waiting.

Mohamud Jama of the Somali Education and Resource Center proclaimed, "America is the best nation in the world and yet was built by the hands of immigrants. This Congress has a unique opportunity to provide a fair pathway to citizenship for today's 11 million undocumented immigrants, so that they can enjoy the full benefits of citizenship that we all enjoy."

The event also served as platform to announce the guiding principles of a new national campaign, the Alliance for Citizenship:

• Secure broadest possible legalization with a path to citizenship
• Preserve and work to advance family reunification
• Protect rights and working conditions for all workers
• Ensure enforcement measures protect American and immigrant workers, advance due process and fair treatment and are consistent with American values
• Accord the responsibilities and rights required for full integration into American society

State Sen. Charleta Tavares spoke about reintroducing her tuition equity bill, with the goal of providing equal higher educational opportunities to children who have been in America most of their lives, by no fault of their own. Sen. Tavares spoke of the wide ranging impact that this law could provide to families, businesses, universities and the economy. She went on to say, "By establishing equal and more affordable educational opportunities, we're welcoming hard working and devoted young people who want be part of this great nation and would like nothing more than to earn a college degree, work hard and contribute as much as the rest of us are able to do."

State Rep. Dan Ramos also spoke in support of Tavares Bill and the Alliance for Citizenship as did John Ramos and Maritza Motino of LULAC and Anab Saed of the Somali Education and Resource Center.

The Press Conference was sponsored by ProgressOhio and the Ohio Organizing Collaborative.

ProgressOhio would like to thank everyone who came out to the #JobsNotCuts rally in Cleveland last night. There was nearly 75 people and were carried on live television in Cleveland. Speakers include Rep. Marcia Fudge, SEIU member Kizzie Simmons, and our own Brian Rothenberg.

Click the video below to listen to Representative Fudge's remarks:

ProgressOhio is joining organizations across the state in a Call In Day on Thursday, February 21st to support Medicaid expansion in Ohio.

Our Goal: To show members of the Ohio House of Representatives that there is broad public support to expand health coverage to 275,000 Ohioans in the state budget.

Our message is simple:
"Please keep Medicaid expansion in the budget, we can't afford NOT to expand coverage."

Instructions for Call In Day

Step 1: Find Your State Representative

• Click here to enter your zip code (and address if needed) to find your state representative

Step 2: Call Your State Representative

• After you find out who your legislator is from the link above, call him/her using this sample script:

"I'm calling to urge Representative (insert rep's name) to keep Medicaid expansion in the budget. If we choose not to extend Medicaid, Ohio taxpayers will pay an additional $404 million over the next two years, lose $2.4 billion($13 billion over seven years) of Ohioans' federal tax dollars to support Ohio's priorities, and put at risk local mental health and addiction services. We can't afford not to extend Medicaid in the state budget."

Step 3: Call House Finance Chairman Ron Amstutz

• Call (614) 466-7584 using this sample script:

"I'm calling to urge Representative Amstutz to keep Medicaid expansion in the budget. If we choose not to extend Medicaid, Ohio taxpayers will pay an additional $404 million over the next two years, lose $2.4 billion($13 billion over seven years) of Ohioans' federal tax dollars to support Ohio's priorities, and put at risk local mental health and addiction services. We can't afford not to extend Medicaid in the state budget."

On Tuesday night, Gov. John Kasich delivered his third annual State of the State address in Lima, focusing primarily on his proposal for the state budget.  In his speech, Kasich lauded the growth of the state's rainy day fund, and praised the expansion of business in the state.  The Plain Dealer used a circus metaphor to describe the speech, writing, "[Kasich] has turned this annual rite of policymaking passage into a traveling carnival meant to build a folksy image for himself and boost the self-esteem of Small Town, Ohio. And so it was here Tuesday...that Kasich channeled P.T. Barnum."

Many across the state praised Kasich's choice to expand Medicaid.  But they were quick to disagree with Kasich's rosy portrayal of Ohio's economic climate and the impact the budget proposal will have for working and middle class Ohioans.  State Senator Nina Turner released a statement saying, "I applaud the Governor's decision to take advantage of Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act. This program will allow over 450,000 additional Ohioans to have access to healthcare and provide a boost to our state's medical service and technology industry." 

But Sen. Turner also called the speech a "slick sales pitch," rather than an accurate representation of the state's budget realities.  "The state has a budget surplus now only because the tough fiscal decisions were passed on to local governments and school districts two years ago. Ohio's communities have been forced to cut services, lay off safety forces and teachers, and raise taxes. Now the Governor wants to hike taxes on middle class and poor families to fund $10,300 tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent. That just doesn't seem fair."

enate Democratic Leader Eric Kearney also disagreed with Kasich's representation of his budget proposal.  "I am greatly disappointed by the empty promises contained in his budget," he said in a statement.  Sen. Kearney referred to Kasich's so-called tax cut as a "tax shift," which will "force the middle class to pay more so millionaires can pay less."

Last week, Governor Kasich introduced the new state budget, and while some provisions are being applauded (such as expanding Medicare benefits to thousands of uninsured Ohioans), the new proposal is also drawing many critics by slashing essential programs while protecting tax cuts to wealthiest Ohioans and corporations. 

Gavin DeVore Leonard of One Ohio Now elaborates on the uneven development in Kasich's plan:

"The share of state taxes paid by businesses and wealthy residents has gone down. Everybody wants lower taxes, but everybody also wants great schools, roads, and public services. In 2005, a tax overhaul ended Ohio's corporate income tax and reduced personal income taxes by 21 percent. The idea was, and still is, that lower taxes would bring jobs and growth. But these things haven't materialized. Ohio has fewer jobs today than we did in 2005. Meanwhile, the state has lost $2.5 billion a year in revenue. Public schools, local governments, and other social services have suffered billions in cuts."

In the past years, few Ohioans have benefited from this economic model. The governor's plan turns its back on poor and middle-class Ohioans that have struggled the most during the recession, while favoring the wealthy and corporations that have enjoyed millions in profit. Not only does Kasich plan on extending tax cuts for those who don't need them, but his plan would also substantially increase the state's sales tax base by taxing services that range from legal representation to laundromats- services that disproportionately affect poor Ohioans.

"Mr. Kasich's proposal has questionable investment priorities. Ohio has an improving economy and rising revenues. But after billions in cuts in the mid-recession budget, the new budget makes no serious attempt to make up for lost ground. By investing in our people and priorities such as public schools, we can create good jobs now that will help grow Ohio's future. Mr. Kasich's budget offers little new money for any of these priorities-the ones middle-class Ohioans are most concerned with."

To read the entire editorial on Governor Kasich's proposed budget vist The Toledo Blade. 

If you're already in the area or heading up there, here's the flyer for the activities going on before Gov. Kasich's State of the State speech this evening in Lima: 

ProgressOhio Executive Director Brian Rothenberg made the following statement in advance of this evening's State of the State address:

Gov. Kasich enters the speech breezing with the winds of a national economic recovery at his back. But he also has little ability to harness the winds around him. It isn't income tax breaks for millionaires that created recovery in Ohio. It is consumer spending and investment in jobs for middle class Ohioans rather than Wall Street portfolios that stokes the winds of change. The challenge for Gov. Kasich is to ride the wind -- not stifle it with Bush-era income tax cuts that can stifle the recovery.

Here's a personal story from Norm Wernett about how lingering weakness in the economy can jeopardize our retirement:

Good afternoon, I'm Norm Wernet retired from paid work after 53 years and the now voluntary president for the Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans with 230,000 retired workers. I am one of the fortunate retirees with a pension, personal savings, and Social Security to secure retirement for my wife and me. I survived the multiple recessions, stagflation, and even a layoff late in my work life and made it to the now full retirement age of age 66. Many friends have not been so lucky. I'm here today to support the message of Fair Share Alliance that American workers want to work, have the skills and ability to learn to make that work productive for us all. With enough work to see us through, more of us will be able to find a life after a life of work and retire to add more value in uncompensated endeavors. What we need now are real incentives with accountability that create productive jobs instead of giveaways with a pat on the head and promises and rhetoric about being job creators.

Unfortunately many workers are not able to make it to a so-called full retirement age. I have a friend George Korocedes who worked into his late 50's at a ceramics company. The company decided to go bankrupt. George moved on to find other work. The company was supposed to provide a way to transition George's health benefits paid entirely by the worker. But instead the company took the money and left George in medical debt. You see George had a series massive heart attacks and found out he had no insurance while recovering in the hospital. That is the kind of economic insecurity workers face all the time. Now not being able to work, he took Social Security disability which will be a reduced amount against his full retirement. His pension, what little there will be after a 30%-70% reduction, is locked away in an under funded federal agency, the PBGC, until he reaches an artificially higher set retirement age. After two years George can get Medicare but still has the debt and owes 20% on his next heart attack hospitalization.  We need good jobs with reasonable pay and benefits to make it to retirement and common sense regulations to keep corporations accountable. It is time to change the bankruptcy law and close the tax loopholes that permit this corporate behavior.

I have a son 37 with a Masters degree in evolutionary biology who cannot find enough work to get beyond just above poverty. His employer limits him to 19 hours a week tutoring students in math and science and learning skills. He picks up private pay students but still qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit. He is highly skilled but employers do not want to take a chance on him and will not respond to his queries. Silence from the job creators is not acceptable. Americans men and women want to work. I ask that companies and corporations be held accountable to create work in our communities rather than shipping that work overseas and demanding lower wages. I want my son to at least have enough quarters to have some social insurance coverage and a bit of a pension. America wants to work. Its now time for local banks, large financial houses, small business owners, and large corporations to do their part to put America back to work. It is time to create incentives that bring work back to America.

The biggest reaction during last night's State of the Union address may have come when President Barack Obama talked about the plan to address gun violence:

It has been two months since Newtown. I know this is not the first time this country has debated how to reduce gun violence. But this time is different. Overwhelming majorities of Americans - Americans who believe in the 2nd Amendment - have come together around commonsense reform - like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun. Senators of both parties are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals. Police chiefs are asking our help to get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets, because they are tired of being outgunned.

Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. If you want to vote no, that's your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote. Because in the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun.

One of those we lost was a young girl named Hadiya Pendleton. She was 15 years old. She loved Fig Newtons and lip gloss. She was a majorette. She was so good to her friends, they all thought they were her best friend. Just three weeks ago, she was here, in Washington, with her classmates, performing for her country at my inauguration. And a week later, she was shot and killed in a Chicago park after school, just a mile away from my house.

Hadiya's parents, Nate and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. They deserve a vote.

Gabby Giffords deserves a vote.

The families of Newtown deserve a vote.

The families of Aurora deserve a vote.

The families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence - they deserve a simple vote.

Our actions will not prevent every senseless act of violence in this country. Indeed, no laws, no initiatives, no administrative acts will perfectly solve all the challenges I've outlined tonight. But we were never sent here to be perfect. We were sent here to make what difference we can, to secure this nation, expand opportunity, and uphold our ideals through the hard, often frustrating, but absolutely necessary work of self-government.

We were sent here to look out for our fellow Americans the same way they look out for one another, every single day, usually without fanfare, all across this country. We should follow their example.

This Tuesday the Senate passed the Violence Against Women Act, even with twenty-two Republican male Senators voting against it. It's time to be honest- all women deserve protection from violence, and even though the passage in the Senate symbolizes a small victory for women, the bill now moves to the Republican-controlled House.

USAction reported that when the previous bipartisan Violence Against WomenAct expired last September, Republican obstructionists did everything in their power to stonewall its renewal, putting millions of women's lives in jeopardy. The political motives behind this switch are pinned to additions in the new version of the VAWA that would extend provisions to immigrant, Native American, and LGBT domestic violence victims with its full protections.

We have one chance to do the right thing for women. Tell your Representative to renew the Violence Against Women Act. It's time for the GOP to put aside its bigotry and homophobia and realize that these are real women facing real threats of violence. It shouldn't matter whether a woman is a lesbian, if she is born elsewhere, or if she happens to live on a Reservation: she still deserves protection from a violent partner.

For more information on how to make a difference please visit USAction.

Mercy Killers, a new heart-felt play by Broadway actor Michael Milligan is coming to a stage near you.

Joe, Mercy Killers protagonist, loves apple pie, Rush Limbaugh, the fourth of July and his wife Jane. He is blue-collar, corn-fed, made in the USA and proud, but when his uninsured wife is diagnosed with cancer his patriotic feelings and passion for the ethos of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are turned upside down. In Mercy Killers, a new one-man play, Joe struggles with the uniquely American experience of losing your health in the land of plenty.

Read what people were raving about at the opening Cleveland performance:

"Michael Milligan is a gifted performer.  The plot has many interwoven themes.   The bankruptcy issue is a big one, but the play also deals with quality of care issues, the conflict between the beliefs we hold and the reality of the life we are living--"

"Mercy Killers opened last night in Cleveland at the Second Stage in Playhouse Square.   There was a full audience for the performance and they even had to set up a few extra chairs. ------ some even moved to tears during the show as they put themselves into the shoes of Joe and his struggles."

"It is a very rich 60 minutes. The most powerful part, however, is how Michael succeeds in making Joe and Jane the central theme and how easily he allows the audience to feel Joe's frustrations, sorrows and tragedies, making this about what happens to living, breathing human beings, not just a story."

Check out the schedule to find your nearest showing:

• Mercy Killers: Dayton: Mon. 18 Feb, 2013 (7:00 pm - 9:00 pm) Montgomery County Democratic HQ - 131 S. Wilkinson St - Dayton, OH  
• Mercy Killers: Fairborn: Tue. 19 Feb, 2013 (7:00 pm - 9:00 pm) Wright State University Student Union - Room 008 the Rathskeller - Fairborn, OH  
• Mercy Killers + SPAN State Council Meeting: Sat. 23 Feb, 2013 (4:30 pm - 6:30 pm)Van Fleet Theater - 549 Franklin Ave. - Columbus, OH, 43215  
• Mercy Killers: Athens: Mon. 25 Feb, 2013 (7:00 pm - 9:00 pm) Arts West - 132 West State St - Athens, OH -  
• Mercy Killers: Shaker Heights: Mon. 4 Mar, 2013 (7:00 pm - 9:00 pm) Shaker Heights Community Building - 3450 Lee Road, Shaker Heights, OH  
• Mercy Killers: Columbus: Wed. 20 Feb thru 10 Mar Van Fleet Theater - 549 Franklin Ave - Columbus, OH

Tickets are free (donations are accepted and encouraged). To reserve your seats click on the links above or visit: http://mercykillerscolumbus.eventbrite.com

If John Kasich thinks Ohioans aren't noticing his latest partisan ploy, he has a reality check coming. 

Last month, in a heated and off-the-cuff press conference, Kasich ranted about ProgressOhio's lawsuit against his administration's JobsOhio agency that seeks to privatize economic development in Ohio while using public funds. An aggrevated and on-edge Kasich was caught on camera stating, "There's no legitimacy to this. Constitutional issue? Come on. This is a political issue designed to wreck the progress we're having in Ohio."

Crain's Cleveland Business News slammed Governor Kasich's comments regarding the legal suit:

"Come on. Or, if you'd prefer, fiddle-dee-ee. The organization that has put the roadblock in the governor's way definitely doesn't share his politics, but that doesn't make its lawsuit illegitimate."

ProgressOhio's lawsuit alleges the legislation that cleared the way for this transfer of authority violates the Ohio Constitution in a handful of ways. Among them are that it would funnel public money- profits from the state's liquor operations- to JobsOhio for its operations and would lend the credit of the state to a private corporation.

Crain's Cleveland Business News is the just the latest of several media outlets that have cried fowl to Kasich's controversial statements over the JobsOhio lawsuit, including the conservative 1851 Center for Constitutional Law. 

ProgressOhio attended yesterday's Ohio Department of Education Stae Board meeting where embattled President Debe Tehar faced intense scrutiny over her Facebook post drawing parallels between President Barack Obama and Hitler. (A post which was based on a fabricated quote that was historically inaccurate to boot.)

ProgressOhio encouraged members to attend and ultimately an overflow room had to be setup to accomodate everyone who made it out. The interaction between board members and the public was mostly heated. The following comments were all made during a single five minute period:

• "cyber hate crime"
• "wrong at many levels"
• "shocked"
• "[Debe Tehar] lowered the bar"
• "unwillingness to show contrition

In the end, Tehar kept her job by a 10-6 vote. 

According to today's Columbus Dispatch, several Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles offices have stopped issuing driver's licenses to immigrants, violating federal law by doing so. In some cases, there have even been threats to revoke driver's licenses already issued. This perplexing development seemingly began two weeks ago and according to Ohio House of Representatives Democratic Leader Armond Budish, "at least a dozen people" have come to his office to complain about license-gate.

This bizarre and unlawful position taken by these government agencies comes in advance of what is expected to be months of vigorous Congressional debate around overhauling federal immigration laws. Just last week, a bipartisan cadre of U.S. Senators released an outline of basic immigration principles: tougher border security, a guest-worker program and a path to legal status for America's 11 million undocumented workers. In addition to these millions of families, thousands of employers and the overall U.S. economy would all benefit from more inclusive policies aimed at creating a fair pathway towards citizenship.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau. in 2010, Ohio was home to 469,748 immigrants. The bureau also states that immigrants made up 4.7 % of Ohio's workforce during the same calendar year. This begs the question, why would an Ohio agency, in a state with a rich mix of immigrants, deny immigrants their legal right to an Ohio driver's license? More importantly, what will Governor Kasich and his administration do to immediately stop this illegal practice and punish those responsible for implementing it?

To read the full article here.

Make Your Voice Heard at the State Board of Education Meeting this Monday!

ProgressOhio is encouraging a strong showing of attendance at the upcoming State Board of Education meeting to let State Board of Education President Deb Terhar know that we are watching.  

Several Newspapers and organizations have called for her resignation after it became public that Terhar posted a picture of Hilter on her Facebook in reference to President Obama.

The Ohio State Board of Education Meeting
Monday, February 11th
9:00 am
Ohio Department of Education
25 South Front Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215-4183
Meeting Room B001

*Guests will have to sign-in at the main desk in the lobby and present a photo ID. Maximum room capacity of 75 persons at full board meeting and a "theater room" will be provided for public overflow.

The Columbus Dispatch reporting that Terhar posted a photograph of Adolf Hitler with the caption, "Never forget what this tyrant said: 'To conquer a nation, first disarm its citizens.' - Adolf Hitler."

Let's show up and let the State Board of Education know that people are watching!

Governor John Kasich is just the latest Republican to illustrate that he has failed to take away any lessons from the 2012 election. His administration's new tax proposal would cut income taxes while expanding sales taxes that would produce large tax breaks for Ohio's most affluent residents at the expense of increasing taxes on lower- and moderate-income families

Kasich's tax proposal comes in wake of Romney's failed Presidential bid, which in part was plagued by a narrative of tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans.

Kasich's proposal would provide a more than $10,000 annual tax cut to taxpayers in the top 1 percent income bracket who made more than $335,000 in 2012. In contrast, the bottom fifth of taxpayers, (those making less than $18,000 a year), would see an average increase of $63. Those in the middle fifth, making between $33,000-$51,000 in 2012, would come out about even, averaging an annual tax increase of $8.

Zach Schiller from Policy Matters Ohio explains the issue facing Ohioans: "Income tax cuts will increase inequality in Ohio and do little for our economy. The Kasich administration proposal to broaden the sales tax base, if done carefully, is helpful because our economy has shifted to services, many of which have been untaxed. However, this will disproportionately affect low- and middle-income Ohioans, so steps should be taken to offset that.

Read the full Policy Matters report here. 

Susan T. Zelman has rejoined the Ohio Department of Education, returning this week as the organization's Executive Director.  According to the Dispatch, Zelman "will work on school funding, including doing research, writing policy briefs and analyzing school-funding models."

Zelman previously served as Ohio's superintendent of public instruction from 1999-2008.  She left this position not long after newly elected Governor Ted Strickland announced plans to restructure the DOE.  In the meantime, she "oversaw education and children's content at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and ran a consulting business."    

One Ohio Now Coalition
Statement On The State Budget 

"The state budget - the choices we make about what to invest in and who should pay - is a reflection of our values as Ohioans. Our economy is improving - now is the time to invest in the future by strengthening our schools, public safety, and health and human services.

Expanding Medicaid is exactly the kind of public investment that makes our communities stronger - Gov. Kasich should be applauded. But, this full proposal leaves much to be desired following a budget with billions in cuts to the services Ohioans rely upon.

The major proposed tax shift echoes the 2005 cuts that benefited wealthy Ohioans and big corporations at the expense of the middle class. We have fewer jobs in 2013 than we did 7.5 years ago, so why go down that road again? More income tax cuts will lead to more cuts to services.

On the other hand, increasing the severance tax so we can invest in great public services is the right move - in fact, oil and gas drillers should pay more.

Sweeping and complex changes to the sales tax appropriately include many services that have been lost in loopholes for far too long, but the devil will be in the details."

-30-

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FEB. 5, 2013

Contact: Jordan Finke, Legislative Aide (614) 466-9435




Rep. Hagan Demands Answers from State Fracking Regulators after Illegal Dumping Reports Surface
Questions transparency, lack of information following massive breach of health and safety regulations
.

COLUMBUS- In light of the shocking revelation that up to 20,000 gallons of fracking wastewater were illegally dumped into a tributary of the Mahoning River, State Representative Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) questioned the directors of the Ohio EPA and Department of Natural Resources as to why local officials had been left in the dark regarding the alarming incident. The Youngstown lawmaker requested that all relevant information be made available to the public immediately

.

*Full text of the letter is below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FEB. 5, 2013

Contact: Jordan Finke, Legislative Aide (614) 466-9435




Rep. Hagan Demands Answers from State Fracking Regulators after Illegal Dumping Reports Surface
Questions transparency, lack of information following massive breach of health and safety regulations
.

COLUMBUS- In light of the shocking revelation that up to 20,000 gallons of fracking wastewater were illegally dumped into a tributary of the Mahoning River, State Representative Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) questioned the directors of the Ohio EPA and Department of Natural Resources as to why local officials had been left in the dark regarding the alarming incident. The Youngstown lawmaker requested that all relevant information be made available to the public immediately

.

*Full text of the letter is below:

Policy Matters Ohio has released their initial thoughts on three key sections of the new budget:

Medicaid

We congratulate the Kasich administration for embracing Medicaid expansion, recognizing that the revenues it brings into the state provide greater benefit than costs. Additional federal money could be brought in through new federal programs like the Balancing Incentives Payment Program or the Community First Choice Option: it is not clear from the budget documents we received today that these additional sources of federal funding are being pursued to enhance services and funding for Ohio.

 

Taxes

Gov. Kasich's tax proposals will take Ohio in wrong direction by shifting a greater share of taxes onto lower- and middle-income Ohioans, while reducing the revenue needed to support vital public services. Ohio tried cutting income-tax rates 21 percent eight years ago, and it didn't work; we have seen worse job, income and output performance over that time than the country as a whole. Why would we want to double down on a bet that hasn't worked?

 

Cutting taxes on business income also is a poorly targeted move that is unlikely to do much for Ohio's economy, and will create new avenues for tax avoidance. Extending the sales tax to services is good tax policy, as the services make up a growing part of the economy. However, it will need to be closely studied, as it contains restrictions on counties and other elements that don't make sense. The proposal underlines further the need for a refundable Earned Income Tax Credit for low- and moderate-income wage earners, which would at least partly offset a sales-tax expansion.

 

Education

The Kasich administration is moving in the right direction as it proposes to boost state funding for Ohio schools over the next biennium, rather than cutting as it did during the current budget cycle. But the proposed increase falls well short of making up for previous cuts; even with a stated priority of providing resources for all Ohio's children, it's not clear that the administration's approach will be more successful than past attempts to create a strong and equitable system. Among other concerns is the short-term nature of at least $1.2 billion in proposed school funding - $300 million for the Straight A fund, a one-time pot of money geared toward innovation and efficiency, and $880 million the administration identifies as a "guarantee" that must be phased out.

 

At the same time, the administration would continue increasing funding for vouchers and charters faster than enrollment in those private options is rising, even as funding for school districts drops. Until policymakers take seriously their charge to create a public education system that works for everyone, Ohio's future, and the well-being of its most vulnerable residents, will be shortchanged. As mentioned above, cutting taxes for Ohio's more affluent residents and businesses will undermine our future, in part by forcing cuts in key areas such as education.

During the unveiling of his new school-funding plan, Governor John Kasich had some interesting advise for creating change in Ohio.  "The minute you play politics is the minute you get lost."

The quote seems out of place, only a few days after Kasich bizarrely scolded ProgressOhio for filing a lawsuit to ensure that the Governor's administration isappropriately protecting Ohio's Constitution.

The Governor's outbursts even drewcriticism from Maurice Thompson of the conservative 1851 Center for Constitutional Law: "It's (Kasich) who puts his pet projects above American values, like adherence to the constitution."

The lawsuit against JobsOhio, Kasich said, has prompted him to think about what he says is the need for a "loser pays" legal system in Ohio in which it would be assumed, unless a judge decides differently, that the losing side in a lawsuit would bear all of the costs.

Read the whole report at The Canton Rep.

Eleven days after the massacre, Wayne LaPierre - a lifelong political operative who had steadied the National Rifle Association through many crises - stood before an American flag and soberly addressed the nation about firearms and student safety: "We believe in absolutely gun-free, zero-tolerance, totally safe schools. That means no guns in America's schools, period."[...]

This speech wasn't delivered in an alternate universe. The date was May 1st, 1999, at the NRA's national convention in Denver. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's rampage at Columbine High School in nearby Littleton, Colorado, had just killed 13 students and teachers....

- Hat tip to Rolling Stone.

Earlier today, Gov. John Kasich called ProgressOhio nihilists who would have to answer to god for challenging one of his programs in court.

Sen. Michael Skindell who is a co-plaintiff in the suit along with ProgressOhio, said the following in response to Kasich's outburst:

Governor Kasich is accountable to a higher power--it's called the Ohio Constitution.  The 1851 Ohio Constitution was designed to prevent government from setting up private corporations that are in turn used to advance secrecy and possible misuse of public dollars.  More than a billion of public dollars are being directed to JobsOhio.  We need constitutional review of the Kasich corporation.  All along Governor Kasich and JobsOhio have attempted to stop this review.  People should ask what is Governor Kasich afraid of?

We already posted the first video, but here are parts two and three, which feature Kasich being rude to another reporter and equivocating over JobsOhio's attempt to hide its activities from reporters:

ProgressOhio Executive Director made the following statement in response to Gov. John Kasich's attack [video] on ProgressOhio's JobsOhio lawsuit:

Well, there he goes again -- get on my bus or my bus will run over you.

No court has yet to rule on whether JobsOhio is constitutional. The governor laments the long delay but it was his own lawyers that strung out the lawsuit over issues of standing and the right to sue rather than simply letting the court rule on the constitutional grounds.

As for politics, Gov. Kasich is misinformed as the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, which rarely is on the same side as ProgressOhio, is in fact working on our case.

The governor seems to be reverting to his 'bully' mentality once again, even if the facts don't support his statements. He swore to uphold the Ohio Constitution, not just the parts he likes. ProgressOhio and other plaintiffs, right and left, are simply participating in the checks and balances that keep power-hungry politicians from no democratic oversight. It may be inconvenient for John Kasich -- but it is essential to taxpayers.

ProgressOhio questioned the constitutionality of JobsOhio and took the program before a court for review. Lots of people agreed with our position and soon the Ohio Supreme Court will rule whether we can proceed.

No one knows exactly what will happen if the courts rule the program unconstiutional but it won't be pretty. Bond buyers know this and due to this uncertainity, the state is getting less for JobsOhio bonds than they would if they waited for the ruling.

A reporter asked Gov. John Kasich about this and he berated the reporter before moving on to ProgressOhio, suggesting we were "nihilists" who "will have to answer to a much higher power" than him:

Much more to come on this....

Ohio Education Association President Patricia Frost-Brooks has sent a letter to Gov. John Kasich, saying it is essential to open up the process of a state education budget and accompanying reform proposals to all education stakeholders.

"I am writing to express my disappointment that you are developing a new school funding formula, a state education budget and a set of education reforms in a process that has included only the select few while excluding groups like the Ohio Education Association, which represents more than 121,000 educators, faculty members and education support professionals," Frost-Brooks wrote.

"In the past, the policy processes that exclude key stakeholders have resulted in extreme cuts to Ohio's public schools, the diversion of public school funding to for-profit charter schools, online schools and voucher-supported private schools. The budget cuts in the current biennium have narrowed curriculum choices for students, increased class sizes and shifted school funding burdens from the state to local districts," the letter said.

The Ohio Education Association represents more than 121,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio's public schools, colleges and universities.

Gov. John Kasich's decision to go ahead with the bond sale to fund JobsOhio depsite a pending lawsuit about the program's constitutionality will result in additional costs for the state:

A market memo issued Tuesday by Janney Capital Markets said the "lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's establishment of this non-profit issuer adds uncertainty for investors," The Bond Buyer said. Another investor said he shied away. "Given the rate environment right now, I'm not sure I want to buy anything with this kind of hair on it."

Plunderbund has a run-down of the eleven risk factors, including ProgressOhio's suit, outlined in the documentation accompanying the bond offering.

Why is Kasich in such a hurry to get the sale done?

The JobsOhio bond deal puts $500 million into the General Revenue Fund for Kasich to spend any way he wants.   That's five times as much as JobsOhio is getting. 

With the new budget numbers set to premier on Monday, Kasich has to move now or find another way to balance the books.

ProgressOhio Executive Director Brian Rothenberg made the following statement regarding the JobsOhio bond sale:

Today the Kasich administration arrogantly and irresponsibly exposed the state of Ohio to a constitutional crisis in which our state would be obligated to pay $1.5 billion to investors, even if a court finds the funds constitutionally cannot be spent on JobsOhio.

Gov. Kasich and Wall Street seem to have thumbed their noses at our court process and our state's constitution. Today's action undermines the sanctity of our three branches of government and shows how our laws can become voiceless in the face of Wall Street money.  Our lawyers are discussing what options we have. The fact remains however no court has ruled on the constitutionality of moving this money and our case remains in court. 

Ohio State Senator Nina Turner is making the case for specific reforms to Ohio's election procedures.  At a press conference on Tuesday, Sen. Turner announced the Voter Protection Act, a bill that would address issues including absentee voting, long lines at polling places, and provisional ballots.  "Last year's elections were plagued by lots of confusion," she said. "Ohio in 2012, like 2004, was once again the epicenter of election controversy."   

As she outlined the bill, Turner was especially critical of Secretary of State John Husted, who made several controversial changes to election procedures during the 2012 election.   From the Columbus Dispatch: "Turner criticized Husted for mounting unsuccessful court challenges to early voting" in the final three days preceding the election, "and for long lines of voters that developed, particularly in Cuyahoga and Franklin counties, at polling places before Election Day." 

If passed, the Voter Protection Act would set specific limits on the size of individual precincts and establish minimum staffing requirements for polling places.  Several other changes are included in the bill, all of which aim to make the voting process simpler for Ohio voters.  In a statement, Sen. Turner commented, "These reforms are rooted in common-sense and will make Ohio a pro-voter state."

Gongwer today posted the following quote from Attorney General Mike DeWine:

"I think the job of the attorney general, the way I define it at least, is to protect Ohio families, all the way through, from unborn kids, all the way up to people 90 years old," he said in the video.

Expect DeWine furiously trying to spin his way out of this, as Ohio is home to over 76,500 nonagenerians, which is roughly his margin of victory in 2010.

The quasi-governmental development agency JobsOhio was created by Governor John Kasich. It is poised issue bonds that would be financed by a lease of the state's wholesale liquor profits. These bonds would provide a funding stream for JobsOhio's job creation efforts, but questions about whether it's legal and whether it's a good idea, still remain.  

With the possible sale of the JobsOhio bonds coming this week, now is a good time to revisit Columbus on the Record's panel on the topic:

Brian Rothenberg, the executive director of ProgressOhio, kicked off the discussion by highlighting his concerns, "I think it is irresponsible. No court has ever ruled on the constitutionality of the program."

 "If the bond people buy the bonds, that's the best sign that they think it's legal and appropriate," responded Republican strategist Terry Casey and challenged Rothenberg's motives. "I don't mean to be disrespectful but a lot of times groups on the other side like to file law suits to raise money."

 "What other side? We have the 1851 Law Society, a Libertarian group that have joined with me," retored Rothenberg.  "There are legitimate constitutional questions." 

Joe Hallett, the senior editor of Columbus Dispatch weighed in on the secrecy inherent in JobsOhio, "I've been around that Statehouse for 30 years and covered one pay-to-play scandal after another.  This just looks ripe for that kind of thing." 

The discussion continued and Rothenberg more fully explained his objections, "I'm all for jobs but I'm also for following the Constitution.  This is $100,000 million of the public's money going to a private agency without anybody knowing what's going to happen with it. Our Constitution says that you can't do these type of things."  

"You don't wear a robe and you're not on the Supreme Court," challenged Casey. "And, in fact, historically courts give the benefit of the doubt to the legislature to create laws."

The panel discussion concluded with ProgressOhio's Rothenberg musing, "The irony of all this is that if the attorney general and the administration had never decided to argue the standing issue or whether anyone had the right to sue, we would already know whether this is constitutional or not."

When ProgressOhio last caught up with Rep. Peter Beck (R-Mason) [pdf], he was bemoaning the paucity of the hundreds of dollars in freebies he got from lobbyists at an ALEC conference: 

He requested four tickets for the [Reds] game and buffet, two for himself and his wife and two more for an adult child and her friend. These tickets have a fair market value of at least $300. 

He went on to lament, "Also why aren't we going to King's Island?" Beck is a 60 year-old man, who makes $61,100 for his job as a legislator, plus an additional salary as partner at a successful accounting firm, Donohoo, Cup & Beck.

It wasn't a huge surprise when news broke that the latest legislator under investigation for financial chicanery was Beck. The depths of his alleged dealings are fairly astounding, however. An investment firm was pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into a church which the principal's wife ran. Beck was a financial consultant to both outfits and received suspiciously timed campaign contributions. Beck, who listed numerous debts on his financial disclosure forms, is also engaged in a lawsuit at the accounting firm where he was formerly a partner. They forced Beck out last summer and claim he "misrepresented his expertise" and owes the firm $200,000.

The dust may have settled from the 2012 Senate race, but both sides have made news recently.

The Boston Globe reports that Sarah Benzing, Sen. Sherrod Brown's 2012 campaign manager, will manage Rep. Edward J. Markey's campaign in Massachusetts.  Markey hopes to win the Senate seat soon to be vacated by Sen. John Kerry, who has been nominated to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.  In the most recent Massachusetts Senate race, Democrat Elizabeth Warren defeated incumbent Scott Brown, who previously won the seat in a 2010 special election.  Two former Warren campaign finance staffers have already joined forces with Benzing on the Markey campaign.

Former Brown campaign Communications Director Justin Barasky will be the National Press Secretary for the 2014 election cycle, The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced last week.  During the 2012 campaign, Barasky relentlessly hammered Mandel for skipping important meetings and hiring college friends for important positions in the Treasurer's office.

Meanwhile, State Treasurer Josh Mandel has brought new meaning to the expression "candidate of last resort."  On Monday, Mandel informed the Cincinnati Enquirer  that he was the GOP's seventh choice to run against Brown.  As the Enquirer explains, "Everyone else refused to run."  Other potential GOP candidates included Attorney General Mike DeWine, Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor, and now-retired Congressman Steve LaTourette.  Despite being "in it to win it," as Mandel described, he lost the Senate race by 327,000 votes.

ProgressOhio, Rep. Dennis Murray, and Michael Skindell's lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of JobsOhio has caught the eye of bond investors:

The market is holding its collective breath waiting for the outcome of legal complications surrounding an Ohio Supreme Court appeal that could threaten the planned use of proceeds from a $1.5 billion JobsOhio Beverage System financing that was delayed last week. [...]

In the backdrop, the Ohio court's decision on Wednesday to hear the appeal, filed by a liberal nonprofit group called ProgressOhio and two Democratic legislators, came after months of contemplating and just a few hours before the finance team for the senior-lien liquor-profit backed financing was set to price the first part of the deal. [...]

Investors say the unsettled lawsuit challenging the privatization is a chief concern and lack of a back-up pledge in case of an unfavorable court ruling. Moody's Investors Service rates the bonds A2 and Standard & Poor's rates them AA.

No court has yet ruled on the merits of ProgressOhio's complaint (which even a Kasich cabinet member has acknowledged). The Ohio Supreme Court announced last week that they will hear whether the complainants have the right to sue, so the case can move forward.

A senior NRA lobbyist admitted yesterday that his organization's TV ad targeting President Barack Obama's children was "ill-advised".

Criticism of the ad was wide-ranging, with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie calling it "reprehensible" and Susan Eisenhower, daughter of the former president, saying she was "disgusted".

The ad premiered the same day that Obama introduced his plan to address gun violence in the country. The plan has garnered wide support in the public with 53% supporting and only 43% opposition. Most interestingly, strong supporters outnumber strong opponents by 7 points.

Strangest Proposal - Conservatives have become notorious for proposing tax cuts as the solution to nearly everything. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Genoa Township) took this a step further when he attempted to address our nation's gun violence problem through a tax cut.

Tiberi's plan? Entice off-duty police officers to work as substitute teachers by making their shifts tax-free.

Top Quote - "There has to be an acceptance within the party of people who have nonidentical views on every issue."- Recently retired Republican Rep. Steve LaTourette.

Top Quote part 2 - LaTourette now works as president at the Republican Main Street Partnership a center-right organization which recently dropped Republican from its name. As Josh Marshall put it, "In other words, the Republican Main Street Partnership doesn't seem to be able to find enough Republicans to be on Main Street."

Yes, This Really Happened - Executives at Fox News dumped Sarah Palin and hired Dennis Kucinich.

We've been experiencing intermittent technical issues with our website. They should be resolved shortly.

Thanks for your patience.

Via Dave Weigel, here is the list of the executive actions President Barack Obama is taking this afternoon:

Here are the legislative proposals he's advocating for:

Ohio's Betty Sutton may be in line for a job with the Obama administration. With the recent announcement that current Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will be stepping down, rumors have begun to swirl around her possible replacement.

At least two outlets have mentioned the former representative's name in conjunction with the post. Sutton was a practicing lawyer specializing in labor law, which would certainly be an asset to the post. Also be mentioning is former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The Ohio Senate Democrats have released a list of their priorities for the upcoming session:

Job Creation & Community Development

Accelerate Ohio's economy for growth by expanding small business opportunities, revitalizing communities, cleaning up blighted properties and creating pathways to employment.

Family Health & Wellness

Expand school nutrition programs, establish commission focused on building strong families and offer veterans college credit for skills acquired in military service.

Energy

Create employment opportunities for graduates of oil and gas training programs and protect Ohioans by requiring the disclosure of chemicals used in fracking.

Education

Reform Ohio's unconstitutional school funding system by reducing the reliance on local property taxes through legislation and constitutional amendment.

Public Safety

Promote safety in our schools and communities by placing limitations on assault weapons.

Voting

Improve Ohio's election laws to increase fairness and access to the polls for all Ohioans.

Particularly noteworthy is the addition is a plan to introduce stronger public safety bills, in the wake of Newtown. 

This Friday is the third anniversary of the Citizens United decision. Organizations across the country will be holding events to mark this case which ended many  campaign finance restrictions in the country.

If you are in Columbus and want to join in on this event here are the details:

What:       Dozens of citizens will gather at Progress Ohio's office for speakers and a release of the latest Ohio Public Interest Research Group (Ohio PIRG) analysis of 2012 election data from the FEC and other sources. This press conference will be followed by a march to the Ohio Statehouse to mark the 3^rd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, a blow to our democracy that empowered wealthy special interests to take control of our elections.

Who:         Tabitha Woodruff, Ohio PIRG Advocate
Noelle Williams, the President of the Columbus NAACP
Brian Rothenberg, Executive Director of Progress Ohio
Michael Greenman, Lead Coordinator for Move to Amend Central Ohio

When:       Friday, January 18^th, 2013
                  11:00 am - Press Conference and Report Release
                  12:30 pm - March to the Ohio Statehouse with Banners and Signs

Where:  Progress Ohio, 172 E. State St. Ste. 600, Columbus, Ohio 43215

            Ohio Statehouse, 1 Capitol Square, Columbus, Ohio 43215

Rootscamp Ohio 2013 was a great start to the new year. At over 200 participants, this was the largest turn-out yet. 

Cuyahoga County Executive Director Ed FitzGerald stopped by in the morning for a surprise talk during the opening session. After that the entire day was turned over to attendees who hosted 26 different sessions, ranging from organizing in red counties to media bias to marriage equality.

Thank you so much to the following for helping to sponsor the event:

• Michelle Mahon
• Lynn Buffington & Don Nguyen
• Richard & Joyce Spangler
• Tom McIndoe & Barbara Riley
• Ohio Organizing Collaborative
• Lucie Pollard

You can help make next year's event better by filling out this brief survey about your Rootscamp experience.

After the heated battle over SB5, many elected officials in Ohio have been hesitant to attack your rights in the workplace. That hasn't stopped some conservatives from trying to get another bill passed into law that would strip away your rights.

ProgressOhio's Brian Rothenberg had this to say to the Cincinnati Enquirer on the subject:

The governor understands the perils this would have in the 2014 elections. I don't think he needs this headache.

A Texas company has big plans for some Washington County Ohioans in 2013. GreenHunter Water of Grapevine, Texas has bought several refurbished barges to ship thousands of gallons of brine, a waste byproduct of fracking on the Ohio River. Many environmental advocates are however calling foul, leading the US Coast Guard to put the company's plans on hold until it can be determined if fracking waste can be transported as river cargo.

The brine containing used fracking chemicals alongside high concentrations of salt, metals, and radium are but a few of the contents GreenHunter Water wishes to move across the Ohio River.

Ohio being a dumping ground for other state's waste is not a new trend as The Dispatch reports. In fact, millions of barrels of brine are injected underground in Ohio disposal wells every year. Brine started arriving in Ohio during 2010, after a Pennsylvanian court ruled the waste too toxic for sewage-treatment plants to be dumping it into streams.

If brine is green-lighted for river transport, many Ohioans are worried about the potential hazardous disaster that may ensue if one of the refurbished barges ran into a bridge or vessel and broke apart. "The (Ohio) River is drinking water for some people," said Teresa Mills, the Ohio organizer for the Center for Health, Environmental and Justice.

The Ohio River is in fact the main source of drinking water for more than three million people, and the Ohio River Basin is home to over 25 million. In addition, the river is home to over 200 unique species of fish and mussels, several of which are in danger of extinction. 

The Coast Guard has no timetable for making a decision on the barge, but sources hint a decision could potentially come in the next two weeks. 

Last month, a Portage County family received an unwelcome Christmas gift: contaminated water that catches fire and caused an explosion in their kitchen.  "About six months ago, Mountaineer Keystone Oil and Gas Company put in a drilling rig in a field catty-corner from the Kline house," WKYC reports. The company paid for an EPA-certified test of the water, which showed an "acceptable" level of methane.  When drilling began in December, however, the water conditions changed noticeably.   "Around Christmas, the family noticed their water started fizzing.  When Jason's wife, Debby, lit a candle near the sink, they learned something was very wrong. 'Oh, I was so scared. It just was a huge explosion, the entire sink went up to the ceiling,' Debby says."

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources tested the Kline's water again, and found the methane level had nearly doubled, but was nevertheless still below "hazardous" levels.  Additionally, the water contained chloride levels "nearly twice" the limit of what is considered safe.  In an email to WKYC, ODNR wrote, ""Methane is naturally occurring in this portion of the state, and the water well in question was found to be drilled into shale, which may have led to these increased levels. At this time, the investigation is ongoing."   

The Kline's, meanwhile, have switched to bottled water for cooking, drinking, and providing to their pets, but they still use the well water for bathing.  "We're putting our kids in the bathtub every night in this explodable water. We don't know the consequences of sitting in gas water, but we just don't have a choice," Debby Kline said.

Just last week, ODNR approved four new Utica shale permits in Portage County, all of which were filed by Moutaineer Keystone.  There are currently 485 active drilling permits in northeast Ohio, including 199 wells that have already been drilled.

Here's video of this phenomenon playing out elsewhere:

There are serious legal questions about the funding of JobsOhio. Gov. Kasich's own commerce director said his duty to uphold the Ohio Constitution was stopping him from moving JobsOhio forward until these questions were resolved. 

From the August 12, 2012 edition of the Columbus Dispatch, a letter from Ohio Commerce Director David Goodman to Mark Kvamme, interim president and chief investment officer for JobsOhio read as follows, "Though I personally question the validity of these constitutional challenges, I believe my oath of office to uphold the Ohio Constitution precludes me from executing the Franchise and Transfer Agreement until the Ohio Supreme Court is given an opportunity to address the merits of these claims."

Legally, nothing has changed since then. John Kasich has shown when there is a question about the Ohio Constitution he'll decide based on input from Wall Street financiers, instead of supreme court justices.

- Statement released yesterday by ProgressOhio, Dennis Murray and Senator Michael Skindell, plaintiffs in the case against JobsOhio, and their attorney, Victoria Ullman.It was issued in response to this announcement that funding for the controversial organization will go forward, even though the suit challenging the constitutionality of the program is still pending.

ProgressOhio Executive Director Brian Rothenberg made the following statement regarding former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland's announcement not to seek office again:

History will be very kind to Ted Strickland's legacy as governor of Ohio. The financial collapse on Wall Street under George W. Bush cast a pall over the nation. Strickland faced those challenges admirably and aggressively, positioning Ohio for future success. 
 
What is heartening is that more progressive standard bearers are emerging and Ted and Frances will be right there along with all of us moving Ohio politics forward.

President Obama this afternoon nominated former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., to be his next defense secretary and counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.

On Hagel, Obama said the troops would "see one of their own" at the helm of the Pentagon. Hagel is a Vietnam combat veteran, and the president stressed that Hagel would be the first Vietnam vet to lead the department if confirmed. 

"Chuck Hagel is the leader that our troops deserve. He is an American patriot," the president said.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in late March for two prominent cases that could test the bounds of laws restricting gay marriage, Fox News has learned. 

The first case will be argued March 26, involving a dispute over California's constitutional ban on gay marriage known as Proposition 8. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier struck down that rule. 

The second case is expected to be argued the following day, on a challenge to part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. 

The law was passed in 1996 by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate and signed by President Bill Clinton. It defines marriage for all purposes under federal law as between a man and a woman and has been used to justify excluding gay couples from a wide range of benefits that are available to heterosexual couples. 

Four federal district courts and two courts of appeal have overturned the provision in various cases on grounds that it unfairly deprives same-sex couples of federal benefits. The Obama administration broke with its predecessors when it announced last year that it no longer would defend the provision.

Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11) was sworn in as the 23^rd Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) during a ceremony hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBC) on Thursday, January 3rd.

Five new Members of the CBC were also sworn in by the CBCF; Marc Veasey (TX-33), Hakeem Jefferies (NY-08), Steven Horsford (NV-04), and Joyce Beatty (OH-03) and Donald Payne Jr (NJ-10).

In her remarks, Chairwoman Fudge reaffirmed the CBC's commitment to advocating for policies that are in the best interest of people of color and that protect the most vulnerable populations in Congress. The Chair also challenged Members of the Caucus and all those in attendance to remember their role in positively influencing the course of history.

During the ceremony, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer thanked Members of the CBC for their legacy of service . House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Shultz, and United States Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar were also in attendance.

The White House "is weighing a far broader and more comprehensive approach to curbing the nation's gun violence than simply reinstating an expired ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition," the Washington Post reports.

The measures "would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors."

Key point: "To sell such changes, the White House is developing strategies to work around the National Rifle Association that one source said could include rallying support from Wal-Mart and other gun retailers for measures that would benefit their businesses."

"The Republican Party seems as divided and angry as ever," the AP reports.

New York Times: "From Mitt Romney's loss on Election Day through the recent tax fight that shattered party discipline in the House of Representatives, Republicans have seen the foundations of their political strategy called into question, stirring a newly urgent debate about how to reshape and redefine their party."

"At issue immediately is whether that can be achieved through a shift in tactics and tone, or will instead require a deeper rethinking of the party's longtime positions on bedrock issues like guns and immigration... The coming legislative battles are certain to expose even more division in the party. And with establishment Republicans and Tea Party activists at times speaking as if they are from different parties altogether, concern is spreading throughout the ranks that things could get worse before they get better."

The Los Angeles Times says the recent budget battles have exposed a divide between the GOP's solid Southern base and the rest of the country.

In this week's address, President Obama talks about the bipartisan agreement that Congress reached this week which prevented a middle-class tax hike, congratulates the newly sworn-in members of Congress, and looks forward to working with the new Congress in the new year to continue to grow our economy and shrink our deficits in a balanced way.

Watch It:

Following senate tradition Brown chose a current and former senator to escort him down the aisle.

Former Ohio Senator John Glenn and his current Republican colleague Senator Rob Portman escorted him down the aisle.

Brown's second term marks the first time in 60 years Ohio senators will sit on the Senate Finance Committee.

The swearing-in took place yesterday afternoon. Brown was sworn in by Vice-President Joe Biden.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans for Tax Fairness, a campaign with more than 230 national, state, and local organizations united in support of a tax system that works for all Americans, released a statement by Frank Clemente, campaign manager of Americans for Tax Fairness, on passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act voted on by the U.S. House of Representatives.

"The middle-class had a major victory today -- after 20 years Republicans finally let tax rates increase for the richest Americans. The sky will not fall, the economy will not crash, and Republicans who voted for it can probably even still get re-elected. This bill raises $620 billion over 10 years, but $1.5 trillion in budget cuts were already enacted last year; that means for every one dollar in new taxes there have been 2.5 dollars in spending cuts to reduce the deficit. This compromise doesn't raise the revenue needed and address the critical tax reforms needed to fully move our economy forward. We will push hard every day in the coming months to ensure that the wealthiest Americans and big corporations pay their fair share of taxes."

WASHINGTON -- House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy broke with Speaker John Boehner Monday night, voting against a multi-trillion tax package designed to avert the fiscal cliff.

The decision to abandon Boehner -- which came after Boehner's leadership team whipped not only rank and file members but even other lower ranking members of leadership -- will almost certainly set off a furious round of speculation about the future of his speakership, less than 48 hours before members are scheduled to vote on it.

The defections could upturn efforts to pass a $60 billion spending supplemental related to Hurricane Sandy and will almost assuredly have long lasting implications for Boehner's team in handling an already wild and unruly conference.

Cantor and McCarthy did pay Boehner the courtesy of waiting until a majority -- 218 members -- had voted for the compromise forged between the White House and Senate Republicans, reducing the chances that their defections would scuttle the bill.

Another leading House conservative, former Vice Presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan, voted for the legislation.

President Obama delivers a statement on the bipartisan agreement passed that will protect 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a tax hike.

Watch It:

Legislation to negate a fiscal cliff of across-the-board tax increases and sweeping spending cuts to the Pentagon and other government agencies is headed to the GOP-dominated House after bipartisan, middle-of-the-night approval in the Senate capped a New Year's Eve drama unlike any other in the annals of Congress.

The Senate passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act by a vote of 89-8.  

The following Senators voted against the bill:  Marco Rubio (FL), Paul Rand (KY), Mike Lee (UT), Charles E. Grassley (IA), Thomas R. Carper (DE), Michael Bennett (CO), Tom Harkin (IA), Richard Shelby (AL).

We've had a busy and successful year in advancing our goal of winning a more progressive Ohio. Here's our promise to you: we're going to work even harder and smarter in 2013 to weaken the grip that corporate interests have on our political process.

I'm so glad you're on board with us in this important work. Together we're building the team and tools to hold accountable our elected officials and secure a bright future for all Ohioans.

In the final hours of 2012, it's critical that you give one last gift this holiday season - the gift of progress.

Can you give today and make sure we're ready to fight corporate special interests that place their bottom line ahead of what's best for all Ohioans?

Remember that 2008 was a big success followed by major disappointment in 2010. We can't afford to let 2012 be another year of success soon followed by a setback.  If we let our guard down now we will not have the resources needed to keep our momentum going next year.

Will you give just one more time this year? Even a $5 donation will count toward our year-end goal.

There are many ways we can win progress in 2013 - but they can only happen with your support.

Thanks for all that you do,

Brian Rothenberg

With three days before taxes go up and unemployment benefits run out, President Obama will give it one last try this afternoon with Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate:

President Obama will meet with Congressional Leaders at the White House tomorrow afternoon re #FiscalCliff
-- @pfeiffer44 via Twitter for iPhone

The meeting will take place at 3:00 PM ET. With so little time before the end of the year, it's difficult to imagine a deal that would do much more than offer a temporary reprieve accomplishing little other than giving Congress a chance to go on vacation before coming back to battle over "Fiscal Cliff, Part 2."

Five ways your health care will change in 2013

By Sarah Kliff , Updated: December 26, 2012

The Affordable Care Act's biggest year is, without a doubt, 2014: That's when the federal subsidies to purchase health insurance roll out. It's also when penalties for not buying coverage kick in. 

But many of the big changes will start gradually in 2013. They range from increasing payments to Medicaid doctors to upping Medicare taxes to the exchanges' very first open-enrollment period. Here's a quick guide to what will happen in health care in the next year. 

1. Health-care cost growth will slow to a new low. The United States is expected to spend a $2.9 trillion on health care in 2013, according to actuaries at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That would be 3.8 percent more than then $2.8 trillion that CMS estimates we spent in 2012.

That 3.8 percent growth rate, if it actually happens, would be the slowest health-care growth in decades. That has little to do with the Affordable Care Act, the CMS actuaries explain, and a lot more to do with slow income growth. "Consumers are expected to remain sensitive to rising health costs, particularly given continued low projected income growth," they write. "In this environment, consumers are likely to continue to be judicious in their use of health-care services."

2. Your Medicare taxes will increase. Some people mark the turning of the new year with champagne and kisses. The Affordable Care Act has something slightly different in mind: Two new taxes to finance Medicare. Both are meant to bring in additional revenue to continue funding the health-care program for seniors. 

Employers already take out 7.65 percent of workers' wages to support the elderly and disabled. Of that, 1.45 percent goes toward paying Medicare's hospital bills. Obamacare increases the Medicare hospital tax by 0.9 percent, beginning in 2013, for anyone who earns more than $200,000 ($250,000 for joint filers). It also creates a new, 3.8 percent tax on investment income, setting income thresholds at the same $200,000 and $250,000 levels mentioned above. Taken together, those two provisions are expected to generate $210.2 billion over the next decade.

Watch It:

The petition was in response to Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket Sandy Hook funerals.

Powerful video aimed at raising public awareness after Newtown shooting.

Watch It:

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama formally nominated Sen. John Kerry to be his next Secretary of State Friday, the first major personnel announcement since the election.

"I'm very proud to announce my choice for America's next Secretary of State -- John Kerry," Obama said as Vice President Biden, top administration officials, and Teresa Heinz Kerry looked on.

"He is not going to need a lot of on-the-job training," the president added, pointing to his military service and long-time experience on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Joking that his former debate sparring partner will now be one of his closest advisers, Obama said, "nothing brings two people together better than two weeks of debate prep."

"I am confident that the Senate will confirm you quickly," Obama said, pointing to what is expected to be a smooth confirmation process in the Senate.

Van Roekel calls for real preventive measures and commonsense gun legislation
 
WASHINGTON--National Education Association (NEA) President Dennis Van Roekel today responded to the National Rifle Association's press conference on the aftermath of the Newtown tragedy.
"Our duty to every child in our care is to provide safe and secure public schools. That is the vow we take as educators.  It is shocking that following this tragedy, the National Rifle Association has called for more guns in our schools and avoided talking about commonsense measures to prevent guns from getting in the hands of people who shouldn't have them in the first place.  Their delusional assumption that everything other than guns contribute to these tragedies reflects just how out of touch the NRA has become.  Their proposal misses the fact that in many schools across the country, we have school resource officers and yet tragic incidents like Newtown, Chardon, Columbine, Paducah, and Jonesboro still have occurred.
 
"The solution to this problem requires a two-pronged approach:  real preventative measures and commonsense gun legislation.  We must dramatically expand our investment in mental health services. Proper diagnosis can and often starts in our schools, yet we continue to cut funding for school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists. States have cut at least $4.35 billion in public mental health spending from 2009 to 2012, according to the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. It is well past time to reverse this trend and ensure that these services are available and accessible to those who need our support.  We must also continue to do more to prevent bullying in our schools, an epidemic that can often precede violence.
 
"Greater access to mental health services, bullying prevention, and meaningful action on gun control--this is where we need to focus our efforts, not on staggeringly misguided ideas about filling our schools with firearms. Lawmakers at every level of government should dismiss this dangerous idea and instead focus on measures that will create the safe and supportive learning environments our children deserve."

ProgressOhio Executive Director Brian Rothenberg made the following statement in response to the NRA's proposal to address gun violence:

When the NRA stated they had a "meaningful contribution" to address gun violence, we were cautiously optimistic. Then we found out they believe hurricanes are to blame and the solution is placing 4,000 armed guards in Ohio schools during the next ten days.

The NRA has made it crystal clear that they are fundamentally unserious about addressing our country's gun violence epidemic. We hope our elected officials remember this absurd moment the next time they are asked to defer to the NRA on firearms policy.

During a press conference on Friday, Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, urged leaders on Capitol Hill to provide sufficient funding in order "to put armed police officers in every single school in this nation."

"I call on Congress today to act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every single school in this nation," LaPierre said.

We are seriously concerned about proposals to raise the eligibility age for Medicare from age 65 to age 67, as part of the debate surrounding the "fiscal cliff." We are opposed whether the change would occur through a phased in approach or all at once.

To raise the age would create a devastating cost for those who anxiously await the age of 65 in order to qualify for Medicare. In addition, there are hidden financial costs that would eliminate this proposal as a significant means to reduce the federal deficit.

According to a study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67 would have these results:

• Would yield only $5.7 billion in actual federal savings in 2014 when the costs of federal ubsidies for 65-66 year olds buying health coverage in the Exchange is considered, along with the federal government's contribution to Medicaid for persons newly eligible under the Affordable Care Act and the loss of Medicare premium receipts. This is approximately one percent of the total annual cost of Medicare.

Would increase costs to employers, states and individuals:

• Increases costs to employers by $4.5 billion because employers remain the primary payer for 65-66 year old.

• Increases costs to states by $700 million, in part based on the higher Medicare Part B premium paid through the buy-in program. After 2016 states would pay even more because they would pick up 10% of the cost of the 65-66 year olds newly eligible to Medicaid.

• Increases out of pocket costs to the 65-66 year olds by $3.7 billion

• Average premiums in the Exchange would rise by 3% due to the shift in the Exchange pool by the inclusion of 65 and 66 year olds.

• Beneficiaries on Medicare will pay 3% more in their Part B premiums as a result of younger, healthier 65-66 year olds no longer being covered by Medicare.

Finally, this proposal does nothing to reign in the rising costs of health care, which is the real driver of Medicaid spending.

Because of the minimal federal savings of this proposal, contrasted to the shifting of costs to Medicare beneficiaries, to employers, to states and to the 65-66 year olds who would be excluded from Medicare, we urge all policymakers to reject any proposal to raise the age of Medicare eligibility.

Beatty Selected for Financial Services Committee and Appointed Regional Whip

Congresswoman-elect Joyce Beatty began to make her leadership mark in Congress by being named to the influential Financial Services Committee and being appointed as Region 10's Whip.

Beatty was one of five Democratic freshman appointed to House Financial Services and will be the only Democratic representing Region 10 that includes Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky.

Congresswoman-elect Beatty stated, "The committee is a great fit for me and my district. The Subcommittees and issues that come before House Financial Services, such as, housing and community opportunities, financial institutions and consumer credit, capital markets, government sponsored enterprises and financial literacy are issues that match my experience and interest."

Beatty continued, "Central Ohio currently has almost 130,000 jobs directly tied to the financial services industry. If we want to have a strong economy we need to keep those jobs here and monitor the policies closely that will allow them to thrive and provide for their customers."

WASHINGTON -- The stunning collapse of Speaker John Boehner's "Plan B" fiscal cliff gambit threw efforts to avert a fiscal and economic crisis into chaos and raised fundamental questions about the Republican leader's control of his conference.

Boehner had hoped his Plan B, which included a package of spending cuts and tax increases on those making $1 million or more a year, could give him more leverage in his negotiations with President Barack Obama and Majority Leader Harry Reid.

But the lack of support for the bill became clear earlier in the evening when a package of spending cuts designed to sweeten Plan B barely passed the House on a 215 to 209 vote, with one member voting present.

If Congress does not fix the fiscal cliff before January 1, a series of massive tax increases on all Americans and a set of deep spending cuts will go into effect, a scenario that economists have warned could have dire economic consequences for the nation.

During this Holiday Season of Caring, Ohioans are sending a Message to Sen. Portman that it is time to care for ALL of his constituents, not just corporations and the wealthiest Ohioans!

Columbus - ProgressOhio, Alliance for Retired Americans, grassroots activists, seniors and other concerned advocacy groups delivered approximately 1,400 holiday cards with personalized messages around the Fiscal Cliff.

These Holiday Cards hold personalized messages from Ohioans around the state to Sen. Portman regarding the Fiscal Cliff and the importance of raising taxes on incomes over $250,000 while protecting programs like Medicare and Medicaid and oppose a territorial tax system which would encourage corporations to shift U.S. jobs and profits overseas undermining our economy and families.

Focus Needs to Be on Investments in Mental Health Services, Reasonable Gun Safety Legislation

WASHINGTON--NEA President Dennis Van Roekel and AFT President Randi Weingarten react to proposals by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, and William Bennett to arm teachers as a way to prevent school violence.
"Our duty to every child is to provide safe and secure public schools. That is the vow we take as educators. It is both astounding and disturbing that following this tragedy, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, Bill Bennett, and other politicians and pundits have taken to the airwaves to call for arming our teachers. As the rest of the country debates how to keep guns out of schools, some are actually proposing bringing more guns in, turning our educators into objects of fear and increasing the danger in our schools.
 
"Guns have no place in our schools. Period. We must do everything we can to reduce the possibility of any gunfire in schools, and concentrate on ways to keep all guns off school property and ensure the safety of children and school employees.

Cleveland's Plain Dealer turns to ProgressOhio Executive Director, Brian Rothenberg for insight on the potential of Republicans moving on Right To Work For Less in Ohio after passing such legislation in Michigan:

Right-to-work would face public fight in Ohio, unlike Michigan (photo gallery)

Brian Rothenberg, executive director of the liberal Progress Ohio advocacy group, said the ruling means if Republicans tried to push right-to-work legislation here, "It would get very complicated very quickly, and it would involve a lot of litigation."

Because of that court ruling, a push to make Ohio right to work would almost certainly lead to a union-backed recall effort.

Republicans and their allies in the business world don't want a replay of 2011's Issue 2, a union-backed recall of a bill that blocked collective bargaining rights for state employees. The fight left Republican Gov. John Kasich bruised politically and soured many to the idea of going after Ohio's unions again.

...

Rothenberg added that things have calmed down in Ohio since the Issue 2 clash, and he doesn't think Republicans want to rile up union supporters again. Issue 2 galvanized workers and may have cemented President Barack Obama's win in the state and the re-election of Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, Rothenberg said.

"It's really a headache that John Kasich doesn't need right now," said Rothenberg.

Read The Full Story Here

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- ProgressOhio, a member of the national Americans for Tax Fairness coalition which supports a tax system that works for all Americans, released a statement today on U.S. House Speaker John Boehner's "Plan B," which is scheduled for a vote today.  

"Plan B is just politics and we need a solution now to avoid going over the cliff. It's time for the Speaker to stop playing political games and accept President's Obama tax plan that would raise $1.3 trillion by asking the richest 2 percent of Americans to pay their fair share.  Boehner's proposal does not raise taxes on the richest 2 percent, does not raise enough revenue to reduce the deficit and rebuild the economy, and it would raise taxes by an average of $1,000 on 25 million working families with children and students," said Brian Rothenberg, ProgressOhio. 

Analysis of what Boehner's Plan B would do and would not do:

• Raise taxes on the richest three tenths of one percent (0.3%), rather than raise taxes on the richest 2 percent - the latter is what the American people voted for in the last election and support by overwhelming numbers in public opinion polls.

• Raise $1 trillion less from wealthy Americans than Obama's last tax plan offer. This additional revenue is essential for serious deficit reduction, to prevent a gutting of critical programs that benefit the middle class, and to make new investments to rebuild the economy. Boehner's plan would raise $300 billion, according to White House estimates, whereas Obama's last offer was to raise $1.3 trillion from the richest 2 percent.

• Raise taxes on 25 million low- and middle-income Americans by an average of $1,000 each. According to White House estimates, Plan B does this by ending improvements made in tax credits and incentives passed in 2010 to the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which helps pay for college; the Child Tax Credit, which helps working families offset the costs of raising children; and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which encourages and rewards low-income families that work.  

• Continue an estate tax giveaway that loses $120 billion over 10 years, compared with the Obama plan, and affects just 2 out of every 1,000 estates. Obama's estate tax plan would affect just 3 out of every 1,000 estates.

What will happen if House Speaker John Boehner gets his way on the budget?

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Welcome to Boehnerville, where the rich won't pay their fair share; our children's educations will be cut; Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will be put at risk; and the economic recovery would falter.

Call your member of Congress and tell them to stand up for middle-class families. Because in America, everyone deserves a wonderful life.

COLUMBUS- Ohio House Democratic Leader Armond Budish (D- Beachwood) released the following statement in response to Gov. Kasich's year-in-review press conference.

Once again this year the Governor talks about the need for bi-partisanship, but failed to invite the Senate or House Minority Leaders to today's press conference.

"The Governor and Republican leadership tout their financial stewardship of the state, but in fact they've been anything but responsible.  They balanced the budget on the backs of our kids, by slashing funds from education, on the backs of local taxpayers, forcing local communities to place hundreds of levies on the ballot, and on the backs of those most in need of social services, by slashing funds to people who are poor, older, and disabled. They have saddled local school districts with burdensome new unfunded mandates. Governor Kasich's latest proposal to borrow more than a billion dollars of one time money against turnpike revenue is irresponsible and puts the maintenance of one of our best resources at risk. And their stewardship of our states natural resources has been irresponsible when they allow private businesses to take massive amounts of our precious water resources and big out-of-state oil companies to deposit their poisonous brine in Ohio."

"This year, as I traveled through Ohio, I heard voters consistently say that they are fed up with the hyper-partisanship and extremism of the last two years.  I look forward to working cooperatively with the Governor and Republican legislative leaders on a job-focused agenda. Yet I fear that they are deaf to the message, as two of the first initiatives they have focused on following the election are the "heartbeat bill," which would essentially ban a woman's right to choose even in the cases of rape, incest or health of the mother, and a bill to defund Planned Parenthood.

"I hope the Governor will show leadership in the new year and focus instead on job creation and restore critical funds that he cut from our schools, communities, seniors, and mental health services. "

As members of Congress are weighing fiscal cliff cuts, as well as reconciliation of the National Defense Authorization Act, members of the Ohio Legislative Progressive Caucus sent a letter seeking a reprioritization of defense spending.

The letter sent to Ohio's Congressional Delegation can be found below.

Charter schools have become a major force in public education in Ohio, especially in the "Big 8″ urban districts -- Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown. Below is a snapshot of how charter schools have grown.

Workers continue to defy those who say the labor movement is on the decline. The latest demonstration of that fact happened in Williams County, Ohio, where a solid majority of employees of the Department of Job and Family Services (JFS) just voted to join AFSCME Council 8.

"Management tried every trick in the book to keep us divided, but we held strong and we won," said Stacy Wilson, a JFS employee and member of the unit's Organizing Committee.

Balloting was tallied this week by the State Employee Relations Board in Columbus.

Seeking mutual respect and a voice at work, a strong majority of JFS employees filed a petition for a union election this August. "We knew that only by coming together at work and getting to the bargaining table could we make the necessary improvements to our work environment and our service to the community," said Chris Whitlock, a 13-year veteran of the department.

The workers will now elect a bargaining committee and begin negotiation with the county for a first union contract. We hope the county will now recognize that its workers deserve respect and a chance to improve their lives - and the services that they provide their community.

Columbus - Today, after Michigan's Republican Governor Rick Snyder vetoed a controversial gun bill in his state, Senator Eric H. Kearney (D-Cincinnati) again called on Governor John Kasich to do the same for House 495.  The legislation, passed by the Ohio Senate just one day before the mass shooting in Connecticut, allows guns in the Statehouse and Riffe Building parking garages and weakens restrictions on transporting guns in cars.  Senator Kearney released the following statement urging Governor Kasich to veto HB 495:

"I encourage Governor Kasich to reconsider his decision to support House Bill 495.  It is not too late for the Governor to do the right thing and veto this legislation that jeopardizes public safety.  After the death of 26 school children and adults in Connecticut, Michigan's governor apparently realized that this is the wrong time to weaken gun laws.  Governor Kasich should follow the lead of his fellow Republican governor."

WASHINGTON, D.C. -U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined a group of central Ohio seniors to stand against threats to cut Medicare and Social Security during the fiscal cliff budget negotiations. At a press conference in Hilliard today, Ohio seniors from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare presented Brown with a petition signed by thousands of Ohio seniors asking leaders in Congress to keep Social Security and Medicare out of the deficit debate.

"We cannot afford to fix America's fiscal crisis at the expense of retirees and middle-class families," Brown said. "Medicare and Social Security are not entitlements--Ohio's seniors have earned these benefits. They are investments that seniors paid into while they were working - and should be able to count on today when they need it most."

Don't make a fiscal deal that increases inequality or poverty, group says

The Budget Control Act of 2011, which is pushing federal funding toward what pundits are calling a "fiscal cliff," includes spending limits and cuts that would cost Ohio hundreds of millions of dollars each year for the next decade, according to a statement released today by Policy Matters Ohio.

To avoid automatic cuts and spending limits, Congressional leaders are promoting an approach to taxes and spending that would get rid of unemployment insurance for thousands of Ohio families, create deep cuts in safety net programs, and eliminate cuts that have reduced taxes for middle-class and poor families.

It is the holiday season, a time when many families hold celebrations or simply gather to exchange gifts and spend time together. For many of us, that means we're going to be with family members who have different political views than we do.

That means health care advocates may have to promote and defend the Affordable Care Act over a roast and mashed potatoes. Here are some tips on talking about Obamacare with your loved ones and helping you engage in some of the debates about the law.

Columbus - In the wake of a school shooting in Connecticut that left 26 children and adults dead, Senator Eric H. Kearney (D-Cincinnati) released the following statement calling on Governor John Kasich to veto House Bill 495:

"I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to the families of the shooting victims in Connecticut who have suffered such a profound loss.  As the parent of two school age children, this tragedy hits close to home.  
 
"The mass shooting calls into question what we should be doing in the state of Ohio to keep our children safe.  Unfortunately, we have witnessed a steady weakening of Ohio's gun laws during the 129th General Assembly.  First it was guns in bars and then just last week the Ohio Senate passed a bill to allow guns in the Statehouse and Riffe Building parking garages.  Surely, after the massacre of 20 young children, the answer is not more guns in more places.  
 
"With that in mind, Governor Kasich should veto House Bill 495.  His veto would send a clear message that it is time to reassess Ohio's gun laws.  I strongly urge him to do so."

Senator Kearney is the sponsor of Senate Bill 332--legislation that would add an additional 10-year prison term to an existing sentence for any person who discharges a firearm while committing an offense resulting in the injury or death of a child.

Related:

ProgressOhio Calls on Gov Kasich to Veto Gun Bill Following Connecticut Shooting

WASHINGTON -- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined the chorus of lawmakers pressuring President Barack Obama and Congress to take action on gun control in the wake of a mass shooting Friday morning in Newtown, Conn. that left 28 dead, including 20 children.

"President Obama rightly sent his heartfelt condolences to the families," Bloomberg said in a statement to reporters. "But the country needs him to send a bill to Congress."

"For every day we wait, 34 more people are murdered with guns," he continued. "Today, many of them were five-year olds."

The Republican-turned-Independent mayor is an outspoken advocate for gun control, and endorsed Obama just before his election earlier this year.

"It has come to [this]," Bloomberg added, "Not even kindergarteners learning their A,B,Cs are safe."

Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a national, bipartisan coalition of mayors working to make America's communities safer by keeping illegal guns out of dangerous hands. Co-founded in 2006 by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, the coalition has grown from a committed group of 15 members to more than 725 mayors, including Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, from major cities and small towns around the country and across Ohio. They have more than half a million grassroots supporters, making the groupthe largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Co-Chair and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was joined today by survivors and family members of victims of gun violence to release personal videos demanding that elected officials in Washington D.C. take immediate action to reduce gun violence in America. The videos can be viewed at www.DemandAPlan.org.
 
The videos tell the stories of 34 Americans whose lives have been forever changed - whether in mass shootings in Aurora, Oak Creek, Tucson and Virginia Tech or in the daily gun violence that kills 34 Americans every day. The diverse voices hail from urban and suburban areas across the country, young and old, of different races and religious backgrounds. Every story is different, but all survivors are united in their belief that something must be done to prevent more tragedies like the one in Newtown, Connecticut and like the tragedy they personally experienced.
 
"What happened in Newtown was an unspeakable crime - a mass murder in which six- and seven-year-old children were gunned down in their classrooms, along with their elementary school teachers and administrators," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Gun violence is a national epidemic - and a national tragedy - that demands more than words. It demands immediate national action, from the President and from Congress.  It needs to be at the top of their agenda."
 
"There are too many stories of those who have lost loved ones to gun violence - and far too many were added from Newtown just days ago," Mayors Against Illegal Guns Co-Chair and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. "To honor those we've lost, we must continue to demand a plan from lawmakers that will keep gun violence from taking more lives."
 
When the 113th Congress convenes in January 2013, the videos will be delivered to members to prompt leaders in Washington to pass common sense legislation to reduce gun violence.

During this Holiday Season of caring, send a message to Sen. Portman that it is time to care for ALL of his constituents, not just corporations and those making $250,000 or more!

This is your chance to send your personal message in a holiday card to Sen. Portman regarding the Fiscal Cliff and the importance of raising taxes on incomes over $250,000 while protecting programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

Tell Sen. Portman that:

• Revenue needs to be increased before considering cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
• It is time for the wealthiest to pay their fair share in taxes.
• Corporate tax loopholes need to be closed.

Click here to sign a holiday card and insert your personal message that we will deliver to Senator Portman.

P.S. - If you can, join us in delivering these holiday cards to Sen. Portman at his office on Thursday the 20^th, at 11 AM. Click here for directions.

ProgressOhio Executive Director Brian Rothenberg made the following statement regarding HB 495:

ProgressOhio is calling on Gov. John Kasich not to sign HB 495.

Michigan made international headlines by passing a law allowing hidden guns in schools just hours before the tragic shooting in Newtown. Gov. John Kasich should avoid making a similar mistake by choosing not to sign this symbolic bill allowing guns underneath the Statehouse.

Our priority needs to be seeking out best practices to increase public safety, like closing the gunshow loophole, instead of slowly dismantling all public oversight of firearms.

President Obama traveled to Newtown, CT to meet with the families of those who were lost in Friday's tragic shooting, and to thank first responders for their work.

Yesterday, the President spoke at an interfaith vigil for families of the victims, and all families from Sandy Hook Elementary School. He offered the love and prayers of a nation grieving alongside Newtown:

Here in Newtown, I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation.  I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts.  I can only hope it helps for you to know that you're not alone in your grief; that our world too has been torn apart; that all across this land of ours, we have wept with you, we've pulled our children tight.  And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide; whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it.

Newtown -- you are not alone.

As these difficult days have unfolded, you've also inspired us with stories of strength and resolve and sacrifice.  We know that when danger arrived in the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary, the school's staff did not flinch, they did not hesitate.  Dawn Hochsprung and Mary Sherlach, Vicki Soto, Lauren Rousseau, Rachel Davino and Anne Marie Murphy -- they responded as we all hope we might respond in such terrifying circumstances -- with courage and with love, giving their lives to protect the children in their care.

We know that there were other teachers who barricaded themselves inside classrooms, and kept steady through it all, and reassured their students by saying "wait for the good guys, they're coming"; "show me your smile." 

And we know that good guys came.  The first responders who raced to the scene, helping to guide those in harm's way to safety, and comfort those in need, holding at bay their own shock and trauma because they had a job to do, and others needed them more.

And then there were the scenes of the schoolchildren, helping one another, holding each other, dutifully following instructions in the way that young children sometimes do; one child even trying to encourage a grown-up by saying, "I know karate.  So it's okay.  I'll lead the way out."

As a community, you've inspired us, Newtown.  In the face of indescribable violence, in the face of unconscionable evil, you've looked out for each other, and you've cared for one another, and you've loved one another.  This is how Newtown will be remembered.  And with time, and God's grace, that love will see you through.

Watch It:

In this clip, State Rep. Brandon Dillon (D-Grand Rapids) explains his opposition to House Bill 4054, a proposal to make Michigan a "right-to-work" state. The proposal was pushed through the House in one day without a single committee hearing and without taking a single word of testimony.

Watch It:

After more than 13 hours in deliberations, the Tuscarawas County Board of Elections declared Al Landis the winner of the 98th District Ohio House race Thursday night.

Ahead by 15 votes after the initial count, the Republican incumbent from Dover narrowly defeated his challenger, Josh O'Farrell, by eight votes.

Certification of the votes was held up by a dispute over 176 provisional and absentee ballots, some of which were later counted. O'Farrell picked up seven votes after the board agreed to review some of the disputed ballots. In the end, Landis still took the race, 23,393 votes to 23,385, in both Tuscarawas and Holmes counties

Bill would limit outsourcing for state-funded projects, put Ohioans to work

COLUMBUS - State Representative Denise Driehaus (D - Cincinnati) and State Representative Connie Pillich (D - Cincinnati) testified today to gain support for their "Hire Ohio" legislation, House Bill 342.

"We've heard a lot of talk recently from the Kasich administration about the need to put actual Ohioans to work on jobs based in Ohio," said Rep. Driehaus. "Well, here is an opportunity to do just that. It's disappointing that good bills like HB 342 are seemingly an afterthought in this political climate. This could make a real difference for Ohioans in need of jobs."

Measure honors long-unrecognized contributions of African American Ohioans during Civil War

ndash; Today, State Senator Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) celebrated the Ohio Senate's passage of Senate Resolution 219, which honors the contributions of 511 African American Ohioans to the Union's effort during the Civil War.

"This recognition has been too long in coming, but this year--the sesquicentennial remembrance of the Civil War--is a fitting time to pay tribute to the sacrifices that these men made," said Senator Turner.

Columbus - State Senator Edna Brown (D-Toledo) released the following statement today in response to Governor Kasich's announcement regarding the Ohio Turnpike:

"Since its completion in 1955, the Ohio Turnpike has been a major asset for the City of Toledo and for all of Northwest Ohio. It has provided a reliable and safe mode of transportation for residents as well as a vital economic conduit for many local businesses.  For these reasons, keeping the turnpike affordable, accessible and well maintained is a top priority for Lucas County and its communities. Although I was happy to hear that the Governor has chosen not to privatize this vital state asset, his plan still has the potential to severely undermine the turnpike's ability to meet the needs of the communities that depend on it.
 
"Increasing toll rates limits accessibility, which will have a negative economic impact on motorists as well as businesses. Additionally, diverting funding from the turnpike will not only endanger the upkeep of the road, it will also take resources out of the local economy and disperse them across the state.  I hope that the Governor will keep his constituents from Northwest Ohio in mind before he moves forward with this plan to drastically change a system that has been successful for over 55 years."

Action needed based on Governor's recent comments
 
COLUMBUS - Ohio House Democratic lawmakers called on Gov. Kasich this morning to prioritize hiring Ohioans before the year's end. Recently, Gov. Kasich publicly commented that oil and gas companies with hydraulic fracturing operations in the state do not appear to be hiring many Ohioans. Gov. Kasich's comments in the Columbus Dispatch indicated that some sort of action would be taken if some unknown hiring threshold for Ohioans was not ultimately met.
 
"Recently, Governor Kasich realized that the oil and gas industry may not be hiring as many Ohioans as was once thought," said Rep. Driehaus. "House Democrats warned of this over six months ago, and offered a simple and sound legislative solution that Republicans fought at all costs."
 
House Democrats originally attempted to address this issue through Gov. Kasich's energy and natural resource budget bill, SB 315, in May. The effort to have minimum in-state hiring standards in place was thwarted by Ohio's Republican leadership, just as it was this week when a similar amendment was offered on the House floor.
 
"It's really disappointing that some politicians like to talk jobs, but when the rubber meets the road no one wants to be in the driver's seat," said Rep. Pillich. "It is a failure of leadership when you reject sound policies just because they weren't your ideas, or because someone from a different party presents them."

Major Ohio newspapers used right-wing framing to cover the re-emergence of a right-to-work movement in the state after recent right-to-work victories in Indiana and Michigan. Though the narrative is only just developing, the Toledo Blade and the Cincinnati Enquirer already failed to challenge the veracity of statements from the movement's special interest supporters.

The Cincinnati Enquirer parroted the demand of the state and regional chambers of commerce that right-to-work in Ohio "needs the law to compete" with Indiana and Michigan." From the December 11 article:

As neighboring Michigan moved Tuesday to become a "right-to-work" state - and 10,000 protesters jammed the lawn of its Capitol - Ohio groups who support the laws say Ohio has to follow suit or watch jobs leave.

"When we are working with companies who want to investigate locations, the first question on their list is right to work," said Phillip Parker, president and chief executive officer of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. He later backed off his statement at an afternoon press conference, but there are other indications the fight may be coming to Ohio.

A group called Ohioans for Workplace Freedom is gathering signatures to put the issue on the fall ballot. They need 385,253.

"Indiana has done this. Michigan will. What choice will Ohio have," tea party activist Chris Littleton of West Chester told the Toledo Blade this week. "This is economic jet fuel for job creation, wage growth and a vibrant Ohio economy. If two border states do this, how can Ohio afford not to do this?"

COLUMBUS - State Representative Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) offered an amendment today that would require oil and natural gas companies to hire at least sixty percent of their workforce from Ohio.

"It's clear to me, and it should be clear to all of us here, that we want to do everything we can to make sure our constituents-Ohioans- have jobs," said Rep. Hagan. "It's shameful that Republicans haven't taken this amendment seriously. It's such a simple, small step to ensure Ohioans are getting jobs in our state instead of people from Oklahoma and Texas."

The amendment would ensure that Ohioans benefit from the expansion of fracking in the state. Introduced on the House floor as an amendment to Senate Bill 319, it would require that any time a company applies for a permit to drill a new horizontal well in Ohio, the owner of the well must submit a signed affidavit stating that at least sixty percent of their full-time employees are residents of Ohio.

COLUMBUS - Ohio House Democrats stood in solidarity with their Michigan colleagues and friends by wearing red carnations to House session today.

Ohio workers faced similar unsafe and unfair attacks on their right to collectively bargain, in Senate Bill 5, which was put to a voter referendum and passed with nearly 62 percent of the vote.

"This is a fight we are all too familiar with in Ohio.  We stand in support of our brothers and sisters in Michigan and across the nation.  Not too long ago men and women fought and died for the right to collectively bargain for safe work conditions and a livable wage, and now that right is under attack again in Ohio and across the nation.  Put simply, so called 'right to work' is wrong.

Statistics show states with this anti-working family legislation have lower wages and higher poverty rates. We will continue to stand together and fight against these unfair attacks on workers in Ohio, Michigan and across the country."

Former Governor Strickland's Favorability Rating Far Exceeds Kasich's

A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday indicates that for the first time since Ohio's Republican governor was inaugurated in January 2011, a plurality of Buckeye State voters are giving Kasich a thumbs up.

According to the survey, 42% approve of the job Kasich is doing as governor, with 35% saying they disapprove of his performance. And by a 40%-34% margin, Ohio voters have a favorable opinion of him.

But by a 43%-36% margin, Ohio voters say Kasich doesn't deserve a second term in office.

Former Gov. Ted Strickland, who was defeated by Kasich in the 2010 election, has a 41%-29% favorable rating doubling Kasich's score with Ohioans.

Speaking in Detroit Monday afternoon, President Barack Obama strongly criticized the push by Michigan Republicans to pass an anti-union law during the lame duck session. In a speech largely focused on his proposal to tax income over $250,000 and making the case that "our economic success has never come from the top down, it comes from the middle out and the bottom up," Obama characterized the bill being rushed through the Michigan legislature as political and part of a race to the bottom:

And by the way, what we shouldn't do. I've just got to say this, what we shouldn't be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages and working conditions. These so-called right to work laws, they don't have to do with economics, they have everything to do with politics. What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money.

You only have to look to Michigan, where workers were instrumental in reviving the auto industry, to see how unions have helped build not just a stronger middle class but a stronger America. [...]

We don't want a race to the bottom. We want a race to the top. America's not going to compete based on low skill, low wage, no workers rights. That's not our competitive advantage. There's always going to be some other country that can treat its workers worse.

WATCH IT:

Speaker John Boehner and Congressional Republicans are holding the middle class tax cuts hostage in order to give the richest 2 percent a tax cut they didn't ask for and we can't afford.

Although everyone agrees that the middle class tax cuts should be extended for 98% of Americans, Republicans refuse to let the tax rates go up on the richest among us.

On average, extending the tax cuts for the middle class would give an additional $2,000 to the average middle class family. This extra $2.000 helps families buy put food on the tables, pay their bills, and help send their children to college. I

t is vital that Republicans stop holding these tax cuts hostage.

The court's decision to hear challenges to both California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act could lead to a series of historic rulings.

The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will decide two major gay marriage cases next year that could have a sweeping impact on the rights of same-sex couples to wed. The Supreme Court has never before agreed to hear a case dealing with same-sex marriage.

The court will review California's gay marriage ban, which passed in 2008 and has been struck down by two lower courts. The justices will also hear a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents the federal government from recognizing state-sanctioned gay marriages.

Windsor v. United States was brought by Edith Windsor, a resident of New York who paid $363,000 in estate taxes after her wife died because the federal government did not recognize their marriage. New York is one of nine states (and the District of Columbia) where gay marriage is legal, so Windsor argues that the federal government is discriminating against her by not recognizing her state-sanctioned marriage.

Voters passed Prop. 8 in 2008 months after the California's high court had legalized same sex unions and thousands of gay Californians had already tied the knot. Two federal courts have struck down Prop. 8 as discriminatory, leaving the Supreme Court to render a final judgment.

Participate this Wednesday in a Fiscal Cliff TeleTown Hall
With U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown!

Are you worried about cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security?

Wondering what all the talk is about in Washington D.C. about a Fiscal Cliff?

Click here to sign up to attend this important informational Tele Town Hall with Senator Sherrod Brown about the "Fiscal Cliff" budget discussions in Congress.

Join the call to hear why revenue needs to be increased before considering cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and how all of these discussions could affect you directly here in Ohio. 

Do you think it is time for the wealthiest to pay their fair share in taxes?

Do you think we need to talk about how to increase revenue and not just talk about what should be cut?

Do you wonder how the tax discussion and possible cuts could affect you?

Do you think the priority should be the Middle Class over Millionaires?

What: The Fiscal Cliff TeleTown Hall with US Senator Sherrod Brown

Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Time: 6:00 PM EST

Click Here to attend the Fiscal Cliff TeleTown Hall this Wednesday with Senator Sherrod Brown!

WASHINGTON -- The nation's unemployment rate fell to a four-year low of 7.7% in November as employers added an unexpectedly large but still moderate 146,000 jobs over the month, despite the disruptions caused by Hurricane Sandy.

Although the severe storms in the Northeast in late October clipped economic activity and kept many workers at home, they had no major effect on the monthly employment statistics, the Labor Department said Friday.

Many analysts had forecast unemployment to rise to 8% with job growth of less than 100,000 for November.

The jobless rate in November was the lowest since December 2008, when the figure was 7.3%.

Columbus, OH - Today, advocates, organizations, and individuals joined forces to shouw broad support for expanding Medicaid eleigibility to 138% of the Federal poverty level as provided by the Affordable Care Act.  This grup, including business leaders, clergy, social workers, and individuals who need coverage, called on Governor Kasich to provide Medicaid coverage to more low-income working Ohioans.

"We know that people with insurance coverage seek more preventitive care and are healthier.  If Ohio provides more people with continuous primary care, the state will gradually realize both a health benefit and a financial benefit, said Col Owens, co-chair of Ohio Consumers for Health Coverage.

Following a press conferenece at the Statehouse today, the group deleivered a letter to Governor Kasisch signined by 85 organizations representing hundreds of thousands of Ohioan.  THe also delivered postcards to the Governor and legislative leaders.

Rep. Antonio to be the Chair in the 130th General Assembly

COLUMBUS - The Ohio House Democratic Women's Caucus recently met to elect new leadership for the 130th General Assembly. Representative Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) has been elected the Chair for the Ohio House Democratic Women's Caucus.  Rep. Heard (D-Columbus) was elected Vice Chair, Representative-Elect Heather Bishoff (D-Columbus) will serve as the Secretary, Rep. Pillich (D-Cincinnati) the Treasurer, Rep. Fedor (D-Toledo) Policy Chair, Rep. Driehause (D-Cincinnati) will serve in a newly created position as the Development Chair.

These women will strive in the next General Assembly to build upon the framework laid by Rep. Nancy Garland (D-Columbus), as she will not be returning for another term. Under her leadership, the Ohio House Democratic Women's Caucus was active, visible, engaged and worked to further the lives of women in Ohio through policy initiatives.

"I am honored to be elected to serve as the new Women's Caucus Chair," said Rep. Antonio, I can only hope to follow the exceptional leadership provided by Rep. Nancy Garland."

Brown Calls for Immediate Passage of Tax Bill to Prevent Median Income Ohio Family from Seeing Tax Increase of $2,200 Next Year While Reducing the Deficit in a Balanced Fashion

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Unless Congress acts by the end of the year, a median-income Ohio family could see their taxes increase by $2,200 next year. In advance of the Dec. 31 expiration of Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called on Speaker Boehner to schedule a vote on legislation that passed the Senate in July that would extend tax cuts for 99 percent of Ohio families - all while reducing the deficit by more than $800 billion by asking millionaires and billionaires to contribute their fair share.

Brown also outlined the need for a balanced approach to deficit reduction that puts us on a path to a balanced budget while protecting Social Security, Medicare, and resources that promote economic growth and job creation.

December is shaping up to be a pretty busy month, but it's in December that we'll save middle class tax cuts, and make sure the richest 2% pay their fair share.

Americans have been nothing short of crystal clear: we have to extend the middle class tax cuts now, and then debate what to do about tax cuts for the richest 2%.

But Republicans have said no at every turn and continue to hold the middle class hostage so they can be used as bargaining chips.

There is a petition on the floor of the U.S. House that if every Democrat and at least 26 Republicans sign - they'll be forced to give an up or down vote on middle class tax cuts.

Call your representative and ask that they sign the petition, use our toll free number here: 1- (888)-344-0683.

We've got a great shot to force Congressional Republicans to have a straight up or down vote on middle class tax cuts - call your Representative now at 1-(888)-344-0683

Demand Compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964

COLUMBUS- House and Senate Democrats joined together today to demand that Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and stop rejecting provisional and absentee ballots because of minor paperwork mistakes.
 
"The Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires that no vote be thrown out because of a simple paperwork mistake made by a poll worker, a voter, or any other person," stated Sen. Nina Turner (D-Cleveland).  "Yet many provisional and absentee ballots are being disqualified for that very reason.  Secretary Husted must stop creating obstacles, start following the law, and count these votes."
 
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 reads, "No person acting under color of law shall . . . deny the right of any individual to vote in any election because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration, or other act requisite to voting, if such error or omission is not material in determining whether such individual is qualified under State law to vote in such election."  42 USC 1971(a)(2)(B).

After taking heat for refusing to put specific tax proposals on the table, Republican leaders in Congress finally announced their counteroffer: more of what America already rejected. Keep up the pressure -- a new poll shows the majority of voters will blame Republicans if budget negotiations aren't resolved soon and automatic spending cuts and tax increases go into effect in January.

Last night on Sunday Night Football, NBC sportscaster Bob Costas spoke up about the epidemic of gun violence in America.

He was addressing an incident from earlier last weekend, when Kansas City Chiefs player Jovan Belcher took his own life at Arrowhead Stadium after shooting and killing the mother of their three-month-old baby.

It's a tragedy. And when so many gun murders go unnoticed by our media and ignored by our leaders in Washington, it's important to recognize public figures like Costas who have the courage to tell it like it is.

Will you send a note to Bob Costas thanking him for having the guts to stand up? We'll make sure he gets it.

Make no mistake - Bob Costas will also hear from those who believe that discussions of gun violence have no place in our public discourse.

The truth is that common-sense reform of our gun laws, like background checks, would save many lives. And working together, we'll get there. But first, we need Washington and the media to recognize the problem, and to participate in a national conversation about our gun laws - one that President Obama called for in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona.

Help us make sure Mr. Costas hears from people who believe we have a responsibility to end the violence that takes the lives of 34 Americans each and every day.

Let's support Costas for having the courage of his convictions. Send him a message right now.

Thanks for sending a message,
Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Washington, DC - Today, the United States Supreme Court indicated that it will again consider whether to grant review in Hollingsworth v. Perry (formerly Perry v. Brown), the federal constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8.  The Perry case, along with several cases challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), have been distributed for consideration at the Justices' private Conference scheduled for Friday, December 7.  The Proposition 8 and DOMA cases were considered at the Justices' Conference of Friday, November 30, but the Court took no action in any of the cases.
 
Enacted in November 2008, Proposition 8 eliminated the fundamental freedom of gay and lesbian Californians to marry.  DOMA, which was enacted by Congress in 1996, nullifies the marriages of gay and lesbian couples for all purposes of federal law.

Since passage of the health care overhaul two years ago, 5.8 million Medicare patients have saved $5 billion from prescription drug discounts, and the government can now predict lower health care costs based on increased use of these cheaper drugs.

The savings are a continuation of the 2010 health care law's attempt to close the "doughnut hole" -- or the prescription drug coverage expenses that kick in once Medicare coverage runs out. The Department of Health and Human Services plans to announce those savings Monday.

"The health care law is saving money for people with Medicare," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, before adding that open enrolling begins next week.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi Announces Plan To Force House Vote Next Week Through Procedural Tool If Republican Leaders Won't Do the Right Thing

As the so-called "fiscal cliff" nears, Rep. Pat Tiberi can be decisive in getting the middle-class tax cut legislation benefitting 98 percent of Americans signed into law next week or in keeping the measure a hostage to demands that huge tax breaks for the richest 2 percent be renewed.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi announced today that if House Speaker John Boehner does not bring the middle-class tax cut bill up for a vote in the House next week she will initiate a procedural tool, called a discharge petition, that allows members of Congress to force a bill to be voted on if a simple majority of 218 members sign it. There are 192 Democrats in the House of Representatives; assuming all of them sign the discharge petition 26 Republicans would have to defy their party's leadership in order to bring the bill to the floor.    

"Rep. Tiberi is one of 26 Republican members of the House that are needed to renew the middle-class tax cut by January 1," said Brian Rothenberg, Executive Director, ProgressOhio. "Supporting a tax cut for 98 percent of Americans is something both parties agree on so let's get it done. Congress can debate whether to renew huge tax breaks for the richest 2 percent next year. We implore Rep. Pat Tiberi not to hold our middle-class tax cut hostage to protect millionaires and billionaires."

Activity was Part of National Day of Action in 100+ Cities to Ensure the Wealthiest Americans Pay Their Fair Share and Ask Congress "Who Pays?"

Progressive and Consumer Organizations, State Senator Charleta B. Tavares, and Leaders from the Somali Community will hold a Town Hall at the Somali Senior and Family Center to discuss the fiscal debate in Washington and highlight how it effects the local community.

This was a National Day of Action sponsored by Americans for Tax Fairness.

Washington, D.C. - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced that House Democrats will file a discharge petition on Tuesday to bring middle income tax cuts to the floor if House Republicans continue to hold middle income tax cuts hostage to tax cuts for the rich.  

Watch It:

"As you know, as we've been saying, as the President has said, he has his pen in hand, he is ready to sign the middle income tax cut.  Last July, that legislation passed the United States Senate - the exact same bill was introduced in the House at that time and since then we have been asking the Republican leadership to bring the middle income tax cut to the floor.
 
"The clock is ticking, the year is ending, it's really important, with tax legislation, for it to happen now.  We're calling upon the Republican leadership in the House to bring this legislation to the floor next week.  We believe that not doing that would be holding middle income tax cuts hostage to tax cuts for the rich.  Tax cuts for the rich which do not create jobs, just increase the deficit, heaping mountains of debt onto future generations.
 
"And so, to that end, we are - we will be introducing, if the bill, if there is no announcement of scheduling of the middle income tax cut, which, by the way, has tremendous support in the Republican Caucus - I think we would get a 100 percent vote on it if it came to the floor.  If it is not scheduled, then on Tuesday we will be introducing a discharge petition which you know with - if we get 218 signatures, would bring the bill automatically to the floor.  That would mean that we need some Republicans who support middle income tax cuts, to sign on with us."

State should focus on proven job creation methods, not soliciting anecdotes
 
COLUMBUS - State Representative Denise Driehaus (D-Cincinnati) today sent a letter to JobsOhio Director John Minor asking for an end to the "Thrive in Ohio" ad campaign and a full account of the money used. Rep. Driehaus is Ranking Member of the House Economic Development Committee and a member of the Development Financing Advisory Council and the House 21st Century Manufacturing Task Force.
 
The text of the letter from Rep. Driehaus to Director John Minor is below:

House Passes New School Grading System, But What Grade Does Gov. Kasich Deserve?

COLUMBUS- As the Ohio House rushed to pass House Bill 555 today, which creates a new school grading system, State Rep. Matt Lundy (D- Elyria) gave Gov. Kasich an "F" for his record on education.

"While we can all agree that improving education standards is important but, by rushing to do pass this bill, Gov. Kasich is setting our children up for failure and in the end parents will give the Governor an 'F.' Ramming House Bill 555 through the legislature only compounds the problem of too many curriculum and school performance changes without adequate time or constitutional funding," said Rep. Lundy.

192 schools had levies on the ballot during this past election, after Gov. Kasich's budget slashed $2 billion in education funding. While school districts across the state are facing a combined school-funding deficit of over $1.79 billion in fiscal year 2014, the requirements continue to change as funding uncertainty looms.

"Lately the news has been all about Washington and the fiscal cliff, but right here in Ohio Gov. Kasich is driving education off a cliff," said Rep. Lundy.  "Gov. Kasich's budget has already forced 192 schools districts to ask for tax increases. Before we cause more damage to schools and communities, we should wait until a new funding formula has been outlined and we know how education funding will be impacted before we change the rules of the road for schools."

House Bill 30 dismantled education reforms set in place by Democrats taking apart key provisions like all-day kindergarten, and it removed the Evidence Based Model for education, returning us to an unconstitutional funding system that is overly reliant on property taxes. Two years later Gov. Kasich has still failed to introduce his own school funding plan.

COLUMBUS- Ohio House Democratic Leader Armond Budish (D- Beachwood) released the following statement concerning the passage of House Bill 555.

"I appreciate and support the goal of raising school standards.  But changing the standards mid-term, and then penalizing schools and kids for failing to meet the new standards, is dangerous and unfair. 

In addition, the creation of multiple new mandates, after slashing school funding, and without giving school districts the tools needed to improve education, is counterproductive and sets our children up for failure.

Finally, this complex bill should not be rushed through a lame duck session just a couple of months before introduction of the next budget. 

The Governor has promised to present a new school funding formula, in the budget, and it makes no sense to create new mandates apart from consideration of comprehensive school funding."

Prop. 8 and DOMA Cases Distributed for Nov. 30 Conference

Washington, DC - Tomorrow, the United States Supreme Court will consider whether to grant review in Hollingsworth v. Perry (formerly Perry v. Brown), the federal constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8.  The Perry case, along with several cases challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), have been distributed for discussion at the Justices' private Conference scheduled for Friday, November 30, 2012.  
 
Enacted in November 2008, Proposition 8 eliminated the fundamental freedom of gay and lesbian Californians to marry.  DOMA, which was enacted by Congress in 1996, nullifies the marriages of gay and lesbian couples for all purposes of federal law.

COLUMBUS - State Reps. Kathleen Clyde (D- Kent) and Debbie Phillips (D- Albany) laid out five most troubling aspects of Ohio's broken provisional ballot process during a press conference today.  Attached is a fact sheet outlining these provisional ballot problems.

"Ohio is the heart of it all politically.  We are the most important swing state in the country.  More than anyone else, we really need to lead, because the spotlight is on us," said Rep. Clyde.  "Instead we're leading in all the wrong things, and thousands of Ohioan's votes are being illegally and needlessly rejected."

Ohio's national importance highlights the severe problems with our elections system and the need for long-term solutions that ensure ALL votes are counted. The balance of the Ohio House comes down to provisional ballots.

"We urge Secretary Husted to work with us and take immediate action to avoid costly litigation and to rightfully count the votes of all Ohioans," said Rep. Clyde. "The stakes are very high with this provisional ballot crisis, and Ohioans rights are in the balance.  Let's work together, fix these problems, and count the votes."

First case prosecuted under new law; juvenile victims helped through safe harbor provision

Representative Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) sponsored and helped pass H.B. 262 just this summer and now, according to a source at the FBI's Northwest Ohio Task Force, Ohio's most recent human trafficking law has been used for the first time to prosecute a trafficker. The man had moved to Ohio to run a trafficking operation and is charged with sexually exploiting two adult women.  Because the case is ongoing, more information is not publicly available.

"I am so proud to see my legislation having a direct impact on addressing one of the worst crimes imaginable. Toledo has developed a reputation for having a human trafficking problem and I think it is vital that Toledo now taking a lead in solving the problem," said Representative Fedor.
 
H.B. 262 also contained a safe harbor provision, which aids juvenile victims of trafficking by providing services instead of jail time. The Lucas County Juvenile Court has heard at least four such cases since the law went into effect in June. The law affects the 1,000 minors that are trafficked in Ohio annually and the 3,000 Ohio minors that are at risk of exploitation.

Middle Class Over Millionaires

Fiscal Cliff Town Hall This Saturday!

Wondering what all the talk is in Washington D.C. about a Fiscal Cliff?

Are you worried about cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security?

Plan to attend this important informational Town Hall about the "Fiscal Cliff" budget discussions in Congress to hear why revenue needs to be increased before considering cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and how all of these discussions could affect you directly here in Ohio. 

Do you think it is time for the wealthiest to pay their fair share in taxes?

Do you think we need to talk about how to increase revenue and not just talk about what should be cut?

Do you wonder how the tax discussion and possible cuts could affect you?

Do you think the priority should be the Middle Class over Millionaires?

Plan to attend the Town Hall this Saturday to hear the panel discuss these questions and many more!

Middle Class Over Millionaires

Fiscal Cliff Town Hall Event

Saturday December 1, 2012

3:30 PM

Somali Senior and Family Center

2706 Crossroads Plaza Dr.

Columbus, Ohio 43219

Panelists include: Brian Rothenberg ProgressOhio, State Senator Charleta B. Tavares Ohio Senate 15th District, Cathy Levine UHCAN Ohio, Liiban Bulle Somali Senior and Family Center, and Hassan Idris Somali Education and Resource Center.

Republican Senate President Tom Niehaus tells reporters his chamber will not move on the Heartbeat Bill or Planned Parenthood funding legislation before the end of the year.

Watch It:

Ohio Senate Puts End to 'Heartbeat' Abortion Bill

An Ohio bill that would have imposed the most stringent restriction on abortions in the nation met its end Tuesday.

Senators don't plan to vote on the so-called "heartbeat bill" before the end of the legislative session next month, Republican Senate President Tom Niehaus said, citing concerns the resulting law might have been found to be unconstitutional.

The bill proposed banning abortions after the first fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks into pregnancy. It had fiercely divided Ohio's anti-abortion community, while energizing abortion rights proponents who protested against it.

Backers hoped the stringent nature of the bill would provoke a legal challenge with the potential to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion up until viability, usually at 22 to 24 weeks.

Ohio Right to Life, the state's largest and oldest anti-abortion group, and many state lawmakers expressed concern the limit would be unconstitutional -- jeopardizing other abortion limits in Ohio and expanding access to legal abortions.

The measure initially had stalled in both chambers as leaders sought legal advice as to whether the bill could withstand a court challenge. It passed the House in June and had remained pending in the Senate since.

Its demise Tuesday marked the end of one of the noisiest lobbying efforts in recent state memory.

ASHINGTON -- A group of high-profile corporate CEOs are lobbying Capitol Hill this week to put Social Security and Medicare cuts at the forefront of deficit reduction negotiations. Their own retirement funds, however, are secure: The coalition includes 54 CEOs who have amassed combined pension assets of more than $649 million from their companies' executive retirement plans, according to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies, titled "A Pension Deficit Disorder: The Massive CEO Retirement Funds and Underfunded Worker Pensions at Firms Pushing Social Security Cuts."

The CEOs' employees are much less secure in their retirement than the CEOs. According to the report, less than 60 percent of the 71 public companies offer pension plans for their employees. Of the 41 companies that do, 39 of them haven't contributed enough to their workers' pension funds to enable the plans to pay out their anticipated obligations. Among the companies with employee pension funds in the red, these deficits exceed $100 billion.

The CEOs are among 71 chief executives of publicly traded companies who belong to the Fiscal Leadership Council of the influential Campaign to Fix the Debt, a group which has raised more than $60 million to lobby for a debt deal driven by cuts to "entitlements." The coalition will meet Wednesday morning with congressional leaders, according to sources familiar with the group's lobbying activities. The group, funded in part by former private equity magnate Peter G. Peterson's foundation, has pledged to push for austerity during the lame duck congressional session, and beyond. Peterson has spent nearly half a billion dollars in recent years pushing his austerity agenda.

In split decision, Ohio Supreme Court upholds new apportionment maps

COLUMBUS -- In a split decision, the Ohio Supreme Court today upheld new maps of state House and Senate districts drawn by a panel of state officials that the court recognized as partisan in nature.

The court's majority found that a Democratic challenge to the Republican-drawn maps fell short in proving they were unconstitutional.

"In making our determination, we accord the apportionment board the deference it is afforded by the constitution in attempting to take into account various federal and state requirements by placing the burden on one challenging an apportionment plan to establish its unconstitutionality beyond a reasonable doubt," Justice Terrence O'Donnell wrote for the majority.

"Relators have failed to adduce sufficient, credible proof to carry this heavy bur