Democratic News

Veterans Day is more than just a day to say “thank you.” As elected officials, we owe our own service in return for our veterans’ sacrifices of time away from the home front—not just for one day, but for the lifetime of our calling. 

State Rep. Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) today sent a letter to state school board members, urging them to reconsider a plan to overturn state standards for school faculty ratios in art education, music education, physical education, guidance counseling, library sciences and physical and mental health.

The text of the letter is below:

A leading organization in the fight against human trafficking, Shared Hope International, today released its 2014 “Protected Innocence Challenge” state ratings on human trafficking laws. Ohio improved slightly under the new rankings, up some 5 points from 2013, but still received a “C” or 78 out of 100.

“Despite receiving a “C” letter grade, I am pleased to see Ohio has made significant improvements in several areas that are critical to protecting children from sex trafficking,” said State Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo). “I will continue to advocate for stronger anti-trafficking laws until Ohio is the standard-bearer for fighting this serious violation of human rights.”

With the passage of Rep. Fedor’s  “End Demand Act” Ohio saw gains in the areas of Criminalization of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking; Criminal Provisions for Traffickers; and Protective Provisions for Child Victims.

Rep. Teresa Fedor’s “End Demand Act” is largely focused on tackling the black market-driven demand for purchasing commercial sex by:

-Increasing penalties from a misdemeanor to a felony for purchasing sex from a minor.

-Requiring offenders to register as tier two sex offenders.

-Prohibiting the advertisement of massage services that promise sexual activity.

-Terminating parental rights for those found trafficking their children.

The bill was signed into law in June of this year. 

State Reps. Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Nicholas J. Celebrezze (D-Parma) sent a letter today to Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder asking him to consider legislation, House Bill 628, that would authorize the state’s Inspector General (IG) to investigate the Attorney General’s (AG) office for any wrongful acts or omissions following continued allegations of harassment in the office.

State Reps. Michael Sheehy (D-Oregon) and John Patterson (D-Jefferson) today urged the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue working to establish state standards for safe levels of microcystin in Ohio’s public water systems, a step that would be required with the passage of the Lake Erie lawmakers’ legislation—House Bill 625.

State Rep. Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) sent a letter Tuesday to Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Rick Hodges requesting the state’s preparedness plan for a potential Ebola infection in the state. The lawmaker stressed the importance of treatment, prevention and quarantine protocols to contain any potential patients.

“In light of this ongoing outbreak, I believe it is imperative that Ohio has adequate protocols in place to treat any cases in our state and to prevent transmission of potentially deadly diseases,” said Rep. Hagan. “It is important that the new leadership at ODH is able to communicate a comprehensive contagion management plan to health providers, lawmakers and taxpayers.”

The lawmaker’s letter follows the infection of over 8,000 individuals worldwide, mainly in Western Africa. To date in the United States, one patient has died from the Ebola virus in Dallas, TX.

A copy of Rep. Hagan’s letter can be seen below.

In response to today’s report that a healthcare worker who recently visited family in Ohio was diagnosed with Ebola upon returning to Texas, Democratic State Rep. Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) and ranking House Health Committee member Rep. Nickie J. Antonio (D-Cleveland) called on House and Senate leaders to hold a joint health committee hearing on state protocol for managing Ebola infections.

The letter’s text is below:

Dear Speaker Batchelder and President Faber:

With the news breaking that a patient infected with the Ebola virus very recently visited the state of Ohio, we are calling upon the House and Senate leadership to convene a joint meeting of the health committees of both chambers. We feel it is imperative that the new leadership of the Ohio Department of Health brief the legislature and citizens on public health protocols with regard to Ebola in Ohio.

As the executive agency tasked with protecting public well-being, the Department of Health must maintain robust, comprehensive protocols in the event that Ohioans are exposed to a deadly virus. While it is important not to raise unnecessary alarm, we are troubled by the tone of this week’s conference call by state health officials in which they seemed more focused on downplaying the possibility of an Ebola outbreak in Ohio than on communicating protocols for preventing the spread of the disease in our state.

A joint committee hearing between the two chambers’ respective health committees should provide Director Hodges and his staff at the Department of Health with an appropriate venue in which to communicate to lawmakers, health providers, and the public on what active steps the department is taking to prepare for an Ebola outbreak.

Time is of the essence. We strongly urge the joint committee meeting be scheduled with all due haste.

State Rep. John Patterson (D-Jefferson) recently helped bring together Northeast Ohio farmers, The Ohio State University, county auditors, soil and water conservancy groups and County Farm Bureaus to address dramatic property tax increases on farmers from the state’s voluntary farm tax savings program, the Current Agriculture Use and Valuation (CAUV). The Ashtabula County lawmaker says he heard from concerned constituents that some were facing tax increases of over 300 percent on their farmland this year.

The first meeting at the OSU Agriculture Extension office in Jefferson, Ohio brought together over twenty stakeholders, representing nearly every form of agriculture in the region, including organic growers, dairy farmers, grain farmers, fisheries, and even woodlot entrepreneurs. The CAUV task force held its second meeting Monday in Ashtabula County.

The task force is currently taking a regional approach in addressing potential solutions to agricultural land value increases under the CAUV, but many hope the group can offer statewide recommendations that will help mitigate dramatic property tax increases on farmers in 41 counties across the state.

“It is my hope and intention that this task force will provide some very comprehensive thought to this program that has benefitted farmers since 1973,” said Rep. Patterson. “It is only through this collaborative discussion and research that we can present a plan that won’t result in a knee-jerk legislative reaction that could be very harmful for our current and future farmers of this county, region and state.”

Ohio’s CAUV was established 40 years ago in an effort to add predictability to farmers’ property tax bills while incorporating land valuation practices that were thought to be fairer, like a rolling average of crop prices, soil conditions and harvest volume.

Many farmers throughout the state use the CAUV, but in recent years, t