Lawmakers already behind in tax break review
No committee members appointed to oversee $9 billion in tax breaks The clock is ticking for Senate President Larry Obhof and House Speaker Larry Householder to name members to the committee which monitors Ohio’s $9 billion in annual tax breaks. Oversight of tax breaks is a tough job and legislative time is shorter than it […]
Report: Segregation and discrimination plague Midwest
Policy can reduce inequity in Ohio and its region In the 20th Century, people from around the world came to Ohio and the Midwest, seeking opportunity in the industrial boom. Among them were black Americans from the South. Manufacturing and unions helped create good jobs for many black workers, but discrimination and segregation limited that […]
House votes to restore business tax break
Real needed action: Eliminate this $1.1 billion giveaway The Ohio House voted today to restore an income-tax break sometimes known as the LLC loophole to lawyers and lobbyists, who had seen it eliminated as part of the budget bill in July. Policy Matters Ohio Research Director Zach Schiller made the following statement about the House […]
DeWine expands food aid to four more counties
Feds grant SNAP time-limit waiver to 42 Ohio counties, leave some cities out More Ohio children, families and working people will be healthier and more economically stable due to action taken by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) last month. ODJFS announced plans to increase federal aid for food and nutrition assistance […]
New Census data: Incomes inch up, poverty unchanged, race gaps and uninsured rates grow in Ohio
Policy Matters analysis of new data from the American Community Survey (ACS) found that incomes grew in Ohio in 2018, but that growth was unequal across race and did not make a meaningful dent in the state’s high poverty rate. The ACS is the primary source for state-level poverty and income data and serves as […]
Black Ohioans, women more at risk of wage theft
Working people deserve to be paid for all the hours they work. Yet each year, employers steal wages from hundreds of thousands of Ohio workers. Around 217,000 Ohioans are illegally paid less than minimum wage. They lose an average of $2,800 each. Employers target workers of all demographics, but women and workers of color are […]
Trump’s Overtime Rule leaves 230,000 Ohio workers behind
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its final overtime rule. The rule weakens an Obama-era rule which would have restored overtime protections to many salaried workers and boosted the pay of about 370,000 Ohio workers. Ohio workers have lost more than $85 million in wages since President Trump abandoned the rule in 2017. […]
Ohio budget expands need-based aid, but underfunds higher ed overall
The 2020-2021 state budget passed in July takes steps to expand college access for low-income students, but it falls short of what’s needed to meet Ohio’s college attainment goal, according to new analysis from Policy Matters Ohio. Ohio’s Department of Higher Education set the goal that by 2025, 65% of Ohioans between 25 and 64 […]
Ohio tax breaks: $9.8 billion and growing
In the final year of the new state budget, Ohio will forgo $9.8 billion in estimated tax revenue due to tax breaks legislators have created. That amounts to more than state dollars spent on human services like child care and aid to people with disabilities, according to a new report by Policy Matters Ohio. Tax […]
At height of expansion, Ohio workers not thriving
The economic expansion begun in June 2009 has stretched for more than 121 months, making it the longest in history. For most Ohioans, however, benefits are proving elusive, according to the State of Working Ohio, 2019: Realities and Remedies, a report from Policy Matters Ohio. While unemployment is extremely low at the state and national […]
Parking Solutions Inc., Nestle and Marc’s among Cleveland’s top wage violators
Between 2004 and 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor found 6,417 instances of wage theft at 270 Cleveland companies according to analysis from Policy Matters Ohio. The Policy Matters analysis includes only the violations that were claimed under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and brought to the U.S. Department of Labor for enforcement. There […]
Climate Change is Hazardous to Ohio Children’s Health
New report details policy solutions to protect the littlest Ohioans A new report issued today by Policy Matters Ohio and the Ohio Environmental Council documents how climate change harms the health of Ohio children. Policymakers at all levels of government can act now to stem climate change and protect the health of Ohio’s children. “Climate […]