| Home | About Us | Actions and Events | Membership | 2008 Platform/Current Issues |
| A.B.L.E. | Ohio Forum | Blogs | Employment and Internship Opportunities | Resources |
| Home |
A.B.L.E. Priorities
HEALTHCARE
It is our goal that all Ohioans have affordable,
quality healthcare.
Access to health care is a basic need that Ohioans deserve to have
met.
Cuts made in recent years combined with the rising costs of
healthcare have created a
situation in which many Ohioans are left with out any healthcare. Many of our
most vulnerable citizens are not receiving needed care.
Increase family coverage eligibility for Medicaid from 90% to 200% of the federal poverty line.
Lack of healthcare coverage for
adults with and without children is a major barrier to success for
struggling Ohioans. By providing coverage for adults with
children through Medicaid and adults without dependents through state
funded medical assistance up to 200% of the official poverty line low
income Ohioans will be able to use their discretionary income on other
basic necessities.
Provide Medical Benefits for adults with out dependents, with eligibility up to 200% of the official poverty line.
Low income, uninsured Ohioans
without dependents are left out of any assistance to help meet their basic
healthcare needs.
Restore full funding for necessary optional health services under Medicaid including dental, vision, podiatry, and psychological services.
Necessary and
preventive Medicaid health care services categorized as optional have
virtually been eliminated in the state of
Eliminate prescription co-pays under Medicaid.
Prescription co-pays are considered cost-sharing measures for the Medicaid program and its recipients. Low-income Medicaid beneficiaries lack the money to pay even small premiums or co-pays for the health care they need. Numerous studies have shown that cost-sharing causes Medicaid beneficiaries to go without needed health care, leading to more costly treatment in the future.
CHILDCARE
It is our goal to ensure working parents that their children will be cared for in a safe educational environment while they are at work.
Parents trying to do
better financially need to know that when they leave their children at a
child care center that those children are cared for by staff, that are
consistent and qualified. In order for it to make sense for a
parent to work, they need to have access to childcare that they can
afford.
Child care centers need to be reimbursed properly so they can
retain qualified staff.
Restore childcare voucher eligibility to 200% of the official
poverty line.
Increase reimbursements to childcare centers to include holidays and a reasonable number of days to cover absences.
Child care centers that accept vouchers are not currently reimbursed for holidays and child absences. These centers are not compensated for the same number of days for children whose parents depend on the voucher program as most centers are for children whose parents do not use the voucher program. Typically, child care centers are paid a set fee for the week or month regardless of whether the child is absent or the center is closed because of a holiday, snow day, etc. This puts child care centers that accept vouchers at a disadvantage, with less funding to operate properly and retain qualified staff.
Seniors
Ohio needs to help
seniors retain independence through recognition of and funding for both
home bound and community services.
Both home bound and community
services are necessary aids in helping seniors to gain or retain
independence. By properly funding these services, the
State of
Fully fund community based
services and home bound programs to allow elderly people to gain
independence and remain in their homes.
Restore full funding for Adult Protective Services
Adult Protective Services has been eliminated in the state
of
Housing
We need to provide funding for affordable housing
opportunities, expanded housing services and improved housing conditions
for low-income Ohioans.
Remove the funding cap for the Housing Trust Fund by allocating the full increase for the recordation fees.
The
Housing Trust Fund assists thousands of Ohioans, creates jobs and helps
the economy, prevents homelessness and provides a variety of programs and
services that assist people in obtaining adequate housing.
Restore housing subsidy for elderly.
The elderly housing subsidy is what is called the Residential State Supplement (RSS) and is a subsidy for elderly who are basically capable of independent living but need some help with things like medication.
Food Programs
Our goal
is to provide food for struggling Ohioans by funding an agency with a
proven record of success, Second Harvest Food Banks
.
Increase funding for Second Harvest Food Banks statewide to $28 million over the biennium.
Funding for the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks for $28 million over the sbiennium will support continuation and expansion of a grant agreement to expand the services offered by Second Harvest Food Banks. An increase in funding will result in the ability to provide food, as well as, personal care and hygiene and household cleaning items. More than 1.2 million Ohioans are served through the assistance of Second Harvest Food Banks.
I.D. Cards
To assist Ohioans in obtaining necessary identification.
Recognizing that thousands of Ohioans are not able to receive the assistance they need because they do not have the required identification, the State of Ohio must develop ways to fund programs that assist them in obtaining mandatory identification.
Revenue
To develop a fair and equitable tax structure in the state that brings in enough revenue to maintain a balanced budget that will adequately fund needed services and programs.
Cuts in
personal income tax initiated in the last biennium are scheduled to reduce
this tax by 21% over 5 years. The cuts in the first three years have taken
place. So the personal income tax has already been cut by 12.6% and
another 8.4% is scheduled to be cut has not yet gone into effect. This
will reduce revenues during the upcoming biennium by roughly $800 million.
In order to preserve revenue, the state should defer the next two years of
these reductions. This is not an increase in taxes because these
reductions in personal income tax have not yet taken place.
Restore the corporate income tax.
Corporations must pay their fair share in order to have an
equitable system of taxation in the state.
Reverse reductions in personal income tax for the most affluent
Ohioans. When the full reductions in the income tax are implemented, the
state will be losing $450 million a year from that 1% of Ohioans making
over $295,000 annually.