Ohio’s exploding vouchers program, a $13 minimum wage and a domestic violence bill

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Catching Our Eye:

Vouchers. Ohio Public Radio’s Karen Kasler is reporting, “Change To Exploding Voucher Program Likely Coming, But Time Is Running Out.”

“The number of public school buildings where students will be eligible for the state’s largest private school voucher program will more than double in the coming school year. And that could blow huge holes in the budgets of 70 percent of Ohio’s school districts. Lawmakers who have said they want to change that are running out of time.

“The EdChoice program was expanded in 2013, but because of changes in testing and state report cards, the grades school buildings got over the last few years weren’t counted in the criteria for whether they were considered “failing”. But now those grades are.

“The number of buildings where students are eligible for vouchers went from 255 in the 2018-2019 school year to 517 in 2019-2020. And for the 2020-2021 school year, there will be 1,227 buildings in 433 districts where students will qualify.”
Minimum. Cleveland.com’s Andrew Tobias is reporting that an Ohio constitutional amendment for $13 minimum wage could appear on the November ballot.

“A campaign backed by organized-labor groups is seeking to amend the Ohio constitution later this year to raise the state minimum wage to $13 an hour.

The committee backing the proposed amendment filed paperwork on Friday with the state Attorney General’s Office containing the full text and summary of the amendment. The filing is the first in a multi-step process to get a constitutional amendment before voters that eventually will require gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures from registered voters across the state.”
Aisha’s Law. Ohio Public Radio’s Andy Chow is reporting, “(State) Rep. Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights) says her high-profile domestic violence bill is gaining momentum in the Ohio House. The bipartisan piece of legislation known as ‘Aisha’s Law’ looks to overhaul the way communities and law enforcement respond to reports of assault…

“The bill requires police to conduct a lethality assessment of alleged victims of domestic violence. That screening would determine if the victim and offender need to be connected to programs that assist in high-risk situations.

“Boyd says cases of domestic violence tend to escalate with each incident, she says “Aisha’s Law” will help monitor the situation before another potential violent act could occur.”