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The Ohio FORUM is a nonprofit organization of community activists with a wide range of issue areas and journalists working to communicate ideas to the public and stimulate policy debate by tapping into the power of the media.

Over the years, editors have come to recognize the Ohio FORUM for well-written, well-researched, and thought-provoking commentary on topics including school reform, prescription drug costs, nuclear power, unemployment compensation.

On average, media packets reach 1.45 million households through print and 2.45 million listeners and viewers through the broadcast media. Commentary from the Ohio FORUM regularly appear in Cleveland Plain Dealer (circ. 400,593), Cincinnati Enquirer (circ. 206,012), Columbus’ Minority Communicator (circ. 90,000), Youngstown Vindicator (circ. 85,000), Cleveland Free Times (circ. 85,000), Zanesville Times Recorder(circ. 25,000), Dayton Communicator (circ. 20,000, Toledo Journal (circ. 19,500), Medina Gazette (circ. 16,800), Athens Messenger (circ. 12,500). Forum materials also receive significant local use/coverage by broadcast media throughout the state.

For more information on Ohio Forum please visit: http://www.mediaforum.org/states/index.cfm?State=oh
For more information on American Forum please visit: http://www.mediaforum.org/

• Child care vouchers assist low-income families by ensuring children are properly cared for and parents succeed in their transition to work.  Families whose incomes fall below 165% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines can receive payment for all of part of their monthly child care expenses. Eligibility requirements to receive child care vouchers changed.  Previously, families living at 185% of the poverty line and lower were eligible.  Now, only families at 165% of poverty or lower are eligible for vouchers.

• Approximately 84,000 ofOhio’s children are served by subsidized child care programs each month. (Source: Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services).

• More than 25,000 individuals are served through PASSPORT (at home elderly care) (source: Ohio Department of Aging

• In Ohio , 12,493 seniors with average incomes of about $600 a month receive food boxes. The contents typically include cheese, fruit juice, cereal, pasta, and canned goods. (source: Columbus Dispatch)

• The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food banks, Ohio’s largest charitable response to hunger have partnered with ODJFS to provide emergency food distribution programs to more than 12 food banks.  OASHF represents 12 food banks which distribute food to more than 3,300 member charities.  In 2006, OASHF distributed more than 92 million pounds of food and grocery items through the Ohio Food Bank network. More than 1.2 million Ohioans receive food assistance through this network.

• Medicaid provides healthcare coverage for low-income children, pregnant mothers, working families, seniors, and people with disabilities.  In 2005, the total number of Ohioans enrolled in Medicaid was 2,038,717. (source: Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services)

• Medicaid was reduced from 100% to 90% of the Federal Poverty Level, which removed 25,000 parents from the Medicaid program. (eligibility for a family of three was reduced from $16,000 annual income to $14,500)

• In 1995 the General Assembly eliminated GA Med altogether and capped enrollment for Disability Medical Assistance.  Currently enrollment for Disability Medical Assistance is closed.  Low income, uninsured Ohioans without dependents are left out of any assistance to help meet their basic healthcare needs.

Every two years, the state budget is re-created. Right now decisions are being made inColumbus for the next biennium budget, meaning the budget will be planned for the next two fiscal years. So fiscal year 2007 will end June 30, 2007, and fiscal year 2008 will begin on July 1 of 2007. The process of creating a new biennium state budget has many steps. Here are the basics:

1. The process starts in July of even-numbered years. The Office of Budget and Management (a state office known as OBM) begins by corresponding with state agencies to see how much each agency requests for their own budget.

2. OBM works with the Governor and the Governor’s staff to create an Executive Budget.

3. The Governor presents the Executive Budget first to the Ohio House of Representatives and it is introduced by the Speaker of the House in the form of a bill. This happens early in January or February of every odd-numbered year. The Ohio House of Representatives is made up of elected State Representatives.

4. The House of Representatives reviews the budget. Specifically the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives and its subcommittees hold hearings on the budget. During those hearings the public can express their views and opinions. The committee members discuss the Executive Budget and they can draft changes to it in the form of amendments. Then they present their changes to the rest of the House.

5. The full House then votes on the budget bill. Other legislators have an opportunity to propose amendments before the final vote called floor amendments (because they are made from the “floor” of the House).  Each amendment must be passed separately.  It is possible to pass the budget and only some (or none or all) of the amendments proposed to it.

6. Once the House version of the budget is approved, with any added amendments, it is passed on to the Senate.  In the Senate, made up of elected State Senators, the budget review follows basically the same steps. Neither the House nor the Senate has to make changes to the Executive Budget, but based on the process of public testimony and feedback from various members of the public (like a Rally in front of the Statehouse), they make changes.

7. Once the budget passes through the House and the Senate, the whole budget bill (along with all the approved amendments) goes to Conference Committee (where representatives from both the House and the Senate debate the bill and try to come to an agreement). The Conference Committee then prepares a report to present to the House and Senate.

8. If both the House and the Senate agree to the Conference Committee report, the bill then needs to be reviewed by executive agencies and the Governor. Once the Governor signs the budget bill, it becomes a law immediately. The Governor does have the power to veto (disapprove) the budget if he chooses to.

Right now, Ohio is facing deficits in its budget. The solution to achieve a balanced budget is either to decrease spending or raise revenue. In Governor Strickland’s Executive Budget, there are some revenue-enhancements, and many cuts to spending. Revenue-enhancements usually happen in the form of taxes. Many people that do not want to see cuts in spending encourage raising taxes in a fair way as the solution to get necessary funding for services and programs.

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 ofOhio with the exception of vision.  All of these services (vision, dental, podiatry and psychological) are critical needs for many Medicaid recipients and need to be funded.

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 Ohio saves money for seniors who would otherwise need to reside at a nursing home, costing the state a considerable amount of money through Medicaid.

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 Ohio leaving many of Ohio’s seniors vulnerable and without the protection and attention they need. This is an unfunded state mandate for the counties. 

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.

Click on the subcategories in the right-hand menu to read about our program work with ABLE and Ohio Forum.

Advocates for Budget Legislation Equality is a grassroots coalition that was founded byMay Dugan Multi-Service Center, Merrick House, and Organize! Ohio that is now supported by many other individuals and organizations.  These include, Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio, the Cleveland Catholic Diocese Social Action Office, The Community Partners for Affordable, Accessible Health Care, The Empowerment Center of Greater Cleveland, Stop targeting Ohio’s poor, United Clevelanders Against Poverty, Neighborhood Family Practice, We are the Uninsured, Lutheran Metro Ministry, and The Cleveland Tenants Organization. ABLE is advised, provided data by Policy Matters Ohio. 

ABLE is a coalition of organizations and individuals working to get necessary funding for critical health and human services that are impacting our lives.  It is our mission to protect and expand public health, safety, and welfare. 

ABLE is based in Cleveland and works to educate and mobilize communities across the state, to provide a citizen voice at the legislative level.  ABLE seeks to bring a collective community voice around health and human services funding in the biennium budget process, budget and budget correction bills. 

ABLE was born out of the need for a direct community response in 2003 when then Governor Taft proposed cuts that would have devastated health and human services in that biennium budget.  Community education, engagement, and organizing began in January, 2003.  The state budget was passed in June, 2003.  Our efforts, along with those of others, helped save millions of dollars for health and human services in that state budget.  With your help land support we can accomplish even more in 2007