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Four Days Until Next Government Funding Deadline

Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno and Frank LaRose have repeatedly called for a government shutdown despite the devastating consequences it would have on Ohioans. With just four days until another funding deadline and Congressional Republicans “predicting a shutdown,” Ohioans should know that the #OHSEN field is focused on scoring political points instead of fighting for them. 

• Bernie Moreno: “[A government shutdown] would not be something you’d take off the table…”

• Cleveland.com: Moreno is “clearly in favor of using the threat of shutting down the government…”

• The Columbus Dispatch: “…Moreno and LaRose went a step further and said they’d threaten a government shutdown if necessary.”

• Frank LaRose: “You bet I’m willing to shut down the government.”

A government shutdown would be devastating for Ohioans:

• Ohio small businesses would lose an estimated $4,627,400 in financing per business day. 

• A shutdown would negatively impact the economy, Ohio workers, and Ohio families – an estimated 6,800 active duty troops in Ohio would not receive pay and tens of thousands of civilian employees would either be furloughed or forced to work without pay. 

• Many Ohio families, including more than 93,000 Ohio children, would also lose their access to healthy food. 

• Ohioans receiving Social Security could be at risk for disruptions. 

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Moreno’s Opposition To The Minimum Wage Follows Reports That Moreno Refused to Pay His Employees’ Wages, Shredded Evidence He Was Legally Required To Keep

Columbus, OH – When asked whether the minimum wage should exist in last week’s debate, Bernie Moreno made it clear he doesn’t believe one should exist at all, saying “the market will flush that out.” Moreno’s comments follow reports that he has faced over a dozen lawsuits for refusing to pay his employees the wages they earned and went so far as to destroy evidence he was legally required to keep to get out of paying them.

Read more:

American Journal: Republican Bernie Moreno opposes existence of minimum wage

Jesse Valentine 

February 23, 2024

• U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno doesn’t believe there should be a minimum wage.

• The moderator asked point blank if the minimum wage should exist.

• “The markets are the best way to determine what wages should be,” Moreno said. “As somebody who has employed thousands of people here in Ohio, a good business owner knows that you pay good benefits, you pay good wages, you get good people. At the end of the day the market will flush that out.”

• Moreno’s claims about being a good employer conflict with his record.

• Between 2017 and 2022, at least seventeen of Moreno’s employees sued him for wage theft, claiming Moreno failed to properly compensate them for overtime work. In 2021, a judge sanctioned Moreno for destroying financial documents pertinent to the allegations. A jury ultimately ruled that Moreno had stiffed the original plaintiffs and Moreno was ordered to pay them more than $400,000 in damages.

• Moreno settled most of the additional wage theft lawsuits out of court in the months preceding his senate campaign. 

• In 2023, Sen. Sherrod Brown introduced legislation to crack down on wage theft. In 2021, Brown celebrated a Biden administration rule raising the minimum wage for federal workers to $15.00 an hour. In a statement, Brown called for raising the minimum wage for all workers.

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The Entire Field Opposed November’s Issue 1, Which Would Have “Protect[ed] Access To In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Treatments”

Columbus, OH – Reminder: Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan are already on-the-record against protecting access to IVF by opposing November’s Issue 1, which would have “protect[ed] access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, miscarriages and birth control.” 

BACKGROUND: 

Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan opposed Issue 1 – which contained protections for in-vitro fertilization treatments – and now support overruling Ohioans by passing a national abortion ban.

• Bernie Moreno opposed Issue 1 and donated $100,000 to Protect Women Ohio – the group leading the campaign to defeat November’s Issue 1 last year.

• Frank LaRose made himself the face of Issue 1 in August – saying it was “100%” about defeating the November amendment. LaRose later colluded with out-of-state special interests to try to ban abortion by rewriting the Issue 1 November ballot language to be intentionally misleading. 

• Matt Dolan said defeating the Issue 1 amendment was a “priority.”

Bernie Moreno and Frank LaRose said they believe life begins at conception. 

• Moreno said last night that he believes life begins at conception. Moreno: “Faith teaches you that life begins at conception, it’s not confusing to us.” [10:30, Bob Burney Live, 2/22/2024]

• Moreno: “I’m 100 percent pro-life with no exceptions.” [10/1/21]

• LaRose: “I personally believe that life begins at conception.” [8/9/23]

Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan all supported overturning Roe v. Wade, which made the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision possible.

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NBC News: Ohio GOP Senate Candidates Pitch Federal Abortion Bans Even After Voters Protected Reproductive Rights

Columbus, OH – Despite Ohioans voting resoundingly last November to protect abortion access – Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan continue to reaffirm that they think they know better than voters and would “overrul[e] them” by “supporting federal restrictions.”

Read more:

NBC News: Ohio GOP Senate candidates pitch federal abortion bans even after voters protected reproductive rights

Henry Gomez

February 23, 2024

• Ohioans voted decisively last year to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution, but all three of the Republicans competing in a tough U.S. Senate primary here say they are open to overruling them and supporting federal restrictions.

• State Sen. Matt Dolan and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose present themselves as better authorities on the matter, arguing that voters didn’t fully understand the 2023 ballot measure.

• Businessman Bernie Moreno favors a federal ban…

• ​​LaRose, who as a state senator supported a “heartbeat bill” to ban abortion at six weeks, is banking on name recognition and hoping the GOP base rewards him for his central role in opposing last year’s constitutional amendment.

• Moreno was also visible in the fight and donated money to the campaign to defeat the ballot measure, known as Issue 1. He drew scrutiny when he falsely claimed the measure would allow a rapist to “force” a woman to have an abortion.

• The amendment passed with 57% of the vote, indicating support from plenty of independents and Republicans. 

• Ohio Right to Life, an influential anti-abortion group in the state, issued a dual endorsement of Moreno and LaRose this month.

• “Bernie is proudly pro-life and believes we can unify this country around ending late term abortion once and for all,” Moreno spokesperson Reagan McCarthy said. “He doesn’t believe in letting the perfect be the enemy of the good and his goal is to protect as many babies as possible.”

• [LaRose and Moreno] both confirmed they would support a federal law that restricts access to abortion. 

• “No matter who emerges from this primary, Ohioans will know they would overrule them by voting for a national abortion ban,” Brown spokesperson Reeves Oyster said.

• In separate meetings with reporters after the Findlay debate, when asked how they reconciled their openness to federal abortion restrictions with last year’s vote, both LaRose and Dolan contended that the measure was more complicated than voters realized.

• Dolan was more direct. “What I have said is I don’t think Ohioans fully understood…”

• Moreno did not meet with reporters after the debate.

SEE ALSO: Bernie Moreno Claims Women Don’t Need Abortion Access, Just Someone To Lift Heavy Things; What They’re Saying: #OHSEN Field Supports Federal Abortion Ban, Would Overrule The Will Of Ohioans; Ohio OBGYN Spotlights #OHSEN Field’s Support for National Abortion Ban; REMINDER: As State Issue 1 Takes Effect, Entire #OHSEN Field Would Overrule Ohioans By Supporting National Abortion Ban; REMINDER: #OHSEN Field Would Overrule Ohioans By Passing National Abortion Ban; Frank LaRose, Bernie Moreno “Lying” To Ohioans, Doubling Down In Support of Dangerous Abortion Bans

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Columbus, OH – Between new reporting this week that revealed yet another lawsuit against Bernie Moreno and the continued scrutiny he faces for shredding evidence and refusing to pay his employees the overtime they earned, Moreno’s record continues to complicate the image he’s trying to sell Ohioans.

Read / watch / listen to what they’re saying about Bernie Moreno’s lawsuits:

• Frank LaRose: “Mr. Moreno has had a problem not even paying people the wages that they earned in his business and had to settle a lawsuit as a result of that.”

• Daily Beast: “Bernie Moreno is running for Senate largely based on his business success story. But a lawsuit from an old employee is bringing into question Moreno’s version of that story. Despres claimed he was pushed out by Moreno before the sale of any dealerships, not because of his performance but because his old friend did not want to pay him.”

• WCPN: “LaRose attacked Moreno over a wage theft lawsuit in Massachusetts… ‘Mr. Moreno has had a problem not even paying people the wages that they earned in his business and had to settle a lawsuit as a result of that.’”

• Statehouse News Bureau: “…LaRose brought up a lawsuit in which Moreno was ordered to pay $400,000 to some former employees who claimed he didn’t pay them earned overtime. More than a dozen similar cases were settled for undisclosed amounts.”

• WVXU: “When talking about the minimum wage, Frank LaRose got personal. ‘Mr. Moreno has had a problem not even paying people the wages that they earned in his business and had to settle a lawsuit as a result of that.’”

• Ohio Capital Journal: “[LaRose] criticized Moreno over a Massachusetts wage theft lawsuit […] In that case, a judge determined Moreno destroyed evidence despite a court order to preserve it.”

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