The Buckeye Institute’s Robert Alt Talked to the Toledo Blade About What the Supreme Court’s Ruling in Janus v. AFSCME Means for Ohio's Public Employees.
The Buckeye Institute issued a statement on the passage of Senate Bill 66. “Today, with the passage of Senate Bill 66, Ohio took another step forward to help our fellow citizens rebuild their lives. These new policies will help Ohioans, who have committed low-level offenses and often suffer from addiction or mental health issues, get the treatment they need, and, after repaying their debt to society, will enable them to remove the modern-day scarlet letter of a criminal record that is a barrier to employment, housing, and education.”
The Buckeye Institute issued a statement following the passage of Senate Bill 255. “Today the Ohio Senate took a major step forward in addressing Ohio’s burdensome occupational licensing regime. By moving forward with the policies in Senate Bill 255 the General Assembly is strengthening the tools available to ensure licenses are the least restrictive while fully ensuring public safety.”
Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, issued a statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME. “The Supreme Court today in Janus v. AFSCME announced its basic rule of human decency and common sense: consent matters—and our hardworking public-sector workers can no longer be forced to pay for political speech or other activities without their affirmative consent.”
The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio Senate Transportation, Commerce, and Workforce Committee on Senate Bill 293, saying, “Ohio desperately needs regulatory reform that eliminates unnecessary regulations that strangle private industry and enterprise as part of the state’s broader reform efforts to boost economic growth…Ohio must also reexamine government mandates that..make goods artificially more expensive…Such interference ultimately leads to slower job growth as businesses curtail hiring and wages in order to offset the artificially higher costs created by the mandates.”
The Buckeye Institute submitted written testimony to the Ohio House Ways and Means Committee on House Bill 571, writing, “House Bill 571 threatens to interfere with th[e] free-market process by extending the reach of local lodging taxes to include the online travel companies service fees…As tempting as House Bill 571 may be for some revenue collectors, Ohio must be careful not to allow or encourage local governments to impose harmful new—and in this case, illegal—taxes apart from a more balanced and comprehensive tax reform effort.”
The Buckeye Institute commented on newly released employment data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, saying, “For five straight months, Ohio’s labor market has continued to show strong signs of recovery from the Great Recession…Governor Kasich’s tax cuts and policies, combined with the recently implement federal tax reform, have exhibited positive effects on Ohio’s economy with a falling unemployment rate and strong job growth. These pro-growth policies, designed for both Ohio’s workers and producers, will continue this trend and bring economic prosperity to the Buckeye State.”
On the very day he was inaugurated, President Trump issued his first executive order directing all federal agencies to cooperate with and “provide greater flexibility to States” as they looked for ways to stop the premium pains of Obamacare. So far, 500 days later, that order has yet to be followed, writes Buckeye's Rea S. Hederman Jr. in The Hill.
The Buckeye Institute submitted public comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Ohio’s work requirement waiver application. “Encouraging healthy, able-bodied adults to remain in the workforce or engage in other educational and training activities, Ohio’s proposed…waiver will enhance lifetime earnings, income, and health. By enhancing the health of the covered Medicaid enrollees, Ohio’s proposed waiver meets the twin goals of the waiver demonstration project by promoting economic stability and improving health.”
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Ohio’s authority to ensure that the votes of its citizens are not diluted by voter fraud in the court’s decision in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute. “We have a government of the people and by the people, and today the Supreme Court validated Ohio’s process to assure that the peoples’ voices are not drowned out by ineligible votes…[I]n citing The Buckeye Institute’s brief, the Supreme Court recognized the interest of states like Ohio to be vigilant and to employ screening procedures to ensure accurate voting rolls.”
