According to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, an “organization focused on independent, non-partisan health policy analysis,” Ohio ranks 44th among the 50 states on “health value.” We particularly lag other states in maternal and child healthcare. In-home healthcare is difficult to access in Ohio and even harder for most people to pay for. And many in rural Ohio must travel more than an hour for basic healthcare services. 

We can do better than this!

Individuals, families, and healthcare providers should be making medical decisions, not the state legislature and insurance companies. As your Representative, I will work with providers, advocates, and counties to build the healthcare infrastructure we need to ensure that quality healthcare is available to all in Southwestern Ohio.

Ohio’s standing among the states in offering quality education continues to fall as local districts scramble to fund their public schools through levies and income taxes, a formula the Ohio Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional decades ago. Poor rural schools are suffering from a “brain drain” as families with money move to wealthier districts, and recent legislation subsidizing religious and charter schools use funds which otherwise would have supported struggling school districts. Many from my generation benefitted from good public education and affordable college tuition. Today, students graduate high school less prepared only to face enormous debt to pay for their higher education. As your representative, I will collaborate with educators, advocates and legislators, state and federal, to improve access to quality education and draw upon best practices across the state, nation and the world to build the robust educational infrastructure Ohio so desperately needs.

I was proud when Ohio, in 2008, got out front of other states by setting goals for energy efficiency and renewable energy development. According to a study by the Ohio State University, from 2008 to 2012, increased investments, due to the standards and the associated tax credit program, created more than 3,200 jobs in the state. Over this period, every dollar invested by Ohio utilities in energy-efficiency programs resulted in more than $2 in near-term savings for ratepayers—and more than one billion dollars in savings for consumers. But the influence of privately owned First Energy Corporation got legislators to “freeze” implementation of these successful programs for several years and, finally, with the passage of House Bill 6, got the legislators to permanently dismantle them. While we now know about the $60 million bribery scheme behind this bill, we have yet to reinstate the programs that benefitted Ohioans financially and are necessary for the future health of the state.

As your representative, I will stand against accepting bribes, such as those from First Energy, and oppose detrimental bills like Senate Bill 6. I will stop bailing out private energy utilities at the expense of the public, restore climate goals for Ohio’s air and environment, and reinstate successful tax credit programs for renewable jobs and support training programs to expand this sector of Ohio’s economy.

Like so many people of their generation, my daughter and son-in-law experience the lack of affordable housing, don’t expect to be able to purchase a home, and face the prospect of a lower standard of living than their parents and grandparents. Is it any wonder why so many young people are angry and feeling hopeless? Ohio is not alone among states facing significant job and economic loss over the past several decades. We bet our economic future on the global free market, and we now see who benefitted from this strategy—the wealthiest 1% and corporate executives.

Our children deserve better!

As your representative, I will advocate for the educational and investment strategies that benefit all Ohioans. Through optimal levels of private, federal, state, and local investment, together we can create a vibrant and meaningful middle class.