'Put your money where your mouth is': Black health advocates stress need for funding
"We talk a whole lot about caring about families, caring about children, teaching them how to read — but they gotta live before they can start to read," said state Sen. Catherine Ingram, D-Cincinnati, joint chair of the Ohio legislature's Black Maternal Health Caucus.
Ingram was joined by co-chair Sen. Paula Hicks Hudson, a Toledo Democrat who will be the party's top budget negotiator when the Senate picks up the budget later this month.
The two used a statehouse press conference to cap off their inaugural Black Maternal Health Summit, aimed in large part at addressing the disparities between infant and maternal health outcomes between white and Black families.
A press statement from the summit relays that Black women in Ohio are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, and that Black infants die at more than twice the rate of white infants.
"These disparities are rooted in long-standing structural inequities — not differences in biology — and are preventable with intentional investment and policy change," the statement reads.
Caitlin Feldman, policy director for the early childhood advocacy organization Groundwork Ohio, told reporters: "it is far past time for Ohio to be lifted out of the basement when it comes to infant and maternal health outcomes."
Feldman called for the Senate to counteract several changes the House made to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's proposed budget. Those include a $22 million decrease in funding toward Ohio's Help Me Grow home visitation program and the cancellation of a governor-proposed plan to create an up-to $1,000 tax credit for every Ohio child under seven years old.
------
For more stories like this, sign up for our Ohio Politics newsletter. It's free, curated, and delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday evening.
Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Proposed congressional maps in California could help Democrats flip 5 seats
Proposed new congressional maps in California that are expected to be put to voters in a special election this fall indicate the redrawn district lines could help Democrats flip five Republican seats and bolster around five Democratic incumbents in toss-up districts. The new maps, posted on the California State Assembly website on Friday evening, are draft proposals and are subject to be changed or reworked by the state legislature, which is set to start working next week. The legislative action follows California Gov. Gavin Newsom's call on Thursday for a special election on new maps, in an attempt to counter mid-decade redistricting being pushed by Republicans in Texas. MORE: California will move forward with redistricting vote to counter Texas, Newsom says The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the campaign arm of House Democrats, took credit Friday for submitting the maps to the California legislature, saying in a statement they believe they will have widespread support among California legislators and voters. "We anticipate this proposal will have widespread support both among California office holders and various stakeholders across the state," DCCC Executive Director Julie Merz said in a statement. "We will not stand by as Republicans attempt to rig the election in their favor and choose their voters. It's increasingly clear that Republicans will do anything to protect their narrow majority because they know they can't win on their disastrous legislative record which has raised costs and rips away health care for millions, all to give the ultra-wealthy a tax break." Paul Mitchell, a redistricting and data expert who drew the maps, told ABC News San Francisco station KGO-TV in an interview on Friday afternoon before the draft maps were posted online that eight of the proposed redrawn districts are unchanged; another 20 are changed very little, and that overall the goal was "pushing back on Texas without doing something that would radically disrupt the congressional district lines." MORE: Texas Democrats to return after governor ends special session that included redistricting, sources say Mitchell added that beyond making five Republican-held seats favor Democrats -- as a counter to the proposed congressional maps in Texas that could flip five seats to favor Republicans -- the proposal also strengthens the districts of around five Democratic "frontline candidates" who face more difficult challenges from Republicans. "[The legislature has] got some time next week to put it together, along with all the other language for a statewide ballot measure. And I think the point for voters is, this is a way to push back on what Texas Republicans are doing, on what Trump is doing," Mitchell told KGO-TV. Republicans continue to cry foul, saying that Newsom's gambit for new maps is politically motivated. NRCC chair Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) wrote in a statement before the proposed maps were posted: "Gavin Newsom failed to solve the homelessness, crime, drug, and cost epidemics plaguing the Golden State. Now he is shredding California's Constitution and disenfranchising voters to prop up his Presidential ambitions. "Californians oppose Newsom's stunt because they won't let a self-serving politician rig the system to further his career. The NRCC is prepared to fight this illegal power grab in the courts and at the ballot box to stop Newsom in his tracks."
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
CEO of paid protest company says it works with both sides of the aisle
(NewsNation) — President Trump alleged Friday that Democrats are paying protesters to fight his Washington, D.C., crime policies. But how do paid protests actually work? NewsNation spoke with Adam Swart, the CEO of Crowds on Demand, about his company that provides services 'for impactful advocacy campaigns, demonstrations, PR stunts, crowds for hire and corporate events,' according to its website. 'All of our protesters are sincere advocates for the cause at hand. We've been in business 13 years, so we have a large roster of people we know and have networks of others we can call upon to be compensated for expressing their sincere points of view,' Swart said. Swart said compensation for protests is typically in the low hundreds of dollars, depending on the assignment. He said organizing a protest 'is like buying an ad.' He said his company receives requests for both conservative and liberal causes. 'We have been clear that we work with both liberals and conservatives on causes that align with common-sense values. Democrats are hiring our company, and so are Republicans,' he said. He did not disclose what protests his company has been asked to be a part of. Swart previously told NewsNation that he turned down $20 million to provide protesters for ' Good Trouble Lives On ' protests in July. 'I'm rejecting it not because I don't want to take the business, but because frankly, this is going to be ineffective; it's going to make us all look bad,' Swart said of the anti-Trump protests at the time.
2 hours ago
Proposed congressional maps in California could help Democrats flip 5 seats
Proposed new congressional maps in California that are expected to be put to voters in a special election this fall indicate the redrawn district lines could help Democrats flip five Republican seats and bolster around five Democratic incumbents in toss-up districts. The new maps, posted on the California State Assembly website on Friday evening, are draft proposals and are subject to be changed or reworked by the state legislature, which is set to start working next week. The legislative action follows California Gov. Gavin Newsom's call on Thursday for a special election on new maps, in an attempt to counter mid-decade redistricting being pushed by Republicans in Texas. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the campaign arm of House Democrats, took credit Friday for submitting the maps to the California legislature, saying in a statement they believe they will have widespread support among California legislators and voters. "We anticipate this proposal will have widespread support both among California office holders and various stakeholders across the state," DCCC Executive Director Julie Merz said in a statement. "We will not stand by as Republicans attempt to rig the election in their favor and choose their voters. It's increasingly clear that Republicans will do anything to protect their narrow majority because they know they can't win on their disastrous legislative record which has raised costs and rips away health care for millions, all to give the ultra-wealthy a tax break." Paul Mitchell, a redistricting and data expert who drew the maps, told ABC News San Francisco station KGO-TV in an interview on Friday afternoon before the draft maps were posted online that eight of the proposed redrawn districts are unchanged; another 20 are changed very little, and that overall the goal was "pushing back on Texas without doing something that would radically disrupt the congressional district lines." Mitchell added that beyond making five Republican-held seats favor Democrats -- as a counter to the proposed congressional maps in Texas that could flip five seats to favor Republicans -- the proposal also strengthens the districts of around five Democratic "frontline candidates" who face more difficult challenges from Republicans. "[The legislature has] got some time next week to put it together, along with all the other language for a statewide ballot measure. And I think the point for voters is, this is a way to push back on what Texas Republicans are doing, on what Trump is doing," Mitchell told KGO-TV. Republicans continue to cry foul, saying that Newsom's gambit for new maps is politically motivated. NRCC chair Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) wrote in a statement before the proposed maps were posted: "Gavin Newsom failed to solve the homelessness, crime, drug, and cost epidemics plaguing the Golden State. Now he is shredding California's Constitution and disenfranchising voters to prop up his Presidential ambitions. "Californians oppose Newsom's stunt because they won't let a self-serving politician rig the system to further his career. The NRCC is prepared to fight this illegal power grab in the courts and at the ballot box to stop Newsom in his tracks."
