While the new state budget slashed education spending, it also expanded charters and vouchers in Ohio and modified charter accountability measures. Unfortunately, these changes do little to strengthen the quality of publicly funded, privately operated schools in Ohio, according to this August 2011 policy brief. The budget bill’s new accountability
Final Budget Breakdown – Policy Matters’ final assessment of Ohio’s new two-year budget shows a stark contrast between deep cuts to services (like education, day care, health and human services and funds to local governments) needed by low-middle income Ohioans, and the General Assembly’s simultaneous decision to add to the
This spring, Policy Matters proudly partnered with community leaders in Oberlin, Ohio on their cutting-edge strategy to revitalize Oberlin’s economic and environmental health at the same time, making itself into the greenest little city in the United States. The Oberlin Project, under the leadership of nationally-renowned environmental educator David Orr,
On July 29, 2011, Shanelle Smith testified at a Cuyahoga County Environment and Sustainability Committee meeting about green options for the county. Full Testimony
On July 28, David Rothstein testified before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on the New IRS Paid Tax Return Preparer Program.
Testimony of David RothsteinResearcher ??” Policy Matters Ohio Research Fellow ??” New America Foundation Steering Committee Member ??” National Community Tax Coalition House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Oversight Hearing on New IRS Paid Tax Return Preparer Program July 28, 2011 Full Testimony
The budget bill approved by the Ohio General Assembly in June 2011 imposes devastating cuts on schools, local governments and health and human services. These cuts will hurt our economy and result in fewer jobs in the public and private sectors. Yet elected leaders who tout the virtue of spending
Despite the demise of federal climate change legislation, cities across the nation continue efforts started under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to revitalize their communities and make them more sustainable. One of the most inspiring examples is very local. The Oberlin Project is a collaborative effort to make Oberlin,
Implications of an Industry in Transformation The automotive industry has played a critical role in the expansion of America’s middle class for nearly a century. Yet the industry has su?ered great losses in recent decades and was deeply a?ected by the recession of 2008-9, which saw auto sales fall by
Modernize or Lose – Ohio stands to lose up to $176.3 million in federal funds if it does not modernize its unemployment compensation within the next 2 months. Read more on how the state could qualify for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds through reforms like offering compensation to people
Many Ohio companies were awarded lucrative property tax breaks as they moved facilities around within the Cleveland and Cincinnati metro areas. Read more…
Educating our children is among the most important ways that we improve people’s lives, prepare tomorrow’s workforce, and make our state appealing to employers. Rather than investing in education to build a stronger Ohio, however, the legislature has put the state’s future at risk by reducing funding for public education
