I would like to allow for same-day voter registration in Ohio to ensure EVERY citizen is able to vote.
Of course, I am also in favor of ensuring strong & fair elections. But current pushes at the federal level like the SAVE Act do not protect our elections. They just make it harder for many, such as women who have changed their last name, to vote.
We already are required to provide photo ID to vote. But this bill would just push the burden of voter verification from the government and onto the people. Requiring passports and birth certificates is essentially a way to require citizens to have to pay to vote.
Our property taxes, especially in SW Ohio, are extremely high. These taxes are often raised to support our public needs like public schools. This occurs because our STATE is not paying their fair share - and instead of providing funding to public schools, they are supporting the subsidizing of wealthy football stadiums.
I would like to see our property taxes reduced in a thoughtful way that does not defund our public schools. This means requiring our state to fully fund our schools and potentially inquiring on other forms of tax such as a sales-tax proposal instead.
As a young person running for office, I see how much the cost of living is impacting everybody.
I see this crisis as divided into 3. The first is housing. We need more mixed use housing that promotes apartments for sale (rather than rent) and also banning large corporations from buying up hundreds of family homes.
Next is grocery costs. I would like to break up many of the grocery monopolies in the region. We also need to support local grocery stores & farmers to keep our dollars in our community. In addition, many of our current politicians take money from big grocers so they don’t want to reduce costs.
Lastly is utilities. Our electric & gas prices keep increasing. This is in part due to the large subsidizes that our state government gives to data centers - and we pay the costs.
First, I want to end school vouchers to make sure that taxpayer dollars stay in public education rather than the black box that private & charter schools can be. Part of the reason why people move to SW Ohio is for our amazing public education so we must support this.
I also want to reduce our student to teacher ratio by hiring more teachers and providing direct pathways for student teachers to join public schools. This will reduce the load on teachers and allow for more direct 1:1 engagement for the student.
Lastly, I want to expand our programs outside of the K-12 circle. This means supporting universal Pre-K as data shows this sets students up for lifelong success and continuing to expand the College Credit Plus (CCP) program to allow high schoolers to take college classes.
I truly and genuinely do not have an opinion of who you have voted for in the past or what party you claim to be from. If you are worried about our world and/or are open to having a conversation with me - I am happy to talk.
We need to reduce hyperpartisanship and division by just focusing on the issues. Especially at the local & state level, we all want the same things: safer communities, good schools and the ability to live our lives. That is the future that I am aiming for and I am happy to create a coalition with any person who sees that vision for the future. Please join me at AcharyaForOhio.com!
