October 3

Map redrawn for senate districts

By Julie Carr Smyth
Associated Press

Published: September 30, 2011 - 10:33 PM

COLUMBUS: A state panel charged with drawing Ohio’s new legislative districts voted unanimously Friday to restore portions of a historically black state Senate district in Cleveland to address what the leader of the legislative Black Caucus said were civil-rights concerns over boundaries approved earlier this week.

The state Apportionment Board voted 4-0 at an emergency meeting on the change requested by state Rep. Sandra Williams, who heads the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus.

Williams said she lobbied House Speaker Bill Batchelder for the changes on her own, not at the behest of the caucus. She said the caucus never discussed the issue.

The changes place two Ohio House districts on Cleveland’s west side back into Senate District 21, making its voters more than 35 percent black, and places some east-side suburbs back in District 25.

Republican Gov. John Kasich, who chairs the board, said the meeting had to be held hastily to meet a Saturday deadline.
http://www.ohio.com/news/ohiocentric/map-redrawn-for-senate-districts-1.237894

Statehouse adds car plug-ins

Six charging stations for electric vehicles will be unveiled on Wednesday morning

By  Dan Gearino

The Columbus Dispatch Saturday October 1, 2011 6:04 AM

Drivers of electric vehicles soon will be able to plug in when they come to the Ohio Statehouse.

The Statehouse staff is overseeing the installation of six charging stations at the parking garage underneath the building.

This is at least the second initiative of its type in central Ohio, following the installation of a station at the Walmart store at Easton this summer.

But it may be the first in the country to be installed at a statehouse, staff members said.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2011/10/01/statehouse-adds-car-plug-ins.html

Ohio GOP lawmakers pushing anti-labor bill collecting perks, benefits they decry in unions

Republican SB5 supporters refused to cut own salaries, some are 'double-dippers'

By Dustin Ensinger | 09.30.11 | 12:47 pm

AmericanIndependent.com

To hear Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder (R) tell it, he and his colleagues in the Ohio General Assembly are nearly in the poor house.
“I know a lot of people in my caucus who are frankly underpaid,” he said in June, after his caucus led the charge in ramming a bill through the Legislature that strips nearly all Ohio public employees of their collective bargaining rights.
But data compiled by Innovation Ohio shows Ohio lawmakers that supported Senate Bill 5 are hardly living on ramen noodles and taking the bus to work.
http://www.americanindependent.com/196692/ohio-gop-lawmakers-pushing-anti-labor-bill-collecting-perks-benefits-they-decry-in-unions

State Board to consider adjustments to Cleveland-area Senate lines

Hudson Hub Times

October 2, 2011

by Marc Kovac | Capital Bureau Chief
Columbus --The Ohio Apportionment Board will reconvene to adjust state Senate district lines in the Cleveland area, two days after giving what was thought to be final approval for new state legislative maps.
Gov. John Kasich, who heads the five-member board, agreed to have members come back into session to act on an amendment requested by the head of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus.
Rep. Sandra Williams, D-Cleveland, asked that two Senate districts in Cuyahoga County be reconfigured to include different House districts (each state Senate district includes three Ohio House districts) to better represent minority communities.
http://www.hudsonhubtimes.com/news/article/5103539

Apportionment Board OKs Williams' Request on Cleveland Senate Districts

Hannah Report 9/30/11

The Apportionment Board voted Friday to amend the General Assembly maps it approved earlier this week, adopting a change sought by Rep. Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland), president of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, to preserve the 21st Senate District's status as Cleveland's majority-minority Senate seat.

The move makes the 21st Senate District include House Districts 9, 10 and 11, as opposed to the plan approved Wednesday, which had it composed of the 8, 10 and 60 districts. With Friday's vote, Senate District 25 will include districts House Districts 8, 12 and 60, compared to Districts 9, 11 and 12 under the map approved Wednesday.

The board had been prepared to approve those changes Wednesday, but House Minority Leader Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) objected, saying they weren't what he thought Williams wanted.
http://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=187284

Ohio Statehouse Adds Electric Vehicle Chargers to Parking Garage

Hannah Report 9/30/11

The Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board will unveil six electric vehicle charging stations that have been installed on the green level of the Ohio Statehouse Underground Parking Garage during a short ceremony at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5.  Scheduled participants include Senate President Tom Niehaus (R-New Richmond) and Speaker William Batchelder (R-Medina).

Based on initial staff research, the Ohio Statehouse is the first statehouse in the country to be equipped to provide electric vehicle charging stations to the public. The electric vehicle charging stations were made possible through a grant from Clean Fuels Ohio and the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as contributions from Honda of America, General Motors, the Eaton Corporation and Professional Supply, Inc. No state funds were used to install the Ohio Statehouse electric car charging stations.

The total cost of the project is $35,770.
http://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=187292

 

REDISTRICTING/REAPPORTIONMENT

Hannah Report 9/30/11

In the space of six days, the Apportionment Board unveiled, discussed and approved new General Assembly maps for the next decade, but the board was set to reconvene Friday just before its constitutional deadline to squeeze in last minute changes. Wednesday's vote to approve the maps featured miscommunication and confusion among board members and the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, with proposed changes to Senate Districts 21 and 25 dropped after House Minority Leader Armond Budish (D-Beachwood), the board's sole Democrat, said the changes weren't in line with the wishes of the black caucus president, Rep. Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland). But Williams later responded that she had requested the changes Budish objected to, which would have shuffled House districts between the two Senate districts, making the 21st District majority minority, rather than the 25th. Gov. John Kasich scheduled a new board meeting to address Williams' concern at the urging of House Speaker Bill Batchelder (R-Medina), although the respective incumbents in the 21st and 25th Senate Districts, Sens. Shirley Smith (D-Cleveland) and Nina Turner (D-Cleveland), objected to Williams' proposal. Batchelder's statement calling for a new meeting said the board could also take up "some technical amendments" at the Friday meeting.
http://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=187298