Saturday Stats
Posted March 25, 2023 in eNews
$2.6 billion: In the previous edition of Saturday Stats, we noted three major flaws in House Bill 1, any one of which should be enough to make Ohioans tell our reps to vote against it. This week, State Policy Fellow Guille Bervejillo, PhD, identified more reasons to toss HB 1, including the fact that it would slash state revenues by $2.6 billion in FY 24 — and by nearly $2 billion every year after that. He took the bill apart piece by piece before the House Ways & Means Committee, in testimony you should just watch for yourself:
$300: When Gov. DeWine opted Ohio into a group of states that prematurely cut off $300 weekly Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payments, he put us in a cohort of states that have recovered jobs more slowly than the rest of the country. That’s just one piece of evidence cited by Senior Researcher Michael Shields in written testimony arguing against a provision in the state budget that would block the governor from accepting emergency federal jobless benefits.
$200 million+: Ohio’s constitution requires the state to provide a “thorough and efficient system of common schools” for all students. But EdWeek ranked Ohio near the bottom (46th) for equitable distribution of education resources. No small part of the problem is caused by decreasing foundation funding for public schools while increasing aid to non-public charters and vouchers for private schools by more than $200 million in the last two years alone. That disparity would only get worse under Senate Bill 11, against which State Policy Fellow Tanisha Pruitt, PhD, testified earlier this month.
19%: Nearly 1 in 5 Ohio children lived in poverty in 2021 — a higher share than in 36 other states. Gov. DeWine’s budget proposal includes some policies that could help reduce child poverty—and recent testimony from Project Director Will Petrik includes a lot more! In fact, Will testified twice this week, advocating for policies that would create greater security and stability for families, including a Thriving Families Tax Credit, healthy school meals for all Ohio children and increased funding for Ohio’s food banks.
95.7%: After the “resoundingly good news” of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual jobs data benchmark earlier this month, the regular monthly report wasn’t much of a surprise: Ohio is getting close to recovering the jobs lost to COVID-19, reaching 95.7% of the total number of jobs in the state back in February 2020. For more details, check out this week’s JobWatch from Michael Shields.
Action items:
Sign our petition to oppose flat taxes like the one proposed in HB 1.
Help stop a dangerous bill that lowers the minimum age for peace officers in Ohio from 21 to 18. Sign here to join Ohio Families Unite for Political Action and Change campaign against HB84/SB53
Help get reproductive freedom on the ballot by gathering signatures or attending a signature-gathering event. Protect Choice Ohio has local events all over the state. And show your support for the movement to protect reproductive freedom in Ohio. Order a yard sign (or two, or three…) from Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights.
Coming up:
The Cleveland Foundation Criminal Legal Reform RFP Information Session
The Cleveland Foundation is requesting grant proposals to support transformative systems-change, policy, and advocacy work in Greater Cleveland’s criminal legal systems. This session will cover the foundation's four policy priorities and provide more information to potential applicants about the purpose of the RFP and eligibility criteria. Registration is free & required.