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Tuesday, October 18, 2005 State denies records request for welfare - recipient study
Columbus Dispatch (Capital Notes - excerpt)
Researchers trying to study whether employer
cuts in health insurance and other job benefits have caused more lowwage
workers to seek public assistance are getting no help from the state.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family
Services has denied a public-records request by Policy Matters Ohio for
the names and addresses of companies employing recipients of Medicaid and
other publicly
Zach Schiller, research director for the
Cleveland nonprofit organization, said the agency is taking a broad view
of a recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling.
In a lawsuit filed by The Dispatch, the
court unanimously decided that state employee home addresses are not
public records. "We stress that our decision is narrow and focuses solely
on the status of addresses as records," Justice Alice Robie Resnick wrote.
Schiller said Policy Matters is trying to
shed light on public expenditures and did not seek information identifying
recipients of public benefits.
Columbus Dispatch 10/18/2005
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Policy Matters Ohio 2912 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44115
ph: 216/931-9922 fax: 216/931-9924
http://www.policymattersohio.org
Policy Matters Ohio is a non-profit policy research organization founded in January 2000 to broaden the debate about economic policy in Ohio. Our mission is to conduct high-quality research promoting decisions which benefit our whole community. Given the challenges of a rapidly-changing economic system, rising wage inequality, new issues in education and changes in the way work is organized, it is imperative that Ohio workers have a voice in the economic debate.
Policy Matters provides real-world analysis focused on issues that matter to low- and middle-income workers in Ohio. Our findings are accessible to the public, the media, and policy makers. We hope to strengthen democracy by providing Ohio's citizens with the essential tools to participate in the public discussion on the economy. We believe this will result in economic policies that better reflect the public interest.