Marcia Fudge
An SOS (Save Our Schools) to U.S. Sen. Rob Portman from education groups
Editor’s Note: This is a joint commentary from Lois Carson, president of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, and Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers. On Thursday, March 12, Gov. Mike DeWine announced that Ohio schools would be shutting down physically and four […]
George Floyd’s brother: ‘Make sure that he is more than another face on a t-shirt’
WASHINGTON — George Floyd’s younger brother, Philonise Floyd, pleaded with lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday to ensure that his brother didn’t die in vain. “I can’t tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch something like that. When you watch your big brother, who you looked up to your whole entire life […]
Will Congress send aid to ailing local news outlets?
WASHINGTON — Politicians are banding together to try to rescue local news media from economic collapse during the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that Democratic leaders in Congress are pushing to fix a small business lending program so that it applies to local news publishers and broadcasters affiliated with larger organizations. […]
Congressional Dems want more federal cash to combat hunger during pandemic
WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers want to prioritize food insecurity in the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation. More than 100 lawmakers sent a letter Tuesday asking Democratic and Republican leaders of the U.S. House and Senate to boost the maximum Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit by 15% — a request Republicans rejected in the $2 […]
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan takes workhorse-showhorse divide to extremes
WASHINGTON — One of the most influential members of Congress — and most ardent defenders of President Donald Trump — is also one of the least active legislatively. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan — the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, the upper chamber’s main investigative arm — didn’t introduce any bills […]
‘It’s not fine.’ Black mothers and babies are dying in Ohio.
WASHINGTON — Black mothers and babies are dying at staggering rates in Ohio and around the country. The national statistics are alarming: black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. American Indian women are also more than […]
‘What year is this?’ Ohio congresswomen aim to stamp out hair-based discrimination
WASHINGTON — About a year ago, a New Jersey teen was forced to cut his dreadlocks in order to participate in a high school wrestling match. The wrestler, Andrew Johnson, received a hurried haircut after he was told by a referee that his hair violated wrestling rules. He won the match and state officials opened […]
U.S. House to vote on upending DeVos student loan forgiveness policy
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House is expected to vote this week on a resolution that would overturn a federal rule that critics say guts protections for defrauded student loan borrowers. The resolution — led by Nevada Democratic Rep. Susie Lee — expresses congressional disapproval of the so-called borrower defense rule, which was revised by President […]
Here is what Ohio’s members of Congress said about impeaching Trump
Wednesday’s historic vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach President Donald Trump was approved on a near-completely party line vote. Such was true for Ohio’s delegation of 16 representatives. All 12 Republicans voted against the two articles of impeachment, while the four Democrats voted in favor. Nine Ohio representatives from both sides spoke […]
Fudge joins other U.S. House Dems to slam Trump’s food stamps rule changes
WASHINGTON — The morning after they voted to impeach President Donald Trump, a group of U.S. House Democrats gathered outside of the Agriculture Department’s headquarters to berate the administration for a policy that’s expected to knock about 700,000 people off food stamp benefits nationwide. As about a dozen House lawmakers huddled against the cold, Rep. […]
U.S. House passes legislation to crack down on voter suppression
The U.S. House passed legislation on Friday that would give the federal government broader authority to police voting rights violations across the country. The bill, a top priority for House Democrats, passed by a vote of 228-187, with just one Republican — Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania — breaking party ranks to vote for the […]
Trump rule could end food stamp access for thousands in Ohio
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration this week finalized a regulation that’s expected to knock nearly 10,000 — or perhaps as many as 45,000 — Ohioans off food stamp benefits. It’s one of three controversial policies the administration is pursuing that aim to limit eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The numbers are complicated, […]