Voting should be easy and accessible to all Ohioans.
I would start by having automatic voter registration. When you get or renew your drivers license or personal ID, you are registered to vote unless you opt out. This is an easy and secure way to make encourage voting, and is already done in other states
Second, expand early voting locations and hours. This would include nights and weekends so that working families and students have ample time to vote.
Third, protect and enhance mail-in voting. Prepaid postage, secure drop boxes, and clear instructions. I would also go back to a safety window for ensuring any ballot post-marked by election day is considered valid even if it arrives after election day.
Finally, make election day a state holiday and celebrate democracy.
We are on the verge of a massive tax shift, one where public school teachers, social workers and librarians pay as much as millionaires.
This would not just be unfair, but it would also be costly. These changes are currently estimated to reduce state revenue around $480 million.
Even before this shift, Ohio has struggled to equitably fund public schools and crucial infrastructure. These gaps have been a key contributor to the rise of property taxes, pitting home owners against schools.
Ohio needs to adopt a truly progressive tax system. One in which those who benefit the most from our economy also contribute more to stabilize and improve communities. That is how we make an Ohio for all Ohioans, not just those at the top.
Start with housing, as it is the primary income burden Ohioans face.
We should invest in affordable housing development that is state lead. Build decent housing that will cost a low guaranteed amount.
There should also be a focus on rent stabilization and anti-gauging protections. Finally, ban corporate investors and portfolio consolidation.
Childcare is a massive burden on families, costing almost as much as college tuition. We need universal pre-K and more assistance for low income household.
Cost of living is partly a pay problem. The plan to get to $15 minimum wage by 2030 will not cut it. We need a minimum of $20 TODAY. We also need to see strengthening of union protections, such as the banning of union busting when workers begin the unionization process.
An unprecedented amount of money is being taken from public schools and channeled into charter and private schools.
Overall, I'd like to eliminate voucher programs. At a minimum, if these schools are going to take public money, then they should follow the same educational standards.
This funding shift as also tasked our public educators to do more while being given less. We need to course correct classroom head counts and teacher pay and benefits. If we want great schools, we need to treat educators like the respected professionals they are.
Finally, focus on the whole experience: Free lunches for all students, expansions of afterschool and summer programs and updating old buildings. It's not radical to want children to be fed and not stuck in freezing buildings or moldy classrooms.
Hyperpartisanship builds when like-minded people only speak with those who share the same mentality. Leaders should be enaging with voters and constituents who disagree with them. Not to give a performance of caring, but to actually understand and engage.
Their should be a refocusing on material issues, not yet another cycle of culture war non-sense. Ohioans face real, tangible issues. And many would respond well to people talking to them directly about it.
Civility doesn't have to mean watering down your values, it's about treating others with respect.
Training and Experience
Current State Senator of the 25th District, Former State Party Secretary, Parliamentarian, and Executive Director. Former ED of the Ohio League of Conservation Voters
Volunteer/Community Service
Member OSU Alumni Club of Franklin County, regularly volunteer at local food bank, volunteer on dozens of political campaigns over the past 40 years
I would repeal all of the republican passed voter restrictions from the last decade. I would institute automatic voter registration when you turn 18. I would have same day registration/voting. I would put back the 10 day grace period after the election for ballots to be received by mail at the BOE. I would allow counties to install as many drop boxes as they deem necessary. I would eliminate the current make up of the redistricting committee and replace it with a bi-partisan board that would be mandated to draw competitive districts. I would allow for the forms of ID that were okay 20 years ago but not allowed any longer. Basically, I would make it as easy to vote as possible.
I would revert back to an income tax system that is bracketed and those that make more, pay more. I would institute a "billionaire" tax on those that make that kind of money. Institute a property tax "circuit breaker" so that you can't pay more than a fixed percentage of your income. Also, freeze property taxes on seniors over 70 who have lived in their homes at least 10 years and make less than $120,000 and rises with inflation.
Fully funding of our public schools, which would take away the need for local districts to pass property tax levies to educate their students. This would lower property taxes.
Make data centers pay their full cost of all utilities so that we consumers don't subsidize their electric use.
We need to build more affordable housing, thus lowering the cost of home ownership.
There isn't much state government can do about the price of groceries and goods. The failed policies and tariffs of the current administration in the WH have caused much of the current rise in everyday needs.
I would also institute a single payer health insurance system which would lower the bills for health insurance for over 90% of Ohioans. I would eliminate PBM's who drive up the cost of drugs.
Eliminate charter schools and vouchers! Fully fund our public schools and let teachers teach instead of worrying about their students passing mandated state tests. Raise the minimum salaries of teachers. Institute guaranteed daily free breakfast and lunch for all K-12 students
More state financial support of higher education. Repeal SB 1 and allow universities to cater to the needs of their students as they see fit.
Give students and faculty more say on the selection of university trustees. Allow more students on those boards.
Remove Les Wexner's name from every building at The Ohio State University and remove all trustees that have ties to him.
Draw fair legislative districts so that those elected have to appeal to voters in the middle. This will lead to smaller majorities in each chamber and require collaboration and cooperation between both parties.
Believe it or not, 90% of the legislation that we have passed in the Ohio Senate this year has passed unanimously. I personally get along with nearly all of my republican colleagues in the senate.
