Latest news with #HouseBill280
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio again examines funding police pensions
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A conversation about increasing contributions to the state's Police and Fire Pension Fund is starting up again at the Ohio Statehouse. 'Those men and women who have worked their whole lives to protect our communities, we should be protecting their pension and making sure that their pension is solid when they go to retire,' Rep. Thomas Hall (R-Madison Township) said. 'It's very easy to say that this will be the largest unfunded mandate placed on local governments that the legislature has proposed, and we hope that they rethink this,' Ohio Municipal League Executive Director Kent Scarrett said. Ohio Dems propose 'Love Makes a Family Week' to counter 'Natural Family Month' House Bill 280 is very similar to a bill introduced in the last general assembly. Under the bill, the amount of money a local government contributes to the fund would, within five years, increase from 19.5% to 24% for police officers. Firefighters are already at 24%. 'At a time when there are workforce shortages in the fire industry and in the police industry, this is a step that we feel like we could help people go to choose to come a police officer or a fire fighter,' Hall said. 'Knowing that they have stability, knowing that they have a stable pension system in place for when they go to retire one day.' While Hall said this is an important step, increasing that contribution amount does not come cheap. 'You often hear municipalities, they say, 'Well, we don't have the money for this, this is going to be a substantial strain on the local governments,'' Hall said. 'I think that they do have the money for that. I think that if first responders are truly a priority, they will have the funds necessary to approve this.' If enacted, the bill would cost local governments nearly $82 million statewide. Scarrett said that eventually, it is going to mean bad news for Ohioans. Intel executive explains why Ohio plant will need to fight for Intel's business 'It ultimately lands on the taxpayer,' he said. 'Weathering these increases on the existing constrained budgets would really force communities to look at reducing services, cutting services, possibly going to the voters and asking for a higher contribution in their tax rate.' Scarrett said local governments are 'already operating under tight budgets.' He said not only might this bill mean higher taxes or a reduction in services, but he also said that for some local governments, it could mean disbanding their police department altogether. 'Especially our smaller communities, villages that are really on a shoestring, they may not be able to support their police departments going forward with this unfunded mandate,' he said. Hall said, though, there is an extra layer to the bill that is important this time around. He noted new actuarial work, done by a third party, to explain why and how the increase should be made. 'I think that the goal with the third party was to say, 'Hey, it's not just the police and fire saying we want more money, or we need more money with our pensions,'' Hall said. 'We've been saying all along we need this, now we need the third party, who has run the numbers, who has tried to explain it on their side of things, the non-bias side of things.' Daughter searching for answers after father killed on motorcycle in South Linden hit-and-run 'There's no other pension fund that allows a board action to automatically increase the employer contribution because of a report that is initiated by the board,' Scarrett said. 'More egregious is there is no municipal representative on the [Ohio Police and Fire Fund] board.' What are the odds this bill passes? Last general assembly, it came close, but ultimately failed in the 11th hour. This year, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said it may not even make it to the Ohio Senate. He said, in general, he is opposed to the idea that the legislature should be working on a bill like this at all. 'I don't think legislatures, by and large, that meet every two years, determine budgets and do other things, should be and are really very capable of making 30-year decisions in a piece of legislation,' Huffman said. Huffman said that at the very least, the issue will likely not be determined before June 30, which is when lawmakers break for the summer. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
More than 500,000 Pennsylvanians ineligible to vote on Tuesday, will that ever change?
(WHTM) – Pennsylvania's primary Election Day is Tuesday, May 20, but more than 500,000 voters are not allowed to participate despite their taxes helping pick up the $75 million election price tag. For 88 years, Pennsylvania has had 'closed' primary elections, meaning only registered Republicans and Democrats can vote, and they can only vote for people in their party. Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania demands end to state's 'two-party monopoly' This means Independents and third-party voters do not have a say in their options for the November election. David Thornburgh is Chair of Ballot PA and says if Independents could vote in primaries, candidates would have to appeal to the less partisan voters. 'You say, 'Well, how do you know they're less partisan?' Because if they were more partisan, they'd be Republicans or Democrats,' said Thornburgh. 'So you bring those folks into the mix. You're going to get more competition. You're going to get more responsive candidates.' State Rep Jared Solomon (D-Philadelphia) says northeast Philadelphia precincts could see less than 10% turnout on Tuesday in an off-year election. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Getting more primary voters out is one of the motivations behind House Bill 280, which would still have Republicans and Democrats vote for their own parties, but would allow non-affiliated voters to pick which primary to cast a vote for. 'Forty other states have done this; this is not the new shiny thing on the block,' explained Solomon. Republican Russ Diamond says he was an Independent but doesn't like the power this bill would give them. '(Independents) can just walk up to the polling place and say, today, 'I'm a Democrat' or 'today I'm a Republican,' when I, as a Republican or anybody here as a Democrat, can't do that.' Filming begins on HERSHEY movie Republicans also argue it's so easy to register to vote, and Independents aren't blocked from participating; they're choosing not to. The GOP also fears mischief. 'If two Democrats were running against me, I could purposely vote in the Democratic primary, vote for the worse of the two candidates,' argued State Rep. Brad Roae, a Republican who chairs the State Government Committee. 'Just, you know, mess up their primary.' 'The short reason,' Thornburgh claims, 'why politicians oppose this is because they feel like they got elected by a set of rules and they're not that willing to change those set of rules, which is a little paranoid.' Who is running for Harrisburg Mayor? House Bill 280 passed on party lines out of committee, which has happened in the past; similar bills have been kicked around since the early 1990s. Thornburgh hopes the door soon opens to open primaries. 'Pennsylvania is yeah, we're we're standing increasingly alone,' Thornburgh says. 'And I don't want to be the last to make the statement that every voter should be able to participate in every election.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
