Republican Representative J. Todd Smith (R- Farmersville) recently indicated he will
not seek re-election for his Ohio House seat. This ends a Republican primary battle
between Smith and Preble County Commissioner Rodney Creech. Creech will face
Democrat Amy Cox in November.
The district has been Republican controlled since 2014 but is considered in play by
the House Democrats who remarkably shared with Cleveland.com that they are focused
on winning only two Ohio House seats this November.
“House Democrats this year are aiming for the more modest goal of picking up the two
additional seats needed to erase the House GOP’s 60-seat supermajority, which allows
Republicans to override gubernatorial vetoes and put measures on the statewide
ballot without Democratic votes,” Jeremy Pelzer, Cleveland.com.
Is the lack of effort from the House Democrats a sign of overall failed party
leadership? The last time Democrats controlled the Ohio House was in 2009 when
Armond Budish was Speaker for two years. His tenure ended at the same time former
Democrat Governor Ted Strickland lost after only one term.
Since that time the Democrat party has failed to obtain any significant wins with the
exception of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown.
We asked political operative and former Chief Operating Officer for the Ohio Senate,
Neil Clark, if the Democrat party is all but throwing in the towel in Ohio by
setting such a low bar to win back seats in the House?
Clark explained that he doesn’t think so, and he actually thinks the Democrats had a
resurgence through using Instant Voter Registration and the issue of redistricting
to make Ohio more competitive.
He went on to explain that Republicans have been successful in the past without
creating ballot initiatives or wanting to redraw district lines because their
primary focus is on policy issues and how they can message those to the public. He
believes that by remaining focused on those strategies, Republicans will keep their
power.
Legislation in the Ohio House would require pole-to-pole safety netting in Ohio
ballparks by the start of the 2021 season. The bill was introduced in response
to serious injury to spectators at Major and Minor League Baseball games.
Some ballparks are being proactive and have already extended or have plans to extend
their protective netting. House Bill 479 would make this
mandatory for the ones that haven’t taken the initiative.
“Baseball players are getting bigger and stronger each year, while fans are sitting
closer to the action,” said Representative Rick Perales ( R-Beavercreek)
who introduced the bill along with Representative John Patterson
(D-Jefferson).
A baseball can be hit in excess of 100 mph by top
batters
“There have been a number of incidents in Ohio and around the country with people
being seriously injured, sometimes killed, with foul balls and bats landing in the
lower levels of the stadium,” said Perales.
“Many professional groups have taken it upon themselves to install netting as a
safeguard,” Perales added. “This bill is simply requiring it of all Ohio
professional teams.”
Patterson got involved with the issue when a constituent reached out to him with
concerns about safety in ballparks.
The constituent, Dina Simpson, 46, was permanently blinded in one eye after being
struck in the head with a line drive. Simpson was sitting with her family at a Lake
County Captains game, a Single A Farm Club for the Cleveland Indians.
Simpson has been pushing for legislation to require netting since 2017 when the
injury occurred.
“I couldn’t say no,” said Patterson. “This just makes sense.”
It just so happened that, prior to being a legislator, Patterson’s dream was to be a
college baseball coach. Incidentally, he said, Urban Meyer used to play for him on a
American Legion team years ago.
“Our job as Ohio lawmakers is to protect Ohioans,” said Patterson. “Fans have been
moved closer to the action over the years and pitchers are throwing harder than
ever. Then there are distractions, mainly cell phones, and that’s a mix for
tragedy.”
Patterson noted that the safety netting would be retractable. Once a game begins,
however, the fans would need to be protected.
Currently, many ball fields have safety netting in the dugout areas. The law would
require netting along the first and third baselines, from the end of the dugout to
the outfield foul poles. The outfield would not require netting.
Perales said that it has yet to be decided which legislative committee will be
looking at specifics on the bill.
“We wanted to get this conversation started,” said the lawmaker. “I would think that
it is something that everyone would get behind due to fan safety.”
Sponsors say bill will have support
“We will have interested party meetings with representatives from the ball teams,”
added Perales. “We will try to come up with a good design.”
“My colleagues in the House and the Senate are always conscious of protecting
Ohioans,” said Perales. “That’s one of our missions, protecting the citizens of
Ohio, their safety. That’s one of the cornerstones of our government. I think that
they would support a very rational logical approach that works for everybody.”
Perales said he doesn’t believe the cost of installing the required safety netting
would impact Ohio’s professional ball teams, as the expense would not be excessive.
Injuries and death at ballparks
Ballpark injuries range from vision loss to concussions. Several deaths have been
reported nationwide and in Ohio. Most of the injuries have occurred in
the foul-ball zone, but some have also taken place during batting practice and
home-run blasts, according to reports.
In December, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said all 30 MLB teams
would extend their safety netting. Manfred said the changes would be made for the
2020 season. The netting will extend all the way to the foul poles in some parks. In
others, it will go substantially beyond the far end of the dugout, the commissioner
said.
Death at the Ballpark, the book
Bob Gorman, author of “Death at the Ballpark,” said the number of fan
injuries is likely much higher than reports show.
“I think the number is a lot higher than people realize. I think the teams know it,”
said Gorman, whose book is a comprehensive history of fatalities at ballparks. “I
think they’ve intentionally downplayed it.”
“The physics of getting struck with a baseball can be brutal. Baseballs are hard,
weigh about five ounces and are nine inches around, roughly the size of a fist. And
in the major leagues, they can fly off the bat of the best hitters at more than 100
miles an hour. At that speed, they can strike a fan about a second after leaving the
bat,” Gorman said in his book.
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.”
Have you been looking for real, informative news about what’s really going on in your
state capital? Then you’ve come to the right place!
This was the inspiration for Ohio Statehouse News, a real-time
political site with the inside scoop about anything and everything affecting
Ohioans. Meet your legislators, stay on top of upcoming bills and regulatory
changes, find out which lobbyists are influencing lawmakers and follow many other
hot Ohio topics.
Ohio Statehouse News includes weekly columns by staff writers and
opinion pieces from our readership. Our focus is Ohio policy, fact-based news
stories, legislative profiles and, my personal favorite, animal welfare issues.
