Uncategorized

Columbus, OH — In what’s become a theme of the week for the DeWine campaign, Mike DeWine once again tried to claim credit for legislation he opposed. At an event in Columbus this morning, DeWine touted $85 million in American Rescue Plan funding to invest in students interested in working in behavioral healthcare and grow the behavioral health workforce.

The problem? Mike DeWine opposed the American Rescue plan, legislation passed by Democrats that made this funding possible. In fact, in March of 2021, DeWine went on record saying he would have voted against ARPA if he was still in Congress.

“If Mike DeWine had his way, this important investment would never have been possible. We’re grateful to the Ohio Democrats who made this critical funding a reality and once again call on DeWine to find some shame and stop campaigning on Democratic victories for our state,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.

In another example of DeWine’s desperation and hypocrisy earlier this week, DeWine similarly used Ohio law enforcement officers as political pawns when he announced funding for the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab that also was made possible by the American Rescue Plan.

###

For Immediate Release:
Friday, May 13, 2022

“The DeWine administration should produce the requested information because, yes, Ohioans have an unquestionable right to know how their state does business in their names.”

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, Cleveland.com’s Editorial Board is pushing for transparency and accountability from Mike DeWine after Ohio Democrats sued for answers in the largest public corruption scandal in state history. Ohio Democrats, on behalf of Ohio voters, are trying to find out what DeWine knew and when about the bribery scandal.

“One conceivable aim of DeWine’s administration: To conceal, in his daily calendar, what was discussed in certain meetings. One is a 2019 meeting with a FirstEnergy Corp. official before DeWine signed a $1 billion bailout – to be paid by Ohio electricity customers – of money-losing nuclear power plants then owned by a subsidiary of the Akron electric utility,” writes the Cleveland.com Editorial Board.

Since October, Ohio Democrats have been working on getting answers to who knew what and when about the FirstEnergy scandal – which Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for – but have been stonewalled at every turn by the DeWine administration. The lack of accountability from DeWine is leading Ohioans in all corners of the state to wonder what he’s hiding and why.

Read more from the Editorial column here and below:

• Once again, hair-splitting by state officials is getting in the way of the public’s right to know about public business conducted by public officials, in this case Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. The Ohio Democratic Party is suing the governor because it wants to see details of the governor’s official schedule but, the party alleges, DeWine’s office is misusing certain Open Records Act exemptions to mask them.
• One conceivable aim of DeWine’s administration: To conceal, in his daily calendar, what was discussed in certain meetings. One is a 2019 meeting with a FirstEnergy Corp. official before DeWine signed a $1 billion bailout – to be paid by Ohio electricity customers – of money-losing nuclear power plants then owned by a subsidiary of the Akron electric utility.
• DeWine signed the bailout, House Bill 6, on July 23, 2019. Six weeks earlier, on June 10, DeWine had met with Michael Dowling, then a FirstEnergy senior vice president.
• On March 31, 2021, DeWine quietly signed into law legislation repealing HB 6′s nuclear bailout and a “decoupling” provision that had also been inserted into the law that guaranteed FirstEnergy’s annual ratepayer revenue at 2018 levels, a notably high electricity-use year.
• Cleveland.com’s Jeremy Pelzer reported that Democrats’ lawsuit over DeWine’s schedule, filed May 5 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, challenges DeWine aides’ redacting of (editing and/or blacking out) parts of some entries in DeWine’s schedule from when he took office in January 2019 onward, including the entry for the meeting with Dowling.
• What the edited schedule does show, Pelzer reported, is that DeWine met with Dowling at the Governor’s Mansion, in suburban Bexley, for a half hour. But the schedule doesn’t reveal what the meeting’s purpose was.
• House Bill 6 and the alleged legislative corruption that would have forced consumers to pay for FirstEnergy’s mistakes is a matter of great public importance, as is Ohio’s cozy regulation of public utilities.
• Citing assorted exceptions to the Open Records Act to shield details of the governor’s schedule really amounts to denying voters and taxpayers information they need – and information they pay for in the form of salaries granted to public officials and employees entrusted with state business.
• It’s preposterous to apply the frequently misused “trade secrets” exemption to gubernatorial discussions. What’s in question aren’t chemical formulas or algorithms, but the public interest.
• In that connection, it’s important to recall what the Ohio Supreme Court decreed nearly 62 years ago in State ex rel. Patterson v. Ayers: “The rule in Ohio is that public records are the people’s records, and that the officials in whose custody they happen to be are merely trustees for the people; therefore anyone may inspect such records at any time, subject only to the limitation that such inspection does not endanger the safety of the record, or unreasonably interfere with the discharge of the duties of the officer having custody of the same.”
• Neither of those limitations applies to DeWine’s schedule: The people pay him to follow it; they pay someone to compile it; they have an irrefutable right to see what’s in it. The DeWine administration should produce the requested information because, yes, Ohioans have an unquestionable right to know how their state does business in their names.  

###

Columbus, OH — Following the U.S. Senate’s failure to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters released the following statement:

“Today’s vote is a reminder that the basic rights of all Ohioans to reproductive healthcare – including abortion and birth control – are at stake in this year’s election. Ohio Republicans, from J.D. Vance to Mike DeWine to extremists in the Statehouse, are on a relentless campaign to strip women of their fundamental rights and enact new, cruel restrictions that would punish women, including survivors of rape and incest. 

“Thank you to Senator Brown for recognizing the urgency of this moment and voting to protect abortion rights. With Ohio Republicans already vowing to criminalize abortion, it is critical that Ohioans elect Tim Ryan and Nan Whaley, as well as pro-choice Democratic candidates up and down the ballot in November. This year’s election could not be more important and we will continue to fight so that women can make these healthcare decisions in consultation with their doctors – without unwanted and unnecessary interference from politicians.”

###

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Cleveland.com Editorial Board today called on Treasurer Robert Sprague to address allegations of improper record keeping when it comes to state taxes. Two Akron-area taxpayers and their lawyer at Akron’s Community Legal Aid Services uncovered what could be a “systemic failure” by Sprague’s office. The recent lawsuit raises questions about whether Sprague’s office has been failing to keep proper tax records and failing to track how much money is being withheld from Ohioans’ for tax purposes. The editorial points to the potential headaches that creates for Ohioans – from double taxation to failing to provide refunds for Ohioans who make overpayments.

“If the assertions in this lawsuit are true and Ohio is failing to track individual tax withholding amounts on its own, the problems could go beyond low-income taxpayers whose W-2 forms were destroyed or lost. How can the state possibly determine whether taxpayers are paying the right amount of taxes if it doesn’t track how much was actually withheld,” writes the Cleveland.com Editorial Board.

At a time when far too many Ohioans are worried about making ends meet, the failure of the Treasurer’s office to do its job and serve as a watchdog and responsible steward for Ohioans’ tax dollars is unacceptable. It’s clear Ohioans can’t afford four more years of Robert Sprague overseeing their hard-earned money. 

Read more from Cleveland.com HERE and below:

• All Ohioans may owe a big debt to two Akron-area taxpayers and their lawyer at Akron’s Community Legal Aid Services for uncovering what appears to be a major failing in the state’s tax-withholding recordkeeping.
• Last August, James Palm of Akron and Sara Pearson of Ravenna, two taxpayers who had been trying to come current on their taxes, filed a lawsuit against Ohio Tax Commissioner Jeff McClain and State Treasurer Robert Sprague.
• Their lawsuit alleged that the state’s lack of proper recordkeeping, as required by Ohio law, of employer withholding amounts had thwarted their efforts to determine their actual Ohio tax liability in lieu of W-2s that were missing, inaccessible or destroyed. And they charged that, instead of the state properly crediting them for their actual payments, they were double-taxed and are now owed refunds in the scores and maybe hundreds of dollars.
• What’s more, the lawsuit, filed by Community Legal Aid lawyer Dana Goldstein, alleged a “systemic failure” by Ohio to properly credit withholding to individual taxpayers as required by a 2007 law, and a related failure to automatically refund overpaid taxes. That impacts all Ohio taxpayers, potentially.
• What’s most egregious in these taxpayers’ experiences is that they were trying to pay back taxes that they owed. Yet, the lawsuit charges, they were not just foiled in their honest efforts — but then wrongly overcharged, instead.
• The 144-page lawsuit goes beyond Palm and Pearson’s experiences, however. It calls for a remedy that addresses the systemic issues it alleges have had “a disparate impact on low-income individuals.
• The lawsuit, filed directly to the Ohio Supreme Court, was referred to mediation when first filed, cleveland.com’s Jeremy Pelzer reported last August.
• Evidently, mediation was unsuccessful. So last Tuesday, May 3, a writ of mandamus signed by Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor restored the case to the high court’s docket and ordered Tax Commissioner McClain and State Treasurer Sprague to respond to the allegations within 21 days.
• If the assertions in this lawsuit are true and Ohio is failing to track individual tax withholding amounts on its own, the problems could go beyond low-income taxpayers whose W-2 forms were destroyed or lost. How can the state possibly determine whether taxpayers are paying the right amount of taxes if it doesn’t track how much was actually withheld?
• And if Ohio really is not keeping these records as required by fairness and the law, it needs to start doing so, forthwith.

###

Columbus, OH — J.D. Vance’s extreme views on abortion keep making national news. A new report in Axios highlights how Vance’s views are even out of step with Donald Trump, who favored exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.

“J.D. Vance is so far out of the mainstream that he believes Ohio women – even survivors of rape and incest – should not be free to make decisions about their own reproductive health care,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Axios: These GOP Senate candidates oppose most exceptions to abortion bans

Alayna Treene 

May 8, 2022 

• A series of Republican candidates running in crucial Senate battlegrounds hold strict anti-abortion views — including opposing the procedure even in cases of rape and incest.
• Why it matters: The views of these GOP front–runners go far beyond what Republicans have traditionally embraced: exceptions for rape, incest and the life of a mother. If elected, these candidates — from J.D. Vance in Ohio to Herschel Walker in Georgia — would push the party further right.
• Between the lines: Even former President Trump, whose anti-abortion rights bonafides were a key component of his 2016 and 2020 platforms, favored exceptions to abortion bans.
• In 2019, he tweeted: “As most people know, and for those who would like to know, I am strongly Pro-Life, with the three exceptions — Rape, Incest and protecting the Life of the mother — the same position taken by Ronald Reagan.”
• The leaked draft signaling the Supreme Court’s intent to overturn Roe v. Wade has thrust abortion into the forefront of the midterm elections.
• The current candidates’ views are in line with a series of abortion bans recently enacted at the state level in places like Ohio, Arizona, Oklahoma, Florida and Texas.

The big picture: The state laws and positions held by the Senate candidates have spurred new questions about whether Republicans — if they regain the majority in the House or Senate — will try to pass a federal abortion ban.

• Such a measure wouldn’t be signed into law while President Biden is in office but would tee up future legislation for when a Republican is back in the White House.

J.D. Vance, the Trump-endorsed author of “Hillbilly Elegy” who was victorious in a crowded Republican primary last week, told Spectrum News he doesn’t think rape and incest exceptions are necessary.

• Vance said, “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” adding, “The question to me is really about the baby.”
• “It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society,” Vance said.

###