Saturday Stats

$4.2M: Amount of funding the federal government has cut from Springfield’s Clark County in the past year. That’s before the economic gut-punch of pushing thousands of Haitian immigrants out of the labor force — as the Trump administration aims to do by stripping them of their Temporary Protected Status. This week, a federal judge blocked the move, though the administration is already preparing an appeal. In a statement released this week, employment researcher Molly Bryden spelled out why eliminating lawful work authorization for thousands of immigrant workers – in Springfield and across the state – will likely exacerbate the economic slowdown we’re starting to observe statewide.

37: Tanisha Anderson’s age when she died after being restrained by Cleveland police during a mental health crisis. By the time Cleveland City Council passed Tanisha’s Law last week, she would have been nearly 50. Although the city won’t say it, she would likely still be alive if such a law were in place at the time. Its passage required years of work by Tanisha’s family, led by her uncle, Michael Anderson, with support from Policy Matters, our friends #CareforCLE, and many others. Policy Matters has long called for nonpolice crisis response, and we celebrate this legislation and the potential it holds to save lives.

2: Number of misguided proposals recently rolled out by Ohio legislators in reaction to online misinformation about “child care fraud” in Ohio. Both H.B. 649 and H.B. 647 would increase state surveillance of children and child care providers. The bills raise serious concerns about privacy — allowing the state to collect and store videos of children and other sensitive data — and allow the state to cut funding for providers at will, without proof of wrongdoing or opportunity to respond. Child care researcher Ali Smith explains why parents and providers have cause for concern, and legislators have good reason to reject both bills.

$21.4B: Revenue generated from taxes on real property in Ohio during Tax Year 2024. That’s by far the most of any type of tax in the state. Repealing property taxes — as some anti-tax activists advocate — would force enormous cuts to crucial public services, including emergency response and supports for people with disabilities, seniors, and children. Alternatively, the legislature could more than double the sales tax, pushing the average rate higher than any in the country. That’s one of a few unlikely (and generally awful) alternatives to the cuts a property-tax repeal would require. Research Director Zach Schiller outlines the consequences of the repeal campaign’s poorly thought-out plan — which include an increase in energy costs.

$1,124: Federal tax cut the typical restaurant server would see under the provision promoted as “No Tax on Tips.”

$3,551: Pay increase that same worker would receive if Ohio eliminated its subminimum wage for tipped workers and raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour. That’s more than three times the benefit of the Trump administration’s signature “working class tax cut.” Like the similarly over-hyped “No Tax on Overtime,” this one just doesn’t add up.