The Ohio Republican Party is asking candidate Joe Dills to withdraw
from the race for Ohio House District 65 after he admitted to setting up
an Ashley Madison account.
The party may rescind its endorsement, which was made prior to learning details of
Dill’s involvement with the married dating site. A decision from the Republican
Party’s Central Committee is expected late next week.
Dills called the allegations a smear campaign and refused to drop out. He is running
in the Republican primary against former U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt and Dillon Blevins,
a NRA-certified pistol instructor.
The Air Force veteran and small business owner was endorsed by both the Clermont
County Republican Party and Ohio Republican Party in his GOP primary campaign.
Ohio Statehouse News will be following the race and interviewing candidates.
Stay tuned!
Dills claimed that he was single at the time the account was established.
On Dill’s Facebook page the candidate stated that he never used the site
to actively meet with anyone and was never involved in any illicit behavior beyond
creating the profile on that site.
If you’re among
the estimated one million Ohioans with shoddy internet or no internet access at all,
you may feel left behind by the Information Age. Broadband access is as essential as
running water, yet some 300,000 Ohio households are without it, mainly in rural
areas.
Ohio House Bill
13 proposes to change that. This residential broadband expansion legislation
would extend high speed internet throughout the state, most importantly to unserved
areas that cable providers currently don’t go.
Rural areas
have been left behind in the digital era
The bill’s
sponsor, Representative Rick Carfagna, (R- Genoa Township) knows a little
something about broadband. Carfagna worked in the cable industry for 14 years as a
liaison to local governments before being elected to the Ohio House, where he
represents the eastern half of Delaware County and all of Knox County.
“I understand
the economics of the broadband issue, and the frustrations behind not being able to
get these facilities and these resources out to unserved areas,” said Carfagna, who
noted that one of the main barriers in rural areas is a low population density.
“Broadband providers simply don’t offer service where there aren’t enough customers
to pay for it,” he added.
Along with Carfagna,
Representative Michael O’Brien, (D-Warren) is a sponsor on the broadband
bill.
The Proposed
legislation has big goals
Carfagna said
that HB 13 was pretty modest starting out, but that it is in the process of being
modified to meet some more ambitious goals. At the direction of Ohio House
Speaker Larry Householder, (R-Glenford) the legislation is being made more
inclusive and robust.
“Speaker
Householder recognizes this as a serious problem and something we should make a
public policy priority,” said Carfagna. “He designated this as one of our caucus’
priority bills.”
“The thought
is, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it right,” said Carfagna. “Let’s be
ambitious. Let’s be expansive. It will be significantly different from the original
bill,” added the representative. “It will be bigger and better.”
Expanded
broadband means a more competitive Ohio
Access to
broadband has been shown to increase job growth and educational opportunities, it
benefits small businesses and even improves healthcare, explained
Carfagna. Telemedicine is an example of how a strong internet
infrastructure can improve healthcare in Ohio, he said.
Much of rural
Ohio and small pocket areas of Ohio’s inner cities are lacking reliable and
affordable broadband, said Cera.
Many other
states already have statewide broadband access
HB 13 is
currently in the House Finance Committee, of which Representative Jack
Cera, (D-Bellaire) is a ranking member. Cera represents Monroe and Jefferson
counties and parts of Belmont County in East Ohio, some of the most underserved and
rural areas of the state. Cera said he is very supportive of any efforts to expand
broadband. The challenge, he said, is how to go about it. “Broadband expansion has
been done in other states with great results and it can be successful here too,”
said the legislator. “Technology is going to continue to evolve and improve rapidly
and it’s important that we keep pace.”
“Quality
internet access is necessary, from kids, to business, to health care,” Cera added.
“It’s a shame that the parts of Ohio that need help the most, Appalachia, has the
biggest problem with it.”
Cera said
cellular coverage also needs a serious look. “In the counties that I
represent, we have whole communities that have no access to cellular service.”
Grants would
help pay for broadband expansion
Cera said that
state and federal grants would likely help fund a statewide broadband undertaking.
“You could probably spread a program out over a few years and it wouldn’t be very
much per year,” said Cera. “We really need to get moving on this. Everybody needs to
come together to come up with the best solutions.”
A similar
bill, HB 281, passed easily in the House with 92 votes during the last general
assembly.
“Most, if not
all, the representatives get the issue,” said Carfagna. “Every district, I don’t
care how urban or suburban or affluent you are, you’re going to have unserved and
underserved households. This is a legitimate issue that cuts across all
demographics, though it’s obviously more prevalent in the rural areas.”
Lack of
broadband access negatively affects every district
The proposed
legislation would go hand in hand with the Ohio Broadband Strategy, created
under the direction of Lt. Governor Jon Husted. Husted’s plan calls for aggressively
expanding and enhancing the state’s broadband network. If approved by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, it will qualify local governments in Ohio for funding
through the federal ReConnectprogram.
The
representative said the cost of the project is to be determined by Governor Mike
Devine’s office.
“I don’t have a
dollar amount at this point,” said Carfagna. “The governor’s office is working on
that. When we release a revised bill, I think that the amount that will be inserted
in there will be a meaningful amount to do some ambitious projects.”
Overcoming
cost hurdle of statewide broadband access
The challenge
of a statewide broadband expansion is determining the “cost hurdle” that has
prevented cable companies from getting to end users, the representative explained.
This funding gap would be the difference between the total amount of money a
broadband provider calculates is necessary to construct the last miles of a specific
broadband network and the total amount of money that the provider has determined is
the maximum amount that is cost effective.
“I’m convinced
that if the bill does pass and is signed into law, it will be a success,” Carfagna
added. “It will prove its worth and it will produce real tangible results.”
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