Ohio received more than $8.5 billion in Recovery Act funds more than $370 million of which is dedicated funding to support job training. Only 45 percent of Ohio workers possess post-secondary credentials yet, more that half of all jobs will require post-secondary education. Recovery Act funds will help the state push back the skill gap and help individuals left jobless by the recession seek new employment and retrain for new careers.

This report, the first in a three-part series, presents a broad overview of the Recovery Act and investment in Ohio’s workforce development system from non-Department of Labor sources. These funds, which supported training programs in the health care, weatherization, and SmartGrid maintenance and implementation, were spent with high levels of public transparency, generated job growth, and helped workers train for jobs in growing industries and for better wages.

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One Ohio… Now - More than 35 organizations and hundreds of individuals gathered in Columbus on January 14 to launch a new coalition that argues for a balanced approach to the Ohio budget that relies in part on raising more revenue for needed services. Learn about One Ohio Now and the human service advocates, faith-based leaders, working people, community organizations, educators and citizens that are united to fight devastating budget cuts and preserve a stronger Ohio. Some of the press: an Akron Beacon Journal Editorial, a Columbus Dispatch story, a Dayton Daily News Op-Ed, and a clip from Ohio Public Radio.

Film to fix Ohio Budget - This new video by Policy Matters’ Piet van Lier gives voice to policy advocates, activists and people on the frontlines who are concerned that Ohio’s budget will continue to be dominated by a one-sided assault on funding for basic, necessary services. Look, listen, and come away with a better sense of why we need a balanced approach that includes revenue to build a stronger Ohio.

Faith and Finance - Two-dozen Cleveland-area clergy gathered on January 21 with others at Trinity Cathedral to demand a fair and equitable state budget. Sponsored by Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries and Advocates for Budget Legislation Equality, this gathering gave eloquent voice to the moral case for preserving the services that Ohio families and communities need.

Budgets and bargaining - Historically and through today, Ohio has had trade unions to protect workers from management excesses and collectively bargain for wages and rights. In Ohio, despite declines in union representation, unions remain the largest collective voice for working people. Allowing public workers to bargain collectively reduces labor strife, reduces likelihood of strikes, and can lead to better training and higher productivity for public sector workers. Attorneys, academics and our own Wendy Patton held a December discussion on state budgets and collective bargaining.

Talk, talk, talk - Recent talks at the Mandel Center and the Foundation Center by David Rothstein and Amy Hanauer focused on how the budget slashing might affect Ohio non-profits. One is summarized here.

That’s all!
The Policy Matters Team 

Read the Testimony 

While urban counties like Cuyahoga County are still the leaders in foreclosure rates in Ohio, foreclosure growth rates were higher in smaller, non-urban counties. Although the overall rate of foreclosures in Ohio declined by four percent in 2010 as compared to 2009, foreclosure levels remain at crisis levels, a 142 percent increase from 2000 levels. This report from Policy Matters Ohio analyzes foreclosure filing trends in Ohio and makes recommendations to reduce the foreclosure filing rate and to mitigate other effects of the foreclosure crisis.

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Weak oversight continues to undermine Ohio’s charter school sector, allowing charter management companies to evade the law with little or no accountability. This release documents how the Leona Group, a Phoenix-based, for-profit management firm, skirted Ohio law by opening a new school to replace one closed by the state. Paul Laurence Dunbar Academy, a K-8 school in Toledo operated by the Leona Group, appeared on the state’s closure list because of its poor academic record and was required to shut down by June 2010. But by July 2, 2010, the Leona Group had taken steps to open a new school, Northpointe Academy, at the same address with the same phone number and much of the same staff. Leona operates nine schools in Ohio, according to its web site. Click on the links below to read our press release and to see staff lists for the two schools.

Recent Presentation

Wendy Patton
February 12, 2011
Columbus, Ohio

A wave of new interest in cities and towns, accompanied by analysis and reports and events, was launched well before Wall Street melted down and well before the economic whiplash hit state and local governments. New ideas about approaching redevelopment and encouraging new kinds and patterns of development were already under discussion when the recession hit. Today, those reports are hard to separate from the reports advising on how to survive the current fiscal crisis.

Full Presentation

Rutgers University professor Jeffrey H. Keefe conducted a comprehensive analysis of public and private sector compensation in Ohio. He found that, controlling for education, experience and other factors, state and local public sector employees in Ohio are paid several percentage points less than their private sector counterparts. This comparison includes all forms of compensation – wages, benefits, and retirement contributions. Education is the most important factor in earnings, and public-sector workers are, on average, much more highly educated than private sector employees: 49% of full-time public sector workers have at least a bachelors’ degree, compared to 26% of private sector workers in Ohio. This paper was released nationally by the Economic Policy Institute on the day after a bill to eliminate collective bargaining for state employees was introduced in Ohio. Professor Keefe’s research makes clear that public sector workers are not overcompensated. To create an Ohio economy that works better for all, Ohio must retain a strong public sector and work to improve compensation and employment for all working families in Ohio.

Full Report

House Bill 3 in the Ohio House of Representatives would repeal the state’s estate tax. This measure would reduce revenue to Ohio’s municipalities, which receive 80 percent of the estate tax. It would also further weight Ohio’s state and local tax system in favor of the affluent. Zach Schiller, research director of Policy Matters Ohio, delivered this testimony opposing repeal at the House Ways & Means Committee on February 9, 2011.

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Policy Matters Ohio examined all of the minimum-wage cases filed between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009 with the state of Ohio. The 940 complaints were filed in 73 of the state’s 88 counties, and most were resolved in favor of the worker. By far the largest number of complaints came in the accommodations and food service industry, including restaurants. This February 2011 report provides additional information on the complaints and recommends that the state upgrade its overall reporting on wage and hour enforcement.

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