Honor Martin Luther King by continuing the fight
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Policy Matters Ohio Executive Director Amy Hanauer releases the following statement: Nearly 50 years ago, Martin Luther King was murdered in Memphis, Tenn. by a racist white man. King travelled there to support the city’s black sanitation workers in their strike protesting dangerous work conditions and […]
Proposed unemployment fix shorts Ohio workers
Ohio’s proposed fix to its unemployment compensation system needs more work, Policy Matters Ohio testified today. House Bill 382 is an improvement over earlier attempts to bolster the system’s solvency but the legislation still requires too many cuts to worker benefits. Researcher Hannah Halbert told the House Government Oversight and Accountability Committee that: It is […]
More Ohio Amazon workers relying on food aid
Almost overnight, Amazon has become one of Ohio’s largest employers, with more than 6,000 workers and thousands more to be added soon at three more big warehouses. It has also become one of the largest employers of workers who need food assistance to get by. As of last August, 1,430 Amazon employees or family members […]
Ohio minimum wage gets 15-cent inflation increase
Ohio’s poorest workers will get a bump in pay next month when the state minimum wage rises 15 cents from $8.15 per hour to $8.30. About 146,000 Ohio workers who now earn less than $8.30 will see a small raise as a result of the automatic adjustment; another 478,000 earning slightly more will likely get […]
Unscrupulous loan servicers prey on Ohio students
Over a million Ohioans have student loan debt totaling more than $57 billion. Because Ohio public college tuition is higher than most other states, Ohioans borrow more. On top of that, Ohio’s predatory repayment climate means the state also has a high default rate. Ohio is the 45th least affordable state for college. Since the […]
Republican tax plan will hurt Ohio families
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate today finalized and passed the Republican tax bill. Ohio’s delegation voted along straight party lines. Amy Hanauer, Executive Director of Policy Matters Ohio, released this statement: “Ohio’s Republican Congressional delegation chose to hurt Ohio families today with a tax scheme that adds $1.5 trillion to our deficit, forces […]
The bleeding hasn’t stopped: Ohio’s lingering foreclosure crisis
Ohio’s foreclosure filings dropped steeply since their peak during the Great Recession, but remain almost 2.5 times above the pre-housing crisis levels of the 1990s, according to new analysis by Policy Matters Ohio. In 2016, Ohio had 38,963 new foreclosure filings — about one filing for every 132.5 housing units or 3.35 foreclosures per 1,000 […]
Unemployment compensation bill not fully cooked
For more than three years, state lawmakers have searched for ways to make Ohio’s unemployment compensation system more solvent. Next week, an Ohio House committee may take action on a bill with vague and incomplete provisions. The committee is poised to vote on amended House Bill 382, which will likely include amendments by sponsor Rep. […]
Senate tax plan rewards the richest, hurts millions
Like the House bill, the Senate’s newly-passed tax plan is a costly giveaway to the very wealthy and major corporations at the expense of students, elderly Ohioans and struggling families. Senator Rob Portman promoted and voted for the bill, and all Ohio Congressional Republicans voted yes. Both houses still need to vote on a final […]
Expand Trade Adjustment Assistance to help displaced Ohio workers
Between 2001 and 2015, 124,000 Ohio workers received federal assistance after losing their jobs due to trade agreements with other nations. During that time, the Economic Policy Institute estimates that Ohio lost nearly as many — 121,500 — jobs to the trade deficit with China alone. In a new report, Policy Matters Ohio examines the […]
Stivers backs bill to block new payday rule
Columbus, Ohio — Ignoring Ohio community and advocacy organizations that defend borrowers from predatory payday lending, Representative Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) co-sponsored a bill that would stop implementation of a rule finalized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last month. The rule that would be halted by the bill requires payday and car title lenders to […]
GOP tax plan hurts Ohioans in all congressional districts
With the Senate set to vote on its version of the GOP tax bill this week, Policy Matters Ohio is releasing an interactive map that shows how the bill and the likely subsequent spending cuts could affect people living in Ohio. From the 21,872 households in Rep. David Joyce’s district who receive federal aid to […]