Keeping it Brief
OWA Policy Brief
Week of: 8/10/20
Federal:
Update on the COVID-19 Stimulus
As of Thursday, August 8th, the Senate has left Washington D.C. for recess without an agreement on the COVID-19 stimulus bill.
This suggests that an agreement may be weeks away as Democrat and GOP leaders continue to negotiate and disagree on key aspects of the bill.
The Senate is expected to return on September 14th.
Results for this week’s congressional primaries for the House
In Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, Rep. Ilhan Omar won against her opponent Antone Melton-Meaux in one of the most expensive and most anticipated primaries on Tuesday.
In a less fortunate turn of events, a GOP candidate with ties to the QAnon conspiracy theory won a primary runoff in Georgia.
Also in Minnesota, a Republican candidate was selected for a district that though currently is represented by a Democrat, voted for Donald Trump in 2016 by a wide margin.
Biden picks Senator Kamala Harris as his Vice President
State:
Senate Republicans introduce another bill to limit health orders during pandemic
SB 348 aims to reduce the penalties for flouting public health orders, give the legislature oversight of health orders, and require written consent before contact tracing begins. It also prohibits local health boards from issuing orders that state a person will be prosecuted. The bill allows for more local control over the current public health crisis.
“Sen. Tim Schaffer, of Lancaster, the bill’s lead sponsor, said he introduced it because of a “miscommunication” between levels of government. He elaborated that he, and many of his constituents, believe the Ohio Department of Health publishes “fake data” about COVID-19 because it counts probable cases in its total case count.”
Governor’s office: Federal $300 unemployment supplement likely coming
Unemployed Ohioans should receive $300 a week with the stimulus package set to be received by the federal government.
Zach Schiller from Policy Matters Ohio expresses the concern that $300 is not enough to support unemployed Ohioans as they seek unemployment. He explains that “In the time it will take to get Ohio’s antiquated unemployment compensation system up and running with this benefit, this so-called solution will leave more than half-a-million workers without any additional relief for weeks. That will hurt the economic recovery and the many Ohio businesses that need consumers to be able to buy their goods and services. The president and Congress should fully restore the $600 benefit.”
An article was published that followed up to this information explaining that the state of Ohio cannot financially support residents in addition to the federal dollars provided
Ohio school asks state supreme court to speed up decision on armed teachers policy
The Madison Local School District is part of a state supreme court case that pushed to allow teachers to be armed in schools.
The school believes that having unarmed teachers in schools this year is a safety concern. The case is in reaction to a shooting that occurred in the district’s high school.
Attorneys for the district said the fact that the Ohio Supreme Court accepted the case “implies serious questions going to the merits of the Twelfth District’s decision and that Madison has at least a reasonable prospect of success on the merits.”
Information from Policy Matters Ohio about bipartisan bills in the state legislature:
The Ohio Fairness Act, to prohibit discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation
Ending Ohio’s out-of-control and unsustainable private school voucher program
Reform of Ohio’s property wealth-based formula for funding schools
Bipartisan gun safety reforms like a red flag law and safe storage requirements
Nuclear bailout repeal and restoration of renewable energy and efficiency standards
Ending the failed experiment with Academic Distress commissions
Modernizing Ohio’s election system including online ballot requests and automatic voter registration
Drug sentencing reform
Aisha’s Law
Coronavirus: Every county board of elections to have drop box at its main office for Election Day
Frank LaRose, Ohio Secretary of State, issued a new order stating that every county must have a dropbox for votes at the Board of Elections office that will be open 24/7 up until election day
The order was issued after LaRose discovered that only a few existed throughout the state and that they weren’t readily available
The drop boxes will be used for the return of ballots as well as absentee request ballots
Legislation presented this week
House Bill 742 (Crossman, Brent) – John Lewis Voter Registration Day – to designate February 21 as “John Lewis Voter Registration Day” and to require the boards of elections to promote that day to encourage voter registration.
House Bill 744 (Leland, Brent) – Rental Assistance – to enact the Eviction Crisis Response Act to create the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program, to make an appropriation, and to declare an emergency.
House Bill 746 (Lanese, Greenspan) – HB6 Energy Repeal – to repeal the changes made by H.B. 6 of the 133rd General Assembly to the laws governing electric service, renewable energy, and energy efficiency and the changes made to other related laws.
Senate Bill 348 (Schaffer, Roegner) – Health Orders – to prohibit local boards of health from using certain threatening words in notifications to the public, to allow local boards of health to reject Department of Health orders during an emergency, to allow health care professionals who serve on a board of health to receive continuing education credit, and to change the makeup of local boards of health.
Senate Bill 349 (Fedor) – Campaign Finance – to modify the campaign finance law, to name this act the Ohio Anti-Corruption Act, and to amend the versions of sections 3517.10, 3517.105, and 3517.106 of the Revised Code that are scheduled to take effect January 1, 2021, to continue the provisions of this act on and after that effective date.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 17 (Fedor) – Campaign Finance – to urge Congress to pass legislation requiring corporations and labor organizations that make political expenditures to disclose the identities of their donors.
Local:
Dawn Gentry hearing: Attorney recounts judge asking her for a threesome, kiss (Cincinnati)
Tuesday, 8/10/2020, Attorney General Katherine Schultz cried as she “testified for three hours… in a Newport courtroom”
Dawn Gentry, a Kenton County (Northern KY) Family Court Judge is facing 12 misconduct charges, accusing her “of using sex, coercion and retaliation as tools in her judgeship.” Judge Gentry was suspended with pay “and even faced an impeachment inquiry from Kentucky lawmakers over the allegations.”
AG Schultz explained her time working with Judge Gentry on a panel that was created to give aid to children in abusive situations, describing that Gentry “propositioned her for a threesome, kissed her in a bathroom and threatened to rule against her in court cases”
Schultz and other Attorneys also mentioned that Gentry put pressure on to help her campaign for her re-election in 2018
COVID-19: Columbus City Schools suspends sports, extracurricular activities
On Thursday morning, Columbus City Schools suspended extracurricular activities, including athletics, to help combat the spread of COVID-19.
Many coaches say they are not surprised by this suspension, but are hopeful for the return of sports as “suspension” is not a full cancellation yet.
The district will evaluate the suspension while receiving guidance from Columbus Public Health officials and the Ohio Public Health Advisory Alert system.
Franklin County Judge H. William Pollitt dies of COVID-19 complications
Franklin County Municipal Court Judge H. William Pollitt Jr. was in the hospital’s intensive-care unit for a week and died at the age of 72 on Thursday morning at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital.
“Pollitt was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Municipal Court bench in 1996 by then-Gov. George Voinovich. He was elected the following year to complete the unexpired term and continued to be returned to the bench by voters, serving 24 years. He was consistently rated as one of the best judges on the bench in Columbus Bar Association polls.”
Will masks be required to vote at Ohio polls in November? Yes and no
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose says voters must follow the state’s mask mandate if they choose to vote in person in November, but poll workers will not be enforcing the mandate.
LaRose said, “our elections officials are not there to enforce mask mandates. It’s not our job. But it’s rude for people to show up and refuse all the opportunities we give them.”
Boards of elections should display signs encouraging social distancing practices and the importance of wearing masks.
Poll workers should offer voters with masks if they walk in without one and if they refuse to accept the mask, the poll workers should ask the voter to vote curbside outside the polling station.
If the voter insists on voting inside, they will not be refused and poll workers will help them vote while maintaining social distance.
Poll workers will be required to wear masks and social distance.
Coronavirus impact on Cleveland budget led to spending through July outsripping revenues by $13M
Mayor Frank Jackson reported on Thursday that Cleveland spent $13 million more than it collected in revenues through July.
“The budget approved in March for 2020 forecast about $671 million in general fund spending covered by revenues of about $672 million. The city took steps early into the pandemic to cut costs, instituting a hiring freeze and restricting spending to what the administrator considers to be essential needs, in anticipation of revenue dropping.”
Two sources that could be down by more than $50 million are income taxes and hospitality taxes.
Cleveland entered 2020 with a $43-million reserve as a cushion but there are still upcoming budget threats.
Ohio unemployment numbers remain high, but continue to fall
“Ohioans filed 20,969 initial jobless claims during the week ending Saturday, Aug. 8. This was 253,246 fewer than the peak earlier this year. Ohioans filed 274,751 continued jobless claims this week, which were 401,551 fewer than the peak earlier this year, ODJFS [the Ohio Department of Job and Family Security] said.”
The total number of initial jobless claims filed over the last 21 weeks was 1,604,708 in Ohio.
Over this time span, ODJFS has given more than $5.9 billion in unemployment compensation to more than 778,000 Ohioans.
ODJFS issued more than $5 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments to more than 514,000 people.
Speaker Cupp called on Edwards to step down as majority whip. He refused. (SE Ohio)
“Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) refused the newly elected Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives Bob Cupp’s (R-Lima) request that he step down as House majority whip, one of the most powerful positions in the chamber”
Cupp requested that Edwards, along with all other members of the Republican House majority leadership team, step down from their positions as a result of the Householder scandal, only Assistant Majority Whip Laura Lanese (Grove City) complied
Edwards stated that “While I respect the office of Speaker and Speaker Cupp as a person, I see no reason for me to step down from my position as Majority Whip of which I was elected to by my colleagues unanimously,”
While Edwards name has not come up explicitly in investigative-related documents, a document that outlines a proposed list of individuals to make up Householder’s team should he win the position was uncovered. Edwards position being one of them