Join No Death Penalty Coalition to deliver 1,500 postcards to Ohio Legislators
The quest to end the death penalty has bipartisan support and is a top priority of the Ohio Council of Churches this year. On Thursday, March 21, advocates are meeting at the ACLU office, 1108 City Park Avenue #203 at 11 a.m., and will deliver 1,500 handwritten postcards to Ohio legislators. Register here. “We’ll start the day getting to know one another better at the ACLU office, get a small training on how to deliver the cards, enjoy a provided lunch and then head to the statehouse together to deliver the postcards,” writes No Death Penalty Coalition member Bekky Baker, MSW, Program Director of Ignite Peace in Cincinnati. “There will be a few visitor spots open in the ACLU parking lot and there is free street parking on the surrounding streets – City Park Ave, Mithoff St., Thurman Ave.”
Housing the focus of Faith Leaders Lunch at Statehouse
If your congregation aids people struggling to afford housing, join our diocese’s delegation to this advocacy event on April 16 at the Statehouse! The Ohio Senate has a select committee studying the state’s crisis in housing affordability, and that issue is the focus of this year’s opportunity to meet with legislators and staffers at the Faith Leaders’ Lunch organized by the Hunger Network in Ohio, the Ohio Council of Churches, and the Dominican Sisters of Peace. First-hand stories from faith-based service providers and people they serve are vital: share yours by emailing me.
Also let me know if you’d like one of the seven free seats covered by our diocese’s sponsorship of this event. General admission is $35 to cover rental of the Statehouse Atrium and food for the event. If you’d like to attend and can afford it, please sign up here. By attending, you make the issue human and accessible to Ohio legislators and their staffs. Last year the conversations at this event helped us to defend – and in some cases – improve funding for food security and public education in the biennial budget.
Citizens Not Politicians redistricting petition picking up momentum
I have the names of eight Episcopalians who’ve volunteered to collect signatures for the citizen-sponsored amendment to reform Ohio’s redistricting and stop gerrymandering. Collectively, this tiny but intrepid band has already collected several hundred signatures. Theresa Wright, parishioner of Christ Church, Glendale, and St. Simon of Cyrene, collected almost 50 within four days of picking up her first batch of petition books! The goal is to collect 700,000 signatures statewide by July 3, to ensure we have over 413,000 needed to qualify for the November ballot. Hundreds of volunteers are working on this across the state.
Click on this link to volunteer for the nonpartisan campaign and sign up for training. Common Cause Ohio is providing free training via Zoom for petition circulators on March 26 at 7 pm and Wednesday, April 17 at noon. OR, you can listen to this recording, look at these slides, then take this online quiz.
Communities around Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton have volunteer coordinators and convenient hubs where you can pick up and return petitions. They will also send you links to sign up to circulate petitions at major community events like the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day Parade. If you live in suburban or rural counties including Clermont, Darke, Gallia, Guernsey, Highland, Lawrence, Meigs, or Muskingum, we really need you! Email me please to start a conversation on whether this is something you can help with.
I’ve explained the amendment in several weekly posts (here’s a recent summary) and why it’s needed to stop gerrymandering, which insulates state legislators from accountability to the views of the majority of Ohioans on education, racial equity, voter access, gun safety, environmental protection, and more – all of these essential to Becoming Beloved Community in Ohio. The Citizens Not Politicians constitutional amendment is supported by a statewide nonpartisan coalition including the League of Women Voters, Common Cause Ohio, and the Ohio Council of Churches.
Day Without Child Care Rally at Statehouse May 13
This event is organized by the Care Economy Organizing Project, working with Ohio parents, child care providers, and teachers. Many stakeholders including the Ohio Chamber of Commerce are calling on policy makers at the state and federal level to take action to solve the nationwide child care crisis. Policy Matters Ohio analyst Kathryn Poe reports that child care is only affordable for the highest-paid 12.2% of Ohio households, but only those making at most 145%- 150% of the poverty level qualify for child care subsidies in Ohio – the “child care cliff” that traps parents in low-wage jobs. Ohio’s extremely low reimbursement for subsidized care cripples the ability of child care centers to attract and retain workers and provide good service. Among the policy fixes the state legislature could make:
- Raising reimbursement rates to 75% of the median area rate
- Raising eligibility for child care subsidies to 300% of the poverty level
Policy Matters Ohio reports that the cost of day care for an infant and toddler in a typical Ohio daycare center is $10.52 an hour – over $420 a week – for families that work full time. Meanwhile, the median wage for an Ohio child care worker is $13.15 an hour, meaning child care for her own infant and toddler would mean she’d have only $105.20 a week to cover her family’s basic needs if she didn’t have a subsidy. The Ohio Legislature rebuffed Governor’s proposed increase in the budget they passed in 2023. Ohio Chamber of Commerce CEO Steve Stivers, who served as a Republican Ohio Congressman, is working with Ohio lawmakers on draft legislation to tackle the constraints on child care availability and affordability, which are becoming a major drag on the state’s economy. I’ll keep you posted on any legislation that gets introduced.
Advocacy briefings are compiled by Ariel Miller, a longtime community advocate and member of Ascension & Holy Trinity, Wyoming. Connect with her at arielmillerwriter@gmail.com.
