Week in Review > Week in Review – 12/28/2018

Posted by on December 29th, 2018

ECONOMY

Women today earn just49 cents to the typical men’s dollar, much less than the 80 cents usually reported, according to a new study by economists Heidi I. Hartmann and Stephen J. Rose released Wednesday by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR).The study, “Still a Man’s Labor Market: The Slowly Narrowing Gender Wage Gap,” uses the Panel Study on Income Dynamics, a longitudinal data set to look at the gender earnings gaps between men and women in 15-year time spans.

EDUCATION

While changing high school graduation requirements has drawn much of the attention in education policy discussions, the General Assembly’s lame duck session brought a slew of new laws relevant to schools, students, and educators. They touch on topics ranging from cursive writing instruction to promptly notifying parents of student absences to repealing numerous, outdated education laws, among others.

ELECTIONS 2018

Highlighting the importance of voting, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced five 2018elections that were either decided by one vote or resulted in a tie. These five contests were local tax levies that took place in Bailey Lakes, Ripley Township, Orange Township, Clarington Village, and Gilboa Village.

EMPLOYMENT/UNEMPLOYMENT

Ohio’s unemployment rate held at 4.6 percent in November and was unchanged since July, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which reported the addition of5,200 jobs and a decrease of 3,000 in the number of unemployed Ohioans.

GENERALASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

The Senate released its first half calendar for 2019, with opening day session set for Monday, Jan.7, and the next session after that set for Wednesday, Jan. 30. Release of the House schedule was on hold pending leadership elections.

Lawmakers overrode two of three vetoes Gov. John Kasich issued during lame duck session but fell short by one vote in one chamber on the third. On Friday, Dec. 21, Kasich vetoed HB258 (Hagan-Hood), the anti-abortion” heartbeat bill,” and SB296 (Hottinger), a measure to increase survivor benefits for families of fallen first responders that was amended to also include elected official pay increases. He had vetoed HB228(LaTourette-Johnson), which shifts the burden of proof in cases involving use of deadly force in self-defense, days earlier. The General Assembly returned for rare, post-Christmas sessions on Thursday to counter Kasich’s actions. They overrode the veto of SB296 on a vote of 25-6 in the Senate and 70-16 in the House; and did the same on HB228 on respective votes of 21-11 and 67-22. The heartbeat bill, however, will not become law this session, though Gov.-elect Mike DeWine’s past statements of support for the measure could portend future movement on the proposal. The House voted 61-28 to override the veto of HB258,but the Senate vote was 19-13, one shy of the three-fifths majority of 20 votes required for an override.

Aside from veto overrides, the House and Senate wrapped up work on several other measures with votes for passage and concurrence. Bills now headed for Gov. John Kasich’s desk include: HB477 (Koehler), repealing outdated education laws; and HB66 (Young), creating the Undergraduate MissionStudy Committee.

GOVERNOR

Gov. John Kasich signed the following bill into law on Friday, Dec. 21:

HB502 (Anielski), regarding youth suicide awareness andprevention training for school employees.

Posted by on December 29th, 2018

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