Minority Democrats in the Ohio Legisature have laid out their agenda on economic and educational issues they say majority Republicans are ignoring. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports.
Democrats are pushing bills on equal pay, paid family
leave, college affordability, and sales tax exemptions for diapers and drugs. And they say the ones
they’ve introduced are not moving in the Republican-dominated legislature. Representative Kent Smith
says it’s time to consider his minimum wage increase, because Republican tax cuts
for the wealthy aren’t helping working Ohioans.
“The prescription for economic health on the Republican side is like the doctor who
would only prescribe penicillin for every conceivable illness.”
But House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger says over the last five years, Republican
policies have created 400,000 jobs, boosted the state’s credit rating and returned
billions in tax cuts to Ohioans, so he says the record speaks for itself.