Latest news with #OhioSenateEducationCommittee
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LGBTQ+ advocates condemn Ohio budget plan to defund youth shelters, restrict books
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Advocates took to the Statehouse last week to speak out against 'anti-LGBTQ+' provisions in Ohio's budget proposal, like a measure requiring public libraries to limit access to LGBTQ+ books. The Ohio Senate Education Committee welcomed school district leaders, librarians, parents, students and other residents on May 14 for a wide-ranging hearing on the education funding within House Bill 96, legislation meant to outline Ohio's budget for the next two years. Watch a previous NBC4 report on the budget proposal in the video player above. The more than 5,000-page bill covers a myriad of topics, and includes the following amendments that leading advocacy organizations said would harm the state's LGBTQ+ community: Codify state policy recognizing two sexes, male and female, and that 'these sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.' Require public libraries to place material 'related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression in a portion of the public library that is not primarily open to the view of the persons under the age of 18.' Bar funding to youth homeless shelters 'that promote or affirm social gender transition.' Ohio congressman introduces bill to study 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' 'These amendments are not only discriminatory, but they are also detrimental to the welfare of thousands of LGBTQ+ Ohioans, and legislates harm against some of the most vulnerable members of our society,' said Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio. Steward condemned the provision to defund certain homeless shelters as 'a direct assault on the safety and well-being of Ohio's youth,' citing a 16-year-old student who was recently kicked out of their home in Troy for being transgender. It was only when the student found refuge in a Dayton youth shelter that offered LGBTQ+ services that they began to feel safe, Steward said. 'Stripping away funding from such shelter would leave countless young people without the support they desperately need,' the executive director argued, noting that a report from the Williams Institute at UCLA found 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ+. Dara Adkison, executive director of TransOhio, denounced the measure 'to recognize two sexes,' claiming the language is factually incorrect, contradicts medical, psychological, and legal understanding of sex and gender, and denies the reality of trans, nonbinary and intersex Ohioans. 'The language of this proposed budget rejects their lived experiences and reality. For many trans and intersex Ohioans, legal and medical transition is life-saving,' said Adkison. 'Attempts to erase or deny these rights through budgetary language would almost certainly invite legal challenge, costing Ohio taxpayers both financially and morally.' Ohio bill would cap 'junk fees' on tickets for concerts, sporting events Adkison cited the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Endocrine Society, which recognize that sex and gender exist on a spectrum. The executive director also noted Bostock v. Clayton County, a 2020 Supreme Court case that said sex discrimination includes LGBTQ+ people. Ohio House legislators have long argued the sex provision is need given 'it's accepted science that there are two genders.' In April, Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said, 'This simply ends the discussion in the state of Ohio which I think most voters, most citizens of Ohio agree with, and it also prevents us from having months and months and weeks of arguments.' Cookie Dixon, a trans Ohioan, testified against requiring public libraries to limit access to LGBTQ+ materials, and said such books were a pivotal part of their self discovery. 'Restricting these resources hurts queer children who were in the same place I was; I had no sense of self and was ready to completely give up before I began exploring my gender identity,' said Dixon. 'This also continues to perpetuate the harmful idea that queer people are obscene, something to be hidden from the eyes of children, a thinly veiled attempt at pushing us back out of the sight of the public as our mere existence continues to be illegalized.' How Ohio lawmakers want to make schools safer Sharon Hawkes, a former librarian and head of Right to Read Ohio, submitted testimony that the mandate would force libraries to remove any mention of LGBTQ+ people, and many child and teen biographies, literary fiction, romance, history, and age-appropriate sex education. Hawkes said a similar Idaho law forced at least one library to close to children because it didn't have the resources and space to isolate adult materials away from the children's section. 'This mandate would be very costly, forcing librarians to sift through their collections to find these books and perhaps remove taxpayer-funded books,' said Hawkes. 'It is also hurtful, telling certain minority communities that they should not be read about.' H.B. 96 will continue to be debated in Ohio Senate hearings open for public testimony. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Local Ohio librarians urge lawmakers to boost Public Library Fund
() Storytime came to the Ohio Statehouse as local librarians spelled out the ways budget cuts to the Public Library Fund could hurt the communities in which they work. This week, current and past staff of libraries across the state laid out for lawmakers the different ways in which the libraries have played a role in their lives and the lives of their community. Constance Evans taught high school for 25 years, using libraries in the several counties in which she taught to supplement her English lessons and other topics. After more than two decades, she went back to school to get a degree in Library Science. 'More than anything, that year taught me how libraries had morphed into an eclectic mix of technology, print, and online materials, and valuable partnerships connected to every facet of our Ohio communities,' Evans told the Ohio Senate Education Committee. One thing most library representatives who spoke brought up as an important – and popular – part of their role in the community was the age-old early literacy program called storytime. 'Our storytimes are so popular that it's not uncommon that our parking lot is full and people have to park elsewhere in the city to get to our library,' said Chauncey Montgomery, director of the Community Library in Sunbury. For the Columbus Metropolitan Library, storytime is a stealthy way to slide learning in alongside entertainment and engagement. 'What seems like a fun-filled 30-minute reading, singing and dancing session to the untrained eye is a well-planned kindergarten readiness program designed around the four cornerstones of reading — letter recognition, beginning letter sounds, rhymes and vocabulary,' said Lauren Hagan, CEO of the Columbus library system. Storytimes are fairly universal among libraries in the state, but there are other programs that are more tailored to the particular area of the state the library calls home. New Carlisle is an area with a poverty rate of 20.5%, compared to the 13.3% that stands as the state average. Food insecurity is a significant issue for families who come to the New Carlisle Public Library, according to director Beth Freeman. 'We have begun offering a dinner storytime, where all family members are able to have a good meal provided by a local restaurant and hear an entertaining story one evening a month,' Freeman told the committee. Programs of all kinds could be on the chopping block if funding changes are implemented, in a day and age when libraries have already had to be creative with existing funds as library demand and demand for more modern resources goes up. The Public Library Fund, which is currently a percentage of the state's General Revenue Fund, saw a $27 million loss last year. 'Public funds have given our library the ability to be innovative, creative and enduring,' said Aimee Fifarek, director and CEO of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. 'All these services and programs were all made possible because our elected leaders invested in our community.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The House's version of the budget would eliminate the 1.7% the Public Library Fund gets from the General Revenue Fund, and create a line-item appropriation. Legislators argued that would be a better deal for libraries, because they would avoid the fluctuations of state tax revenue from year to year. 'I'm not wanting to cut funding for libraries,' said state Sen. Kyle Koehler, R-Springfield, a member of the Senate Education Committee. 'But we have a hard time understanding how a percentage of a fluctuating GRF somehow makes it easier for you.' Advocates fear going to a line-item appropriation rather than a percentage of state tax revenue could put them at risk for 'across the board cuts' if the state needed to tighten its belt, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Michelle Francis, head of the Ohio Library Council. 'We've seen lots of programs that are line-items get eliminated, and so I will tell you that that is a strong concern going forward,' Francis said. The budget approved by the House also rejected a proposal from the governor's executive budget that would have raised the PLF distribution to 1.75%. An increase of that size would amount to another $15 million each year for public library coffers, according to Jay Smith, director of government and legal services for the Ohio Library Council. With the rise in visits to libraries, up 3.4 million to 48 million visits statewide in 2024, according to the council, advocates have taken to comparing the crowds who visit their facilities to audiences at football games. Francis has frequently used Ohio Stadium as a model, saying the statewide number of visits to libraries could fill the Shoe more than 400 times. 'I haven't compared that (2024 increase) to the Browns stadium, but that's our next goal,' she told the committee. Fifarek said 2024 numbers for Youngstown/Mahoning County libraries showed a population that would fill Youngstown State University's Stambaugh Stadium more than 30 times. Despite the consistent crowds, libraries only see funding through the Public Library Fund and local levies, with the exception of 48 library systems who don't have levies on the books. 'We are responsible for our own buildings, but yet we do not receive money in the capital bill,' Francis said, referring to the state's separate spending bill for infrastructure and other projects. 'We also don't get county sales tax, city income tax, no casino revenue, we didn't get any direct (American Rescue Plan Act) funds, and we don't have inside millage. So, that state funding is incredibly critical, and we rely on it more and even greater than our partners do the (local government fund).' The Senate is currently working on its draft of the budget, which could contain changes to the House's version. The two chambers will come together after the Senate approves a draft to bring forth a final draft for the governor's signature before July 1. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio bill would require a state-approved historical document in every classroom
Mar. 12—In what's framed as a bid to expand students' grasp on history, the Ohio Senate Education Committee is considering a bill that would mandate the display of at least one state-approved historical document in every classroom in the state. The proposed list of documents within Senate Bill 34 includes: The Mayflower Compact; the Declaration of Independence; the Northwest Ordinance; the mottoes of the United States and of Ohio; the Magna Carta; the Bill of Rights; the United States Constitution; or the Articles of Confederation; and, controversially, the Ten Commandments. A school district would get to choose whichever document it wants, however, S.B. 34 would require a written explanation of the document's historical importance to accompany each display. "The reason for this bill is to expose our students to the documents which have, in America, served as the backbone of our legal and moral tradition, as a people," bill sponsor Sen. Terry Johnson, R-McDermott, told the committee in February, framing each of the documents as foundational to American government. The bill sponsor called it "inexcusable" that public schools haven't placed more focus on these documents and argued that it has denied students "the vital legal and moral essence that our children need to thrive as good American citizens." On Tuesday, opponents to the bill offered a different perspective, including ACLU of Ohio Chief Lobbyist Gary Daniels, who said S.B. 34's inclusion of the Ten Commandments made the bill a "plainly obvious attempt to impose explicit religious beliefs and practices on young, captive audiences in our public schools." "There is no way to secularize or dilute this language to strip it of its religious significance," said Daniels, who told the committee that the ACLU of Ohio would not oppose the bill if the Ten Commandments were taken off the list. Andrea Pagoda, a Jewish resident of Delaware County who testified in opposition to the bill, raised the question of which Ten Commandments school boards could pick, given that there are slight variations in Catholic, Protestant and Jewish renditions. "Posting the Ten Commandments favors one particular religious tradition as a source of inspiration and guidance in violation of the separation of church and state," she argued. Proponents of the bill — of which all have so far been religious — argued that the Ten Commandments are indeed central to the founding fathers. "The Ten Commandments are important to our religious and legal systems because they serve as a moral and ethical foundation," said Monty Lobb, executive director of the Christian Business Partnership, a division of the Center for Christian Virtue. "Obviously, they guide millions who practice Judaism and Christianity in their relationship with God and others. But let's not lose sight of or downplay the Ten Commandments' significant role in influencing a moral framework that has established fundamental principles of virtue like honesty, respect, and justice that appeal to many cultures." Monuments Outside of the display requirement, S.B. 34 would also grant schools the authority to erect a monument inscribed with "one or more of the documents on any school ground or premises," according to a nonpartisan analysis. Logistically, some of these documents would be easier to inscribe than others. Shortest on the list is America's and Ohio's mottoes — "In God We Trust" and "With God, All Things Are Possible," respectively. The Ten Commandments and the Mayflower Compact have about 200 words apiece, while the Bill of Rights has about 460 words. All other listed documents have more than 1,000 words. Who pays for it? Both the in-class displays and the monuments could be paid for under S.B. 34 by community organizations willing to donate funds. Those same organizations could donate the displays or monuments themselves, which Daniels argued would open the door widest for churches. "You see, passage of S.B. 34 is only the first step for many S.B. 34 supporters. Pass this bill, and they will focus their energy and resources on school districts across Ohio, demanding they choose the Ten Commandments as one of the documents for display, or perhaps the only one," Daniels said. Johnson, meanwhile, told the committee that the bill was written that way because "it is essential that the displays are funded and promoted by the communities themselves, having a say in what gets displayed in their schools." ------ 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.
