Stay engaged, involved, and up-to-date: 05/21/2018 Weekly Review
Tuesday, May 29th, 2018
Stay engaged, involved, and up-to-date: In the weekly reviews from the Women’s Public Policy Network, we look back on last week’s highlights from the WPPN, share updates on bills affecting women that are moving at the Statehouse, showcase weekly news clips, and provide calls to action on bills pending in the Legislature. Sign up for our emails to receive these updates in your inbox every week!
|
(From left: Wendy Smooth|
“Is This Seat Taken?”
Last week, The John Glenn College of Public Affairs and WOSU Public Media teamed up to host Dialogue: A Look at Women in Ohio Politics. The panelists engaged in a conversation with audience members about women candidates navigating political elections, what it means for more women to be in office, experiences of using their voice as the only woman – and in many instances the only woman of color – in the room, and so much more. Watch the full discussion here.
ICYMI: There has been buzz of this 2018 election being another “Year of the Woman.” So, we crunched the numbers from the May 8th Primary Election in Ohio to find out. Check out our breakdown here. |
Children’s Defense Fund: Advocating for Ohio’s Children
“Nearly 1 in 5 children lives in poverty.” – Tracy Nájera, Executive Director of the Children’s Defense Fund – Ohio
During her opening remarks at their 2018 Advocacy Day, Tracy reminded the audience why we were there and what is at stake for Ohio children. We met with legislators to advocate for policy solutions addressing school safety, educational standards, and poverty. Learn more about the work the CDF – Ohio is leading.
When we invest in workers – particularly working women – by creating stronger wage policies, providing access to paid leave, and promoting fair and flexible schedules, we can help create an opportunity for economically secure families and thriving children.
Looking Ahead: Partner Events This Upcoming Week
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Supreme Court of Ohio
66 S. Civic Center Dr., Columbus, OH 43215
Any minute now, we are expecting the Trump administration to announce an Executive Order blocking Planned Parenthood health centers from receiving Title X funds and banning other Title X recipients from counseling patients on their full reproductive health options.
Make no mistake, this is a Domestic Gag Rule, and its consequences will be devastating to health care:
- It will impose new rules that are designed to make it impossible for patients to get birth control or preventative care from designated family planning providers like Planned Parenthood.
- Under this rule doctors, nurses, hospitals, and community health centers across the country will no longer be able to refer their patients for safe, legal abortion.
- It removes the guarantee that you’re getting full and accurate information about your health care from your doctor.
For nearly two decades, Title X has been clear: Health care providers cannot withhold information from you about your pregnancy options. This new rule means they can. Planned Parenthood health centers serve 41% of Title X patients nationally and 63%of Title X patients in Ohio. If the domestic gag rule is enacted, it will leave these patients without access to life-saving services like birth control, cancer screenings, well-woman exams, and more. Find out more.
WHAT’S NEW IN THE NEWS FROM THIS WEEK
Salon, May 20, 2018
APNewsBreak: McDonald’s workers file sexual harassment claims
The Washington Post, May 22, 2018
Bustle, May 23, 2018
Vox, May 24, 2018
WOSU Public Media – All Sides Considered, May 24, 2018
Here’s the backlog of bills the Ohio House can’t pass without a speaker
Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 24, 2018
WOSU Public Media, May 24, 2018
Stealing From Workers Is a Crime. Why Don’t More Prosecutors See It That Way?
The Nation, May 24, 2018
Harvey Weinstein Charged With Rape After Surrendering to N.Y. Police
WOSU Public Media, May 25, 2018
Senate harassment bill runs into opposition from the House
The Hill, May 25, 2018
Federal Agencies Lost Track of Nearly 1,500 Migrant Children Placed With Sponsors
The New York Times, May 25, 2018
Ireland votes to overturn its abortion ban, ‘culmination of a quiet revolution,’ prime minister says
The Washington Post, May 26, 2019
#OHLEG ALERT
We are tracking the progress of any state bills affecting women in the Ohio Legislature for the 132nd General Assembly. The legislature was back in session last week, but without a House Speaker, the House cannot vote on any legislation during session. They failed to get enough votes for any of the members running for Speaker, and were originally expected to try again this week. However, that won’t be happening (more on that below). Only two committees are scheduled to meet this week, butthere are a lot of updates from last week and a few looking ahead to this week:
REVIEW FROM LAST WEEK:
- HB 56 (Dever, Gavarone) – Human Trafficking: Expands the expungement law for human trafficking survivors to include criminal records. Many women forced into human trafficking are charged with other offenses during that time, such as theft and drug possession. Current law only allows for the expungement of their records for prostitution and related charges, but does not apply to other offenses committed during the time that they were trafficked. Too often, these other charges hold back women from finding housing or employment. The bill was originally on the schedule for the House Criminal Justice Committee, but was not heard.
- HB 365 (Hughes, Boggs) – Regan Tokes Act: Known as the Reagan Tokes Act, this bill would require released violent offenders wearing GPS monitors to have set geographic boundaries and would give law enforcement the ability to access the GPS data without a subpoena. The House Criminal Justice Committee held a sixth hearing on the bill for all testimony on Tuesday, May 22. The bill was amended to include a requirement that the Sentencing Commission will create an ad hoc committee to study the forms of supervised release. The committee voted to report the bill out of committee and awaits consideration by the full House. You can find all testimony from the hearing here.
- HB 425 (Antani, Craig) – Body Cameras: The bill would establish that policy body camera footage be made public record with certain exceptions to protect privacy, including the following: a confidential investigatory record, a video within a private home, a video within a private business, or a video of a sex crime victim. The House Government Accountability & Oversight Committee held a third hearing on the bill for all testimony. The bill was amended to address confidentiality law enforcement investigatory records. The committee voted unanimously to report the bill and awaits consideration by the full House. You can find all testimony from the hearing here.
- HB 461 (Fedor, Galonski) – Human Trafficking: The bill aims to protect minors from human trafficking. It would increase the penalties for traffickers who traffic 16 and 17-year-olds. The House Criminal Justice Committee held a second hearing on the bill for proponent testimony on Tuesday, May 22. You can read all testimony from the hearing here.
-
HB 497 (Rogers, Manning) – Private Images: Prohibits the nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images, and creates certain legal rights and employment protections for a victim of such a crime. The House Community & Family Advancement Committee held a third hearing on the bill on Wednesday, May 23. No testimony was heard, but the bill was amended to remove language requiring businesses to make “reasonable accommodations” for an employee who is the victim of the dissemination of such images.
-
HB 492 (Gonzales) – State Procurement: Establishes the women-owned business enterprise program, which would require state agencies to establish goals for procurement of women-owned businesses. The House State & Local Government Committee held a third hearing on the bill for all testimony on Thursday, May 24. You can read all testimony from the hearing here.
- HB 605 (Kelly, Smith) – Overtime Payments: Expands the overtime pay laws to increase the salary threshold above which employees are exempt from the overtime laws. The House Economic Development, Commerce, & Labor Committee held a first hearing on the bill for sponsor testimony on Tuesday, May 22. You can read all testimony from the hearing here.
- SB 4 (Kunze, Oelslager) – Human Trafficking: Expands the expungement law for human trafficking survivors. Current law only allows for the expungement of records for prostitution and related charges, but does not apply to certain other offenses committed during the time that they were trafficked, such as theft or drug possession. Too often, these other charges hold back women from finding housing or employment. The House Criminal Justice Committee held a fifth hearing on the bill for all testimony on Tuesday, May 22. The committee reported the bill and it awaits consideration in the full House. You can read all testimony from the hearing here.
- SB 198 (Yuko) – Marriage Age: This bill makes updates to Ohio’s marriage laws. The bill originally included exceptions for 16 and 17 year olds, but was amended during the hearing to set the marriage age to 18, without exceptions. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a second hearing on the bill for proponent testimony, including testimony from our managing director in support of the amended bill. You can read all testimony from the hearing here.
- SB 251 (Schiavoni) – Private Images: Prohibit the nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images. The bill was originally scheduled for a first hearing for sponsor testimony in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but it was not heard.
- Senate Session: Senate session originally scheduled for last week was cancelled.
- House Session: The House was scheduled to meet on Tuesday of this past week to vote for a new House Speaker. That session was cancelled, along with the two days of session where the House was scheduled to vote on a number of bills. The backlog of bills has been growing over the last few weeks as the House is engaged in an internal battle to elect a new Speaker following the resignation of Cliff Rosenberger.
Wednesday, May 30
- House Session: If-needed session was scheduled for this week, but that will not be held now. According to coverage of the House Speaker’s race, there are two options facing House members (to replace the position of House Speaker after Cliff Rosenberger resigned weeks ago): 1.) Amending rules to allow Speaker Pro Tempore Kirk Schuring (the number-two in the Ohio House) to preside over the House until the end of this current session in December OR 2.) Holding a June 6th vote to elect a new Speaker (NOTE: There have been multiple failed attempts to make this happen). House members have been given until 5:00 PM on Friday, June 1 to let Representative Schuring know which option they prefer.
We will keep tracking any new updates and will be sharing timely legislative updates on these and other women-centric legislation on Twitter using the #OHLeg hashtag. Follow us to stay up-to-date on what’s happening at the Statehouse.
RAISE YOUR VOICE TO REJECT THE “GAG RULE”
The Trump Administration’s newly proposed ruling – known as the ‘gag rule’ – will have an immense impact on family planning clinics receiving federal Title X funds to provide services, such as birth control, wellness exams, STI testing, and cancer screenings. Often times, women who receive access to these critical health care services are uninsured, women of color, or low-income women.
The proposed ruling is designed to block patients from accessing birth control and preventative health care services from Planned Parenthood clinics, and would allow for medical professionals to withhold accurate and complete information about pregnancy options from patients. The ‘gag rule’ is a clear intrusion on a patient’s access to health care. Period. [Read more here]
TAKE ACTION
- Show up: Attend the ‘No Gag Rule. Protect Our Care.’ Rally and Press Conference TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, May 30th from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM outside of the Ohio Supreme Court urging
- Mobilize momentum: Sign our petition urging HHS Secretary Alex Azar to rescind the “gag rule.”
- Get loud:
