October 27

Latest talks on congressional redistricting foster some hope

By  Jim Siegel

The Columbus Dispatch Thursday October 27, 2011 4:05 AM

House Speaker William G. Batchelder met yesterday with a handful of members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, including the president, Rep. Sandra Williams, and some expressed optimism that a deal on a new congressional map could be reached.

“I believe people are really trying to bring this thing to a close,” said Williams, D-Cleveland. “I am optimistic that things are going in a positive fashion.”

Democrats say they are moving forward with an effort to overturn the new GOP-drawn congressional map, which gives Republicans a solid chance at holding 12 of the 16 seats. The challenge to the map prompted Republicans last week to split Ohio’s 2012 primary, holding state, local and U.S. Senate races in March and presidential and U.S. House races in June. That buys more time to work out a deal on a map.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/10/27/latest-map-talks-foster-some-hope.html

Ohio GOP's double-primary plan is raising cost concerns locally

By David DeWitt

The Athens News

10/26/11

A Republican plan for Ohio to hold two primaries next year has raised some concerns about costs here in Athens County but also confidence that the task can be pulled off if that's the final plan.

The double primary – one for presidential and congressional candidates, and the other for all other candidates – was created by GOP state legislators and signed by Gov. John Kasich Friday night. The impetus for the plan was a ruling by the Republican-controlled Ohio Supreme Court giving Democrats the opportunity to petition for the recently drawn redistricting maps to be put to Ohio voters on next year's November ballot.

Because Democrats want to put this on the ballot, currently there is no map to show the boundaries of the districts as Democrats gather signatures for the petition. The GOP plan is to move the presidential and congressional primaries to June and hold all other primaries, including the state legislative, county offices and U.S. Senate primaries, in March. This would solve the problem of the upcoming December primary filing deadline.
http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-35175-ohio-gops-double-primary-plan-is-raising-cost-concerns-locally.html

Nearly 70 Ohio School Districts Oppose Expanding Private School Vouchers State-Wide

October 27, 2011 | 1:13 PM

By Molly Bloom

State Impact - NPR

Ohio school districts and boards of education are lobbying against a bill (HB 136) that would expand Ohio’s school voucher program from urban areas to the entire state.
To date, the boards of at least 69 of Ohio’s more than 600 school districts and educational service centers have approved resolutions formally opposing the bill, according to news reports and the Ohio School Boards Association. Several other boards and superintendents’ associations have issued letters opposing the bill.
Currently, only students assigned to schools rated “D” or “F” for two of the last three years can get vouchers worth up to $5,000 that they can use to pay tuition at private schools. (Cleveland has a separate voucher program.) HB 136 would allow students to get vouchers for private school tuition no matter how their schools performed.
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2011/10/27/nearly-70-ohio-school-districts-oppose-expanding-private-school-vouchers-state-wide/

POLITICS NOTEBOOK: OLBC PRESIDENT, SPEAKER MEET ON REDISTRICTING; ROMNEY BACKS ISSUE 2; GROUP URGES ISSUE 3 DEFEAT; TURNPIKE LEASE RIPPED

Gongwer 10/26/11

Talks between Republican and Democratic legislative leaders over a compromise on congressional redistricting appear stalled, but the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus president met with the Speaker Bill Batchelder on the issue Wednesday.
Rep. Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland), president of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, said she met with Speaker Batchelder (R-Medina) to discuss potential revisions to the Republican-drawn map (HB 319 ), which favors GOP candidates over Democrats 12-4.
"We did meet today. We did not accomplish anything. I think it was productive," she said in a brief interview.
The Ohio Supreme Court's decision to allow Democrats' referendum effort to proceed has prompted House Republicans to seek support from enough minority members to pass a referendum-proof emergency measure.
Earlier this week, Rep. Williams said she might be willing to broker a deal with Republicans if Democrats were unable to reach an agreement working through legislative and party leaders. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, October 24, 2011)
http://www.gongwer-oh.com/programming/news_articledisplay.cfm?article_ID=802070207&newsedition_id=8020702&locid=2