Latest news with #SenateBill107
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio bill would require party labels for local, state school board races
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — While state and local school board races in Ohio are currently nonpartisan, some Statehouse lawmakers say those candidates should be required to be affiliated with a political party. Senate Bill 107, introduced in February by Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware), would require board of education candidates to go through the primary nomination process to be affiliated with a party. Brenner argues Ohio's current nonpartisan elections can hide political beliefs from voters, 'leading to a mismatch between board members and the communities they are meant to represent.' Proposed law could extend Ohio's school year 'I know that there are people that think it should remain nonpartisan, but if you take a look at all these races, I think all these races in general are partisan because of the people who are running are coming from one political persuasion or another,' said Brenner during the bill's first hearing on Feb. 26. 'I think that adding party labels will help.' Brenner's bill, which is co-sponsored by four other Ohio Senate Republicans, would require state board candidates to attain 50 signatures to enter their party's primary, a decrease from the current requirement of 100 signatures. The number of signatures required for a local board candidate would depend on the district's population. A district with a population of less than 20,000 would require 20 signatures, while a population of more than 20,000 would require 50. If passed by the Statehouse and signed into law, S.B. 107's changes would apply 120 days after the measure takes effect. A proposal similar to Brenner's was also introduced last General Assembly and would've required party labels for state board candidates and restructured the board from 19 nonpartisan members — 11 elected, eight appointed by the governor — to a 15-member board entirely elected. The measure only received one committee hearing. Lawmaker looks to ban exclusive airing of Ohio State football on streaming platforms Along with board of education candidates, Ohio law also mandates nonpartisan elections for municipal, county and common pleas court judges. However, a bill signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine in 2021 required party labels be included for Ohio's appellate and Supreme Court candidates. Since then, Republicans have swept the state's Supreme Court races. S.B. 107 has been assigned to the Senate General Government Committee, where it could receive additional hearings open for public testimony. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Activists call on Kansas lawmakers to provide sales tax relief for period products
From left, Caitlyn Hammack, the Kansas leader of equity organization URGE, and Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, a Wichita Democrat, appear on Feb. 26, 2025, at a period day of action in Topeka to promote a bill that would exempt period products from sales taxes. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — A person spends on average about $2,000 on menstrual products in their lifetime, and Kansas activists say part of that price tag could be reduced by eliminating sales tax on those products. At a period day of action Wednesday at the Kansas Statehouse, students and legislators convened to advocate in favor of Senate Bill 107, which would exempt disposable and reusable period products, diapers and incontinence products from the state's 6.5% sales tax and local sales tax collections. The bill hasn't received a hearing this session despite bipartisan support for similar bills proposed in recent years. State budget officials estimated the tax exemption would decrease state revenue by $8 million in fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1, when the exemption would go into effect. Officials were not able to calculate the impact on local sales tax revenues. Caitlyn Hammack is the statewide organizer for URGE, Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, which is active on five college campuses across Kansas helping students access period products and reduce the stigma surrounding discussions about periods. Hammack led the Wednesday event, which included shiny red tablecloths, attendees wearing red clothing and stickers that read 'Go with the flow!' She said the bill fits the session's predominant focus: tax relief for everyday Kansans. Hammack said she wrote the bill, modeling it after similar legislation in red and purple states, including Texas, which eliminated its 'tampon tax' in 2023. Wichita Democratic Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau introduced it on Jan. 29. Faust-Goudeau pointed out the struggle among Kansans to afford basic needs, including those who receive food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which can't be used to purchase hygiene products. Rep. Alexis Simmons, a Topeka Democrat and a supporter of the bill, told those gathered to 'make a big deal about what you're doing.' 'How often do we hear someone talking about the price of eggs?' Simmons said. 'But why is nobody talking about something that directly affects 50% of the population?' The bill was assigned to the Senate tax committee, where a hearing has not been scheduled.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bills to support missing persons advance despite ‘woke' allegations in Montana Legislature
The Montana State Capitol in Helena on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. (Photo by Mike Clark for the Daily Montanan) A bill to require the Office of Public Instruction to create human trafficking curriculum passed the Senate this week — after a debate over whether it pushed a 'woke' agenda. Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning, said Senate Bill 107 intends to protect children by teaching them the signs of sex trafficking and human trafficking. Webber said Tuesday the country and Montana both have done a lot in recent years to address the problem, including the creation of a Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force. A separate bill this session, House Bill 83, would allow the task force to raise money, and it also passed the House floor last week after avoiding an allegation it was 'woke.' Although Webber ticked off a long list of work Montana has taken up, she said SB 107 is the first preventive measure to stop the problem before it starts, and it would help all youth in Montana. Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, said he wasn't completely sold on the idea and proposed an amendment to 'encourage' rather than 'require' OPI to create the lessons. Emrich said he worried the bill came with 'woke' concerns after hearing comments from a supporter, and he argued its terms are complex and could confuse children. In support of the change, Sen. John Fuller, R-Kalispell, said the Legislature shouldn't 'dictate' to another statewide official, and he believed doing so would be 'an egregious violation' of the body's authority. Generally, Fuller said he approved of the bill but the amendment would make it more palatable. Opposing the amendment, Sen. Derek Harvey, D-Butte, argued lawmakers have not had problems mandating directives to another branch of government — Republicans are keen on changing the courts this session — and he offered a different interpretation of how the bill dealt with one concept of being 'woke.' 'There's parents that woke up without their kids in their bed,' Harvey said. 'There's kids laying in places that they've never been before. And guess what? They woke up this morning in fear. 'So if we're going to talk about woke, let's talk about the reality of what these people are waking up to every day.' Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, said Montana is a major trafficking corridor, and she said the amendment would void the bill altogether because OPI already is 'encouraged' to develop those lessons. Neumann also said teachers can handle complexity. 'To say our teachers wouldn't understand how to teach this is disrespectful to our teachers,' Neumann said. 'We give them very complex curriculum all the time to learn and to pass on to their children.' The amendment failed, and the bill passed second reading 44-6, with Emrich voting no, but Fuller in support. In the House last week, a bill from Rep. Tyson Running Wolf to allow the MMIP Task Force to accept grants and donations passed with significant support, although it also faced an allegation it was a 'woke' idea. Rep. Lukas Schubert, R-Kalispell, said the problem of missing people is 'significant,' but he alleged the legislation discriminates because many people who aren't Native American also go missing. Schubert pitched an amendment to prohibit state appropriations to the account and said he would 'fight back against the woke far-left agenda.' Running Wolf described the amendment as unfriendly and said he 'adamantly' opposed it, and Rep. George Nikolakakos, R-Great Falls, offered a short rebuke of the idea. 'I recommend we send this amendment back to the playground where it belongs,' Nikolakakos said. A recent report from the task force, under the state Department of Justice, said Indigenous people make up 6.5% of Montana's population, but account for 30.6% of people reported missing. Of the 2,263 persons reported missing in 2023, 1,570 were non-Indigenous and 693 were Indigenous, the report said: 'These numbers have remained consistent in previous years of study.' Schubert's amendment failed on a 96-4 vote, with Republican representatives Caleb Hinkle, Fiona Nave, and Tracy Sharp joining Schubert in support of it. The bill passed second reading with 100 members in support. It appropriates $1. Schubert didn't vote in the third and final reading, when the bill passed with 97 yes votes. A vote roster counted two members excused and Schubert absent, although the Montana State News Bureau reported he was present in the chamber.
