Families First - Ohio Organizing Collaborative

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We would like to thank the Center for Community Change for providing ... Together, we call for bold investments in. Ohio
A report by the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Policy Matters Ohio, Spitfire Strategies, Innovation Ohio and ProgressOhio.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Center for Community Change for providing the resources that made this report possible, and for the support and assistance of Jeff Parcher, Sarah English, David Kimball, Tarah Walsh and Donna De La Cruz. In addition, we would like to thank Kirk Noden, Laurie Couch, Troy Jackson, Darren Kregger, Caitlin Johnson, Aramis Sundiata, Stuart McIntyre, Zach Roberts, Molly Shack and DaMareo Cooper from the Ohio Organizing Collaborative; Harlan Spector and Amy Hanauer from Policy Matters Ohio; Keary McCarthy from Innovation Ohio; Sandy Theis from ProgressOhio; and Beth Kanter and Phoebe Kilgour from Spitfire Strategies. Without their valuable contributions, this report would not have been possible.

“Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Introductory Letter from Kirk Noden As a critical swing state, Ohio plays a disproportionate role in shaping the national narrative about the struggles that poor and working class people face. Each election cycle, hundreds of media outlets, dozens of political campaigns, and a sea of operatives descend on Ohio. Our story gets spun, dissected, and recorded as a means to to others’ ends. It is time that we tell our own story. It is time that we tell the stories of everyday Ohioans who struggle to make ends meet. This is our moment to lay out a bold platform for economic fairness that shapes the political debate in Ohio for years to come. The Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC), in collaboration with Policy Matters Ohio, Progress Ohio, Innovation Ohio, and the Center for Community Change, developed Families First: A Guide to Talk to Ohio Voters About the Economy as a strategy for us to better tell our story, to unite around a common

economic fairness platform, and to use our messaging to define elections. We envision this guide being used by a broad spectrum of people: community organizations, progressive candidates, elected officials, labor unions, faith leaders, and policy groups across the state. This guide serves as a tool that coalesces the best of our economic policy ideas, specific messaging approaches, polling on key issues such as increasing the minimum wage, research on expanding the Ohio electorate, and regional approaches to economic fairness. Together, we call for bold investments in Ohio’s most disenfranchised communities, a jobs program that puts families first, a higher minimum wage, an end to mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on people of color, and smart polices such as earned sick time and paid family leave that support healthy and sustainable communities.

The guide also draws on extensive message research conducted both in Ohio and nationally. Most importantly, this handbook lifts up the stories of everyday people. If we had listened to Cleveland residents in the late 1990s, we would have understood and anticipated what became a national foreclosure crisis. If we had listened to people in the neighborhoods of Flint, thousands of children might not have been poisoned. This handbook is not about what the elites think should happen in Ohio. This handbook is about the stories from grassroots leaders and their vision for an Ohio that works for all families. We extend our thanks to the core partners who made this handbook possible: Policy Matters Ohio, Innovation Ohio, Progress Ohio, The Center for Community Change, and Spitfire Strategies.

We hope you will join us in this critical effort to create the kind of change we want for ourselves, our families, our communities and future generations. Let’s speak with a strong collective voice and lay out a compelling vision for economic fairness together.

Kirk Noden, Executive Director Ohio Organizing Collaborative

TABLE OF CONTENTS  

A Snapshot of Our State ....................................................................... 5 Expanding the Ohio Electorate ........................................................... 8 Our Agenda: Reinvestment ................................................................................................ 9 Cuyahoga County: From Peril to Progress ................................................................. 10

Framing Overview ............................................................................... 11 How Not to Frame ............................................................................................................... 11 Recommended Frame: Family ......................................................................................... 11

The Messaging Formula ..................................................................... 13 Lead with Values ................................................................................................................... 13 Emphasize the Ends............................................................................................................. 13 Focus on Lived Experience................................................................................................ 14 Name the Causes ................................................................................................................. 14 Link the Problem to the Solution .................................................................................. 14 Story: Milton Rios ................................................................................................................. 14

The Policy: Raising the Minimum Wage ......................................... 15 The Messaging: Raising the Minimum Wage ........................................................... 15 Story: Kim Kensler ................................................................................................................ 15

The Policy: Earned Sick Leave and Family and Medical Leave .... 17 Story: Kathleen Foster ........................................................................................................ 17 The Messaging: Earned Sick Leave and Family and Medical Leave ................. 18 Story: Mike Johnson ............................................................................................................ 18

The Policy: Child Care/Early Childhood Education ....................... 20 Story: Jay Kaufman .............................................................................................................. 21 Preschool Promise ............................................................................................................... 23 The Messaging: Child Care/Early Childhood Education ........................................ 23

The Policy: Environmental Justice .................................................... 25 Transit in Cleveland ............................................................................................................. 25 The Messaging: Environmental Justice ....................................................................... 26 Story: Darrick Wade ............................................................................................................ 27

The Policy: Criminal Justice Reform ................................................ 28 The Messaging: Criminal Justice Reform .................................................................... 29 Story: Anthony Gwinn ........................................................................................................ 30

The Policy: Democracy and Civic Participation ............................. 31 The Messaging: Democracy and Civic Participation .............................................. 32

Opposition Messaging ....................................................................... 34 Minimum Wage .................................................................................................................... 34 Paid Sick Leave and Family and Medical Leave ....................................................... 35 Child Care and Early Childhood Education ................................................................. 35 Environmental Justice ........................................................................................................ 35 Criminal Justice Reform ..................................................................................................... 35 Democracy and Civic Participation ............................................................................... 36

Appendix A: Messaging Principles: Poverty .................................. 38 Appendix B: Messaging Principles: Policy ...................................... 39

A Snapshot of Our State Ohio was once a place where people came for good jobs and strong communities. Those values still drive us, and there’s much that makes this a great place to live. We have higher rates of union membership than most states. We value education, and have higher rates of high school attainment than the nation as a whole. Our manufacturing industry has some of the most skilled workers and best infrastructure in the world. Sometimes, Ohio policymakers affirm changes that propel our state in the right direction, as when Governor Kasich bypassed the legislature to accept federal money to expand Medicaid. This smart move pumped billions of federal dollars into the state economy and brought insurance coverage to more than 650,000 struggling Ohioans. Yet Ohio policymakers have retreated from our core values in fundamental and troubling ways. Legislators and governors, including but not limited to the current Republican-led legislature and Governor Kasich, have attacked our rights – by privatizing public jobs and eliminating union protection, by gutting

the enforcement of basic labor laws, and by laying off public sector employees like teachers and snowplow drivers. At the same time, Ohio has undermined communities in other problematic ways. Starting in 2005, policymakers began imposing enormous tax shifts and tax cuts so that today the state has $3 billion less to spend each year. In addition to this tax shift, the cuts have slashed resources for schools, infrastructure, and services. The underinvestment means that Ohio, once in the middle of the pack among all states, has fallen to the bottom when it comes to public services. Our state is among the ten worst when it comes to the number of families getting help with childcare costs, how much the state provides for mass transit, and the share of college students graduating with debt. These weak public structures are bad for lowincome working parents, for commuters and for aspiring students. But they’re also bad for childcare providers, bus drivers and potential employers.

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While slashing public jobs and services from our economy, Ohio is also doing too little to make sure that the jobs we have are good ones. Ohio used to have both a minimum wage that exceeded most states’ and a median wage that was much higher than that of the median worker nationally. Not so today. Ohio’s median wage, once more than 8 percent above the national average, has fallen substantially lower than the national median wage.

Ohio’s median wage, once more than 8 percent above the national average, has fallen substantially lower than the national median wage.

And, unfortunately, on every measure where Ohio workers struggle, the situation is worse for black workers. Black Ohioans earn substantially less than their white counterparts; the median black worker makes just 75 percent of what a white worker makes for the same job, down from 90 percent in 1979. Last year, the median black worker in Ohio earned just $12.81 an hour, an inflation-adjusted

Of Ohio’s twelve most common jobs, only one pays more than 200 percent of the poverty level for a family of three. In fact, eight of the twelve most common jobs paid less than a median wage of $26,000 a year in 2014, far too little to support a family, pay off college loans, or begin saving. Our jobs are simply not good enough. Yet the wealthiest in our state are thriving. The richest one percent of earners in Ohio took home over 21 times more than the bottom 99 percent in the most recent year analyzed (2012).

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pay cut of more than $3.00 since the peak, despite much greater educational attainment. At every educational level, white workers earn more than Blacks – for college graduates there’s more than a 30 percent differential in wages alone. Black workers are also much more likely to be unemployed; in the second quarter of 2015, unemployment was more than 2.5 times as high for black Ohioans than for white Ohioans. Thankfully, we are seeing the emergence of a movement against policies that lead to low wages, weak job growth, and high inequality, and witnessing an embrace of policies that put families first. We have a responsibility to rebuild an Ohio where our children want to stay, where ambitious people want to be, where tomorrow’s leaders know they can thrive. And we are. Every day, citizens work and struggle to get the kind of state we want. While union membership – and job quality with it – has been shrinking, Ohio’s people are fighting back. In March 2016, teachers and staff at an I Can charter school voted to become the first charter school in Cleveland where employees are unionized. The new Cleveland Alliance of Charter School Teachers and Staff (Cleveland ACTS) generated cheers from education faculty and staff all over the country. A month earlier, at the other end of the state, a coalition of labor leaders, faithbased organizers and other leaders made Cincinnati the first Ohio city to pass an ordinance to prevent “wage theft” – the breaking of labor law by employers who fail to pay overtime or don’t compensate employees for all the hours they work. Citizens are winning in other ways as well. They’re working through the process and getting bipartisan support for efforts to reduce our sky-high rates of incarceration. They’re upping the ante on

our state’s under-investment in children and pushing universal pre-K in Cleveland and Cincinnati. They ousted the Cuyahoga County prosecutor for his failure to take action against the police who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice. We can make a good life available to all families. Ohioans believe in hard work, strong communities, and a fair shot at the American Dream. We believe in moving past our troubled racial history. Our innovation helped to build America and it can be the tool to reignite an even better American economy for the 21st century. Ohioans love our cities and our small towns. We understand that quality of life is directly connected to the public systems and services that we have built and maintained for generations – our schools, colleges and universities; our roads and bridges; our libraries and parks; and the network of social support systems that protect and empower our citizens.

We understand that a robust middle class is the engine of any good economy. And that a good economy does not just happen; it rests on the public choices and investments we make together. Ohio’s working families deserve jobs that pay well, with the right to organize and the ability to balance their work, family, and community lives. We can create an Ohio that is stronger than ever, where people can find good jobs, raise families and start businesses in healthy, vibrant communities. We can re-elevate policies that support our neighbors and our small enterprises. We can re-invest in Ohio. And it all starts with you. Join us.

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Expanding the Ohio Electorate The OOC partnered with a research firm to conduct detailed interviews as well as a telephone survey of 400 Ohioans. Half the survey sample consisted of Ohio adults recently registered by the OOC. The other half consisted of voters registered within the last two years drawn from the Ohio registered voter list. This survey was conducted March 27 – April 4, 2016 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 points. The results provide critical insights into motivating voters. Newly registered voters are disengaged from the political process. Only 27 percent of new registrants are enthusiastic about the upcoming election, 40 points lower than the national average. They’re less engaged because they struggle financially, believe elected officials don’t know what’s going on in their community, and feel their involvement wouldn’t have a big impact on the process.

Only 27 percent of new registrants are enthusiastic about the upcoming election, 40 points lower than the national average.

We can increase the enthusiasm of these voters by using messaging that speaks directly to their everyday lives. These aren’t people who follow the latest polls or read up on the latest issues, their views are largely defined by what is right in front of them. These voters’ agenda begins – and arguably ends – at home.

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They are most interested in issues that have a direct impact on their lives: things like student loans (27 percent of this population currently attends college) and raising the minimum wage. Not surprisingly, nearly half the people in the survey (46 percent) struggle to make ends meet every month. The strongest messaging meets voters where they are: the plight of the middle class, lower wages, and voters’ anger about politicians’ seeming indifference. These voters are cynical. They deliver mixed reviews of the federal government, and more than half of them believe politicians don’t know what’s going on in their communities. One of the leading reasons why these voters think people do not vote is because elections are rigged by big corporations. Over the course of the research, a significant portion of newly registered voters voiced doubts about their participation in the November election. These doubts are amplified by the tone of the current national race. However, persuasive messaging and outreach will encourage these voters to participate if we talk to them about the issues that have a direct impact on their lives.

Our Agenda: Reinvestment Reinvestment connects all of the seemingly disparate issues we are facing in Ohio and puts families first. We

must

reinvest

in

communities

decimated by concentrated poverty and high unemployment. We must reinvest in sectors that will create good jobs for the men and women who are striving to provide for their families. We must reinvest in people who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. That means supporting policies like a higher minimum wage and earned sick days. Emphasizing reinvestment is a compelling and effective way to discuss the economic policies that will reinvigorate the neighborhoods that desperately need attention. A staggering number of Americans – over 100 million people – are struggling to make ends meet, and a disproportionate share of them are black and Latino. They work long hours in low wage jobs that barely afford them a chance to provide for their families. They are choosing between paying their rent and their utility bills. They live in deeply-loved but sometimes struggling neighborhoods like Walnut Hills in Cincinnati, East Cleveland or Youngstown. Their loved ones are imprisoned at higher rates than other groups of people. Their encounters with police are sometimes fatal.

furthest behind. For any effort to succeed, it will need direct intervention and a significant investment from all levels of government in those communities with a history of declining private investment and loss of economic activity and jobs. Bold solutions like these are a moral imperative. They also have huge potential to engage Ohioans politically. An audacious plan centered on reinvesting in the communities, sectors, and people who need help the most will inspire our base. The persuadable middle is also yearning for bold solutions. Recent polling shows enthusiasm for investments. Support for “creating jobs, especially in places with high unemployment and low wages, including communities of color” polled

If we are serious about creating opportunities for everyone, then we have to support the bold solutions that break down obstacles to economic stability for those who have been left

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at 82 percent, including 53 percent who strongly support such programs. In fact, even 75 percent of Republicans support “major government investment in rebuilding America, like roads, bridges, and schools, creating good jobs in the process.”

and corporations first. The debate can be real and the results could propel us toward a nation where everyone has a chance to thrive.

The 2016 election will be a referendum on whether America will build an economy that puts families first or continue on a path that puts billionaires

Cuyahoga County: From Peril to Progress From 2000 to 2010, Cuyahoga County dealt with the foreclosure crisis: first came the warnings; next, an attempt to stop it; and finally, the fallout. The area lost 18 percent of its population and one-fifth of all homes were left vacant, foreclosed because of bad loans. These vacant properties blighted neighborhoods, driving down property values and destroying communities. For many minority families, their equity was tied up in their home value, so this crisis destabilized them even more. Cuyahoga County’s former treasurer, Jim Rokakis, wanted to do something about it. Tearing down these homes would actually build the communities back up. To make the house next door worth more, vacant land created by demolition was given to the neighbors or turned into fields or gardens. Research shows that when vacant homes are demolished, people are less likely to walk away from a mortgage and foreclosures trend down. Rokakis convinced the legislature and the Ohio attorney general to invest in the communities hit hardest by foreclosures to get rid of vacant properties and restore value, not just in Cuyahoga county but statewide: in distressed small towns on the Ohio River, rural areas, suburbia and the inner city. The plans are working. Consistent with reports at the national level, foreclosure filings in Cuyahoga County have continued to decrease and, if the current trend continues, within one or two years will be back to the levels of 1995, before the foreclosure crisis began.

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Frames influence not only what people think and feel about an issue, but what they don’t think about. Advocates for lower taxes have framed taxes as a burden on citizens and businesses so effectively (tax relief), that people rarely consider the public benefits that taxes provide through government and services. The power of the frame ensures that people don’t think about the benefits and do think about the personal cost. – Drew Westen, professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Emory University and founder of Westen Strategies, LLC, a strategic messaging consulting firm

Framing Overview Simply put, a frame is an idea that sets the broad terms of a debate or conversation. Like the outer walls of a house, the frame gives the conversation an established shape and defines the boundaries of the discussion. The frame is part of the overall context for communication. A simple conversation can include several frames, each reflecting a different perspective on a common debate. There may be one dominant frame in which most of the discussion takes place or several frames that are equally powerful.

How Not to Frame Corporate leaders and conservatives typically talk about the economy and jobs in a growth frame. When you say something like, “the economy grew two percent last quarter,” the economy plays the starring role, rather than the impact it has on real people. This framing also implies that growth – e.g., maximizing profit – is a moral good in itself and that interference in the market – e.g., regulation by the government – is a moral ill. In fact, we want growth when it

leads to broadly shared prosperity and we know that smart regulation can help protect children, vulnerable citizens, and our environment, and in turn actually make our economy work better. Persuadable voters and activists react positively to an economic explanation of the problem: “Too many Americans see their cost of living rise while their paychecks remain stagnant. They see an economy that benefits stockbrokers, not stock clerks. They see the ladder of economic opportunity remaining out of their reach.” Even though this frame garners support, it does not serve our long-term goals of reimagining an economy that puts families first and taps into the values they care about.

Recommended Frame: Family Framing these issues around family helps build the case for progressive policies. Family is a core value that is critical to mobilize supporters and persuadable voters toward a robust agenda that

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would ensure everyone has a good job and a decent standard of living. One reason we work hard every day is to provide for our families. Progressive policies are a means toward the end of sustaining and protecting families.

Second, it reminds people that working families need help, from one another and the government, which is a notion that resonates strongly with our base despite the opposition’s efforts to push a personal responsibility narrative.

Complementing the family frame should be the ideas of fairness, freedom, and community.

Freedom/”We Can Do It” is a powerful value that taps into our patriotism as Americans and is typically employed by the right to oppose progressive change; it’s a value that we can reclaim to make the case for our issues. This also builds on the value of community, but is broader to include the entire nation.

Fairness is a critical value that helps explain the problem progressive policies would fix. Focusing on families allows us to reinforce who is harmed by a system that unfairly favors the rich and who benefits from positive change: hardworking families Community is a strong value that connects along two fronts in this debate. First, it reinforces a belief that when people come together, they can overcome the obstacles in their way and the forces that are rigging rules against them.

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The Messaging Formula For the past two years, the OOC, through its work with the Center for Community Change, has been part of a collaboration with partners across the country on a bold new campaign to confront poverty in America. As part of the campaign, we’re fighting to improve pay and conditions at existing jobs while pushing to create new ones. Through this work, we discovered that the ways people – advocates, policymakers, politicians and experts – talk about wages, benefits, access to employment, and economic injustice aren’t breaking through. The messaging is often too bland and relies on abstractions, trying to please all at the expense of energizing the base, inspiring people to sustained action, and persuading the middle to our view.

that everyone ought to earn a wage that allows them to sustain a family. They believe that the economic rules in this country are out of balance and unfairly favor the rich. Middle class values are strong, but do little to differentiate between conservative and progressive narratives. Rather, a populist contrast that highlights how the wealthy benefit from a rigged system more clearly defines the problem and provides space for a solution.

Emphasize the Ends Family emerges as an important starting point to build the progressive case. One of the reasons we work hard at our jobs is to provide for our families. Grounding a discussion in family, in terms of who is

We want audacious change; we need language to match our vision. After talking to more than 6,000 people from diverse backgrounds to see what kind of language resonated with them and inspired them to take action, we developed the following messaging formula that can be applied across issues: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Lead with Values Emphasize the Ends Focus on Lived Experience Name the Causes Link the Problem to the Solution

Messengers Matter: Small business owners who support the proposed measure to increase the minimum wage are the best line of defense against attacks from the opposition who claim that the increase goes too far and/or could result in people getting laid off.

Lead with Values Messaging should embrace and lead with progressive values like family, freedom, and fairness. Americans agree

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harmed by a system that unfairly favors the rich and who benefits from positive change, establishes an important foundation. Wages and work are a means toward the end of providing for family. Language that describes the problem as a barrier – “trapped” or “can’t get ahead” – and an issue of balance – “economy has swung out of balance” – are more powerful metaphors than those traditionally employed by advocates such as “gap” or “top and bottom.”

Focus on Lived Experience Describing lived experiences proves more valuable than focusing on abstractions. For example, people identify with labels such as “doing my best to make ends meet” or “struggling to keep my head above water” rather than labels that focus on high-level concepts such as poverty and equality.

Name the Causes Our opposition is good at defining the problem and quickly connecting it to their solutions. We need to define who or what has caused the current situation we are working to change. One of the most effective ways to own the solution is by naming the cause of the harms, which provides agency: “CEOs who decided” or “leaders who chose.”

Link the Problem to the Solution We must be just as effective at making the case for the solutions we know will work. To generate support for the policies that will get us there, we need to name the ends of our solutions: “setting kids up for a bright future” and “building things that America needs.” This handbook uses this proven messaging formula for each of the issues within our progressive agenda.

Milton Rios Milton Rios, 40, lives with his 13-year-old son at the Salvation Army Zelma George Family Shelter in downtown Cleveland. Milton worked for years in restaurants, but is unable to work now because of a disability. The safety net is very thin, he said. The county turned him down for cash assistance. “Poor people like us, we’re trying to find a way out,” he said. “We were raised to earn our way, but some people are struggling. They need help. We don’t want to be put down or looked down upon. I don’t want to be on government assistance, but I need it. Pride has to go out the door when you have kids. “

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POLLING

Voters overwhelmingly support raising the minimum wage, with 60 percent of Ohio voters in favor of an increase. Support is the strongest among Democrats, younger voters, union households, the unemployed, and younger, unmarried women.

The Policy: Raising the Minimum Wage For more than 30 years in Ohio, there has been a growing disconnect between worker productivity and pay. While the state economy grew by more than twothirds between 1979 and 2013, the typical Ohioan’s wages actually dropped slightly when adjusted for inflation. Raising the federal minimum wage to $12 by July 2020 would help restore the balance, benefit 1.5 million Ohio workers, and help our economy.

nearly 70 percent are working. Between 2005 and 2013, the share of working families that earn less than 200 percent of poverty has expanded in Ohio, growing from 26 percent in 2005 to 32 percent in 2013.

Of all Ohio families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level,

Lead with values

The Messaging: Raising the Minimum Wage

Minimum wage workers aren’t looking

Kim Kensler Kim Kensler, a self-employed travel agent and consultant who owns Tyme For Travel in Toledo, says raising the minimum wage is good for the economy. “It’s important for all of us, not just minimum wage workers. If we’re paying people more, they can spend more. Many people are earning around $8.75 an hour. With that, you’re just trying to survive.” Kim said a better wage also benefits businesses and customers because it creates a more motivated workforce.

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for a handout. If you work full-time, even for the minimum wage, you should earn enough to meet basic needs. We need to raise the minimum wage so that working families can feed their children, keep the lights on, and stay off the streets. When you decide to work for a living, you should be able to make a living.

Emphasize the ends

More than a million Ohioans – including 316,000 parents and more than 700,000 women – would benefit if we raised the minimum wage.

Focus on lived experience

It’s not just teenagers flipping burgers who earn minimum wage. [Insert story of working family paid minimum wage.] Many of these people make barely $16,500 a year – as much money as most

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CEOs make in a day – even if they work full time. That’s less than $320 per week.

Name the causes

Ohio’s minimum wage falls so far short of the cost of living, especially for families, that many full-time working families struggle to make ends meet and put food on the table.

Link the problem to the solution

We need to rebalance our economy so that big corporations don’t make record profits while wages remain stagnant. Raising the minimum wage helps set the standard for fair wages for all. It’s the right thing to do for Ohio and especially for families who work hard and play by the rules.

Kathleen Foster Kathleen Foster, 57, of Cleveland, says minimum wage isn’t enough to make ends meet. She used to make $11 an hour as a nursing assistant, but she can’t find any job now that pays above minimum wage, which is $8.10 in Ohio. “I’d still be broke. I can’t pay my bills. I want to work. I’d love to go back to school and get a trade. Something that would bring in enough so that I can live.” Note that this messaging uses the family frame but also taps into fairness values.

The Policy: Earned Sick Leave and Family and Medical Leave Ohio needs workplace policies that put families first. Nearly three out of every four children (72 percent) in Ohio live in families where all parents work. Additionally, 1.48 million Ohioans serve as family caregivers. Outdated policies in our state prevent people from being able to take time off from a job to deal with a major life event – like a serious illness in the family or the birth of a child – or from taking paid time off when they or their kids come down with the flu. Nearly two million Ohio working men and women (45.9 percent of the private sector workforce) do not earn a single paid sick day despite their hard work. Additionally, less than half (37.6 percent) of working adults in Ohio are estimated to be eligible for and able to afford to take unpaid leave under the Family and

Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the federal law that guarantees eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year to care for a new child or a seriously ill family member, or to recover from pregnancy or a serious health condition. We must support a fair earned sick days policy that provides employees with one paid sick day for every 30 days worked or up to 10 days a year after a year on the job so people can take care of themselves and their families. This should be a floor not a ceiling, and should not prevent a collective bargaining agreement from providing more extensive sick time benefits. We also need a state policy that builds on the federal FMLA so that people can take time off of work to deal with major life events.

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The Messaging: Earned Sick Leave and Family and Medical Leave Lead with values

People who work hard and play by the rules should be able to keep a roof over their heads. They should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing one bout of flu won’t cost them their job or that month’s rent, and that they can take time off of work when they need to deal with a major life event – like the birth of a child or a critical illness.

Emphasize the ends

Earned sick days and family and medical leave policies help more families get ahead and create a state where more families and communities thrive.

Focus on lived experience

Without earned sick time, working men and women are often forced to choose between going to work sick or losing wages or, even worse, their job. Sick kids are sent to school, aging parents go without care, and contagious co-workers spread the flu. And, without family and

medical leave, people are forced to put work before major life events. New parents are unable to take time off to care for newborns, and critically ill family members don’t get the care they need.

Name the causes

Some corporate CEOs deny Ohio’s working men and women the ability to earn paid time off from work. That means their employees can’t care for themselves or their family members when they are dealing with an illness or take time off when major life events occur.

Link the problem to the solution

Earned sick days and family and medical leave are common sense solutions that will help keep our families and communities happy and healthy. Note that this messaging also invokes fairness and community within the family frame.

Mike Johnson Mike Johnson, 48, of Cleveland, says lack of job training and affordable education prevents low-income people from getting ahead. “There’s got to be help for people to go to school, go to work,”he said. Mike worked in the restaurant business before glaucoma forced him to quit his job as a sous chef. He said in restaurant work there were no paid sick days. If you were sick or injured, you had to suck it up and work. “I saw a guy cut his hand. They suspended him without pay until he could perform his work again.”

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Polling at the national level as well as every location in which it has been tested confirms that voters strongly support paid sick days. Research conducted by Make It Work in 2015 showed that 88 percent of voters believe that all workers should be able to earn paid sick days to care for themselves or a family member.

POLLING

A study of Seattle businesses by University of Washington researchers showed that 70 percent favored the law one year after it was implemented. Seventy-six percent of Ohio voters favor paid sick days. Many workers simply can’t afford to jeopardize the economic security of their families by staying home. A 2011 EPI study found that just 3.5 unpaid days away from work can undermine a family’s ability to buy groceries for an entire month. This is even worse for single parents (the vast majority of whom are women): for a two-child family with a single parent earning the average wage for workers without paid sick leave ($10 an hour), an absence from work of just four days in a month would place them below the poverty line. Only 12 percent of U.S. workers have access to paid family leave through their employers, and these workers are disproportionately well paid and in professional jobs.

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The Policy: Child Care/Early Childhood Education For parents to work outside the home, child care and early education must be available and accessible. Yet quality, affordable child care remains out of reach for many. In addition, pay for child care workers must rise. For these workers, wages are so low, they themselves struggle to make ends meet.

Mothers should not have to make the choice to work or stay at home based on the lack of affordable child care (or worse yet, be forced to put their children in sub-standard care situations while they are at work). Working families must have more high quality and affordable child care options available to them.

Low-income families spend a disproportionately high percentage of their income on child care. Families that are below the federal poverty line and pay for child care spend a whopping 36 percent of their income on it, while higher income families with incomes at or above 200 percent of poverty spend about 8 percent of income on child care.

Child care is not only an essential ingredient to workforce participation for parents; high quality child care and pre-K programs are also critical for children. Research has demonstrated the benefits of high quality early care and education on children and the long-term effects on their development. For example, children’s language skills between ages one and two are predictive of their preliteracy skills at age five. There is significant research that shows children who participate in high-quality preschool programs have better health, socialemotional, and cognitive outcomes than those who do not. The gains are particularly powerful for children from low-income families and those at risk for academic failure who, on average, start kindergarten 12 to 14 months behind their peers in pre-literacy and language skills.

Despite the training and licensing required and the importance of their task, the people who care for our youngest children are some of the lowest paid professionals in the entire workforce.

The annual cost of full-time child care averages $8,977 in Ohio. Because women are paid less on average than men, women must earn a higher wage to afford quality care for their children so they can remain in the workforce.

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Investments in early learning – including high-quality pre-school – produce longterm cost savings: $8.60 for every $1 spent. About half of the return on investment is from increased earnings

Jay Kaufman Jay Kaufman’s family has owned Brothers Printing Co. in downtown Cleveland since the 1950s, but Jay has never forgotten his father’s stories of hard times during the Depression. “He and his brothers followed the railroad cars to pick up coal so they could heat the house,” Jay said. His belief that people should earn enough to afford food, housing, utilities, and clothing underpins his support for a higher minimum wage. “It’s just common sense and human decency. You can’t survive in 2016 without a good, livable wage,” Jay said. It’s also good business. Good pay fosters a more interested and dedicated workforce, he said. “It makes for better employees.”

when these children grow up. Children who attend high-quality preschool programs are less likely to need special education services or be retained in their grade, and are more likely to graduate from high school, go on to college, and succeed in their careers than those who have not attended high-quality preschool programs. So who has access to these programs that will lift so many Ohio youngsters out of poverty? Not nearly enough of Ohio’s youngest residents. 81 percent of fouryear-olds in the state are not enrolled in a publicly-funded preschool. The state should provide enough resources to localities and school districts to ensure that all children, particularly black and Latino children, have access to at least two years of high quality pre-K so that they are ready for kindergarten. The state of Ohio and local governments need to dramatically expand access to child care and pre-K. Child care assistance is a key mechanism to help low-income

families afford child care. Ohio’s child care assistance program should increase eligibility and make it easier for low-wage families to climb out of poverty. To initially qualify for child care assistance, a parent with two young children would have to earn less than about $26,000 a year. The poor parent whose first job pays $27,000 will never get any help at all. Ohio is among the stingiest states when it comes to eligibility for child care assistance. This is critical to understanding the hardships for low-income families and why getting ahead is so difficult. Middle-income families earn too much to qualify for child-care assistance. But many can’t make ends meet if they pay for high-quality child care. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released alarming data that showed that child care costs more than rent for most of the country. According to the EPI Family Budget Calculator, a family of two adults and two young children in the Cleveland area would need to make

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POLLING

Polling from Make It Work found that 62 percent of voters think child care is unaffordable. Voters see roles for both government and employers in making child care more affordable for parents. Additionally, polling from the AFL-CIO found that 92 percent of base supporters and 75 percent of persuadable voters favor having government “Expand early childhood education, creating jobs, raising wages and improving working conditions for child care providers and ensuring affordable child care.”

$60,900 to afford the $895 per month cost for child care. At the same time, child care and early education workers shouldn’t be paid poverty-level wages. These women – and they are predominately women (95.6 percent) and disproportionately women of color – are not paid enough to make ends meet. The median annual income for a child care worker in Ohio is $19,500 – not enough to cover the bills and support a family. Increasing their pay will reduce poverty and greatly improve the quality of care and education that our children receive. Right now, many states set very low provider payment rates. As of February 2014, rates in Ohio were below the federally recommended level, the 75th percentile of current market rates (which is the level designed to give families access to 75 percent of the providers in their community). Payment rates for all providers in Ohio should be raised to at least that level and beyond, since current market rates are depressed and reflect very low wages for child care workers. It will also take additional investments and reforms to ensure that the child care delivery system is flexible and that child care is available when and where parents need it. This is particularly important to

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low-wage workers who often work nonstandard hours and are subject to volatile work schedules. Policy Matters Ohio has proposed three major reforms to make child care work for Ohio families: 1. Help more families become eligible for childcare assistance by expanding eligibility to families who make up to 200% of the poverty line, or about $40,000 for a family of three; 2. Pay childcare workers enough to get by raising reimbursement rates to the national average; and 3. Make childcare work for working families and children by ensuring that kids can get a full day of care even if they are in pre-K part-day and by keeping children in consistent classrooms even when their parents change jobs. Investing in high quality, accessible, and affordable child care is not only good for parents and children; it will also result in significant job creation and help local economies. While it is difficult to estimate the exact number of new jobs that will be created when all eligible families are guaranteed access to childcare and early education, it is safe to assume that many more workers will need to be hired to meet the new demand. Additionally, high quality child care requires the appropriate ratio of child care workers to children,

Preschool Promise Cities across Ohio are working to give every child – regardless of race and family income – access to two years of quality preschool. Preschool Promise is a cross-sector effort of community, labor, business and faith communities to provide high quality preschool for all three- and four-year-olds in the city. The goal is to level the playing field and help break the cycle of poverty so that all kids have a fair shot at a good education and a good life. Hannah Lebovits, 23, of University Heights, says quality childcare is financially out of reach for many low- and middle-income families. She struggles with paying off graduate school loans and affording quality childcare for her one-year-old daughter. Hannah is assistant director of SCAYL Ohio, a grassroots organization advocating for 12 months of continuous eligibility for childcare assistance (SCAYL stands for Stable Childcare All Year Long). Quality programs for young children help set them up for success later in life. But too often, children are hurt when families lose eligibility for assistance because of legal technicalities. “When it comes to childcare and we know how important it is, how can we tell families that they can’t enroll their kids in quality childcare centers?”

which will necessitate hiring more child care workers.

The Messaging: Child Care/Early Childhood Education Lead with values

Every working parent in Ohio should have access to quality affordable child care and early education for their children. And every child care provider should get paid enough to be able to do the same for their kids and families.

Emphasize the ends

Child care is not only an essential ingredient to workforce participation for parents; high-quality child care and pre-K programs are also critical for children. Research has demonstrated the benefits of robust early care and education for children and the long-term effects on their development. We need to dramatically expand access to full-day pre-K for families. Ohio’s child care assistance program is a key mechanism to help low-income families afford to work, and we must increase eligibility and make it easier for low-wage families to climb out of poverty.

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Focus on lived experience

Every parent wants the best for their child. And parents know that early experiences and education make a tremendous difference later in their children’s lives.

Name the causes

Skyrocketing child care costs force families to make huge sacrifices to afford the care they need to simply earn a living. It costs almost as much to send a baby to daycare as it does to send an adult to college. Too many working parents have to choose the cheapest available option, putting their children’s safety and wellbeing at risk. At the same time, the people who care for our kids are paid a pittance to do such incredibly important and hard work. Despite

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the

training

and

licensing

required and the importance of their task, the people who care for our youngest children are some of the lowest paid professionals in the entire workforce. It’s not a coincidence that working conditions and wages among care providers are low and that this work is overwhelmingly done by women.

Link the problem to the solution

We need quality, affordable care because parents should always be able to head to work knowing their children are in good hands. We all have a stake in ensuring the next generation has a bright future, and it’s time Ohio’s policies reflect this by supporting children, families and caregivers and giving parents access to affordable child care that gives kids a stable and loving environment.

Transit in Cleveland According to research from the Brookings Institute, only 29 percent of Cleveland residents have access to a bus or train route that will get them to work in less than 90 minutes. As jobs gravitate beyond the city center, workers without a car are cut off from economic opportunity. Additionally, people who own cars are forced to drive rather than take public transportation, further inflating the city’s carbon emissions. A new organization called Clevelanders for Public Transit is organizing area residents to put their needs at the center of transit investment and development in the city.

The Policy: Environmental Justice Communities of color and low-income communities are on the frontlines of unprecedented environmental injustices, including the climate crisis and local disasters that range from high asthma rates to lead paint to toxic drinking water. These environmental threats put the health and safety of communities across Ohio at risk, with political leaders often failing to address them. Decades of research tell us that children who grow up in low-income families are more likely to have health problems related to their environment, such as asthma and complications from lead poisoning.

Families in Sebring are all too familiar with the failure of our government to address these inequities. Recent reports indicate that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency knew that the water in Sebring was contaminated with lead as early as five months before it notified the community. In Cuyahoga County, neighborhoods with majority black populations have the highest rates of lead poisoning. Anyone who lives in a home built before 1978 (when lead paint was banned) is at risk for lead poisoning. Low-income families who rent these deteriorating homes often don’t have any recourse. They are stuck in a double bind because they fear eviction if they complain and don’t have the money to

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move. Localized threats are not the only environmental concern for families in Ohio. Unless addressed aggressively, climate change will have increasingly adverse effects on our communities. Extreme weather events disproportionately harm low- and middle-income Americans because they are least able to anticipate, prepare for, and recover from natural disasters and are more likely to lack insurance, health care, and financial savings. Floods, wildfires, heat waves, tornadoes, drought, and severe thunderstorms typically harm counties with household incomes below the U.S. median income. As communities across our state grapple with the impacts of climate change, many families are already living in a constant state of economic crisis that is exacerbated by a lack of safe and affordable public transportation. Ohio spends a meager 63 cents per resident on transit, which represents one of the lowest funding levels in the nation. Investments in reliable public transportation would give low- and middle- income families in Ohio access to jobs that are increasingly located outside of urban areas, while also reducing carbon emissions. The governor and state legislature need to increase funding for public transportation to address these issues. Out of the climate crisis comes the unprecedented opportunity to ensure that investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and resilient infrastructure. To make this opportunity a reality, local, state, and federal policymakers in our state need to go beyond vague commitments to disadvantaged communities and create structures and systems to successfully implement these changes. Smart state policies can foster energy efficiency in Ohio. We must hold First Energy, one of our state’s least socially

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responsible and most influential companies, accountable for fighting renewable energy standards that hurt our communities and Ohio families. The time is now for policymakers to unfreeze Ohio’s clean energy and efficiency standards. On the local level, we will work with municipal governments to pass ordinances to increase industry and polluter oversight. The fossil fuel industry would like to carry on with business as usual. We refuse to allow big energy to continue to damage our neighborhoods and environment. By taking strong, decisive action on climate change and holding leaders accountable for local environmental disasters, we can take responsibility for the glaring racial and economic disparities created by environmental injustice.

The Messaging: Environmental Justice Lead with values

We all have a basic responsibility to leave our kids and grandkids a healthy future. We recycle, we check our cars’ emissions – shouldn’t major industries show the same level of responsibility that we do by cutting pollution and protecting communities from toxic elements?

Emphasize the ends

By increasing the use and production of the safe sources of sustainable energy we have now, we can create healthy communities for generations to come and have a happy surprise when we open our energy bills.

Focus on lived experience

When the American Lung Association tells us that toxic pollution in the air we breathe is affecting the health of nearly half of all Americans, we need new solutions. Kids now carry inhalers as often as lunch boxes. Seniors are stuck

inside when weather shifts dramatically to extreme heat or freezing cold. And low- and middle-income families are more likely than others to face these health threats.

Name the causes

Big, out-of-state oil companies are desperate to protect the rigged system that keeps Ohio dependent on dirty energy and creates environmental and health disasters in local communities. We can hold them accountable and take control of our future.

Link the solution

problem

to

the

We can dramatically reduce the pollution that comes from burning dirty fuels by creating rules to curb pollution. By producing and using clean energy, we can correct years of racial and economic disparities created by environmental injustices. Clean energy can power our lives at home and work, create high wage work in Ohio and free us from the outdated fuels that pollute our air and water and change our climate.

Darrick Wade Darrick Wade, 58, of Cleveland, is an activist fighting to save children from lead poisoning, after his son, Demetrius, died from what Darrick says were health effects from toxic exposure. Demetrius (pictured) was poisoned by lead as a child living in public housing in Cleveland. He died in 2007 at age 24 after suffering from heart and kidney disease, which have been linked to lead exposure. “At 15 his skin color started to change. At 16 he had problems with his kidneys. We know the lead caused many problems. We watched his mood change. He had problems learning. When he couldn’t get an answer, he got upset. He had liver damage, his heart enlarged. He was in and out of hospitals.” Darrick says lead poisoning ruins the lives of countless children in low-income housing, causing learning and behavioral problems that lead many to criminal activity. “We know it causes illnesses, aggression, unruliness, children fighting. This is across the board, children three and four years old,” he said. “Generations of people are undiagnosed, and nothing’s being done about it. I think about the children and how the politicians and people in power cover it up.”

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“If the prison boom was indeed produced by a historic collision between the jobless ghetto and a punitive politics of civil rights backlash, retreating from mass incarceration will involve equally fundamental shifts in politics and economics.” - Harvard sociologist Bruce Western

The Policy: Criminal Justice Reform Three days after Christmas, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty announced there would be no criminal charges filed against the police officers involved in killing Tamir Rice, a 12-yearold boy who was shot while throwing snowballs and playing with a toy pellet gun in a park in Cleveland. McGinty’s decision capped a year that was plagued by the senseless death of Samuel DuBose and the more than 1,200 other people killed by police. Police brutality, mass incarceration, forprofit prisons, gaping racial disparities and zero tolerance laws have devastated Ohio’s low-income and minority communities, stripping economic opportunity from generations of Ohioans. We must transform our justice system from one based in criminalization and incarceration – particularly of young people and people of color – to one based in sound and humane policies that support healing and growth for individuals, families, and communities. We must reduce the number and racial disparity of incarcerated Ohioans. And we

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must reinvest in communities that have been decimated by the impacts of incarceration so there is hope for a future that respects and values everyone. Ohio has the dubious distinction of having one of the greatest disparities in suspension rates between black and white students. When our schools have zero tolerance policies, a disproportionate number of minority students drop out of school and end up on a narrow path to the juvenile and criminal justice system. We need to put a major crack in the school-to-prison pipeline so that all students can concentrate on learning and preparing for their futures. This requires a broad spectrum of legal and policy changes, including the decriminalization of school disciplinary procedures, the reform of policing and sentencing practices, and the removal of barriers to successful reentry. We must pass local and statewide reforms, to ensure that the system does not simply shift incarcerated individuals

from one venue to another. We believe that reducing Ohio’s incarceration rates will have numerous ancillary effects in low-income and minority communities, making our criminal justice system more fair, effective, and safe for all.

The Messaging: Criminal Justice Reform Lead with values

We lock up too many individuals – especially people of color – for too long, without a clear public safety rationale, leaving families and communities without vital economic support. Too often, this starts in childhood when kids fall victim to zero tolerance policies and end up trapped in the school-to-prison pipeline.

Emphasize the ends

Communities will be safer – and more families will be whole – when we create a criminal justice system that reduces the number of people we put behind bars, increases the treatment of mental illness and addiction, and invests in the people and places that have been chronically stripped of jobs and opportunities. And when we break the school-to-prison pipeline, more kids will have the opportunity to learn, graduate, and get good jobs so they can provide for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Focus on lived experience

When a 12-year-old black boy is shot and killed by a white police officer who is then allowed to go free, the scales of justice are far out of balance. When families are separated because overlyharsh laws put too many people behind bars for too long, our communities and our children pay the price. When people complete their sentence and then struggle to find a job to get back on their feet, we make it entirely too hard for them to restart their lives in a positive

direction. When kids are thrown out of school for bringing a plastic knife on the playground or starting a food fight, we are placing them on a path that leads straight to the criminal justice system.

Black people are jailed on drug charges 10 times more often than white people. One in three black men can expect to be incarcerated in his lifetime.

Name the cause

Politicians who supported the War on Drugs essentially waged a war on communities of color, and the results have been tragic. The decision of these policymakers to lock up so many people has led to an unprecedented rate of imprisonment that deprives people of their freedom and tears them apart from their families. Zero tolerance policies have decimated kids’ – primarily black

Ohio currently incarcerates almost 51,000 men and women in 32 prisons designed, collectively, to hold about 38,000 people. The only way to significantly reduce this dangerous overcrowding is through sentencing reform that lowers the number of people sent to prison each year, and shortens the average length of stay.

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kids’ – hopes for a bright future. As our communities suffer from the effects of mass incarceration, private prison companies rake in enormous profits, benefiting from keeping Ohioans caged behind bars for as long as possible. Black people are jailed on drug charges 10 times more often than white people. One in three black men can expect to be incarcerated in his lifetime. The two largest for-profit prison companies in the United States – GEO and Corrections Corporation of America – and their associates have funneled more than $10 million to candidates since 1989 and have spent nearly $25 million on lobbying efforts. They now rake in a combined $3.3 billion in annual

revenue, while the private federal prison population more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, according to a report by the Justice Policy Institute.

Link the problem to the solution

If we want to reinvest in the people and communities that have been hurt most by the discriminatory policies that started as part of the War on Drugs, we must fix our bloated prison system and issue sentences that actually fit the crimes. And we must end zero tolerance policies in schools and have smarter school discipline policies in place that keep children focused on learning and the future.

Anthony Gwinn Anthony Gwinn was incarcerated twice. He paid his court costs and fines, tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, and all restitution. He successfully completed his probations and served his time in prison. In other words, he paid his debt to society. But given the current system, he will be paying the price for the rest of his life. In Anthony’s words, “My time in prison impacted me, my family, and my community. I couldn’t pay child support or support my family. Since I’ve been released, it’s been tough to find a home or a job. Even though I graduated college – I even played football for Ohio State and helped my team win the Rose Bowl in 1996 – and am qualified for jobs, I’ve been denied employment time and time again because I’m an ex-offender.” Prison is a big profit business. Private prison companies get paid a lot of money keeping people locked up. They don’t care about rehabilitation. They hope you re-offend so they can keep lining their pockets. Anthony said, “They’re getting rich while the people who are locked up – mainly minorities – are kept poor. We lose control of our destinies to a system that keeps us down.” Today, Anthony is proud to be part of a movement to reform that system. Through the People’s Justice Project, he has led the outreach and coordination programs for people directly affected by mass incarceration. We have a lot of work to do, but I’m committed to building a future where we invest in people – not prisons.

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The Policy: Democracy and Civic Participation Ohio stands at a crossroads this election season, with politicians working hard to deny voters the right to cast a ballot. A new bill, introduced by the same rightwing Republican who declared that public education is a form of socialism, would sharply restrict the forms of identification voters can present to be able to vote. The bill would require voters to produce a driver’s license, state ID card, military ID, or U.S. passport. This will have an outsized impact on seniors, minorities, students, people with disabilities, and low-income families – most of whom tend to vote Democratic. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer said in an editorial against the bill, “An ID bill…isn’t as blatant as poll taxes and literacy tests. But the aim’s the same: to win elections

not by attracting votes, but by suppressing them.” Unfortunately, this isn’t the only voter suppression tactic taking hold in Ohio. Politicians are already gearing up for redistricting after the 2020 Census. The Columbus Dispatch has called Ohio’s current process for determining congressional districts “hyper-partisan.” While progressive leaders want to change that, conservative Republicans have stonewalled the reform process. Ohio’s current Secretary of State, Jon Husted, has also taken steps to drastically reduce early voting. In 2005, Ohio established “Golden Week,” an early voting period during which people could register to vote and cast a ballot on the

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When Ohioans have a chance to vote directly on issues, we support working people, labor rights, and good jobs. Repeatedly, Ohio policymakers have tried to curtail workers’ rights and Ohio voters have fought back through the ballot box. In 1958, 1993, 1995, and 2011, out-of-touch legislators and governors tried to curtail workers’ rights by attacking the ability of unions to collect dues, by weakening Worker’s Compensation, and by eliminating collective bargaining rights for firefighters, teachers, and other public employees. Each time, Ohioans used something called the citizen’s veto to restore working people’s rights and power through the initiative process. Similarly, Ohio voters have used their ballot power to assertively improve employment conditions, raising the minimum wage in 2006 and trying to establish paid sick days in 2008, which they were poised to do before a deal was struck to remove it from the ballot. Decade after decade, Ohio voters have gone to the polls and voiced support for Ohio’s working people.

same day. Political leaders eliminated Golden Week in 2014, following a direct order from Husted, who also took action to purge Ohio’s voter rolls, leaving thousands of less-frequent voters unregistered and unaware. One thing is clear: There are conservative leaders in Ohio who will stop at nothing to keep marginalized populations from voting. We know that they will continue to push antiquated policies and even mount baseless attacks against organizations that work tirelessly to register voters in advance of Election Day. Since he took office, Secretary Husted has been on a crusade to prove that Ohio has a voter fraud issue. Last year, he announced the results of his investigation into voter fraud in the state, which found that a paltry 44 non-citizens may have voted illegally in Ohio since 2000. Thankfully, progressives across the state are fighting back. The legislature is considering a bill that would allow Ohioans to register to vote online. Thirtyone states either already have online

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voter registration or are preparing to implement it. This is a simple solution that will not only save the state money (Pew estimates the county election boards could save between $0.50 and $2.34 per online submission compared with traditional paper registration) but more importantly, would make it easier for all Ohioans to have a say in our democracy.

The Messaging: Democracy and Civic Participation Lead with values

The United States Constitution states

that, “We are all created equal.” Our elections need to be of, by, and for the people. Voting brings us together as Americans and as Ohioans and it’s something we can do to help strengthen our community. All eligible Americans should be able to cast a ballot and have their voice heard for their future, their children’s future and

the future of our nation.

Emphasize the ends

The stakes are personal. A photo ID bill, bipartisan redistricting and allowing people to vote online are issues at the heart of our future as a democracy. This is about whether our schools are funded and whether we have a health care system that works for everyone. It’s about whether we’re able to create and change policies that help struggling families make ends meet. It’s about whether we have the ability to advocate for our families, our communities, and our collective good.

through online registration. If you’re an eligible voter, you should be a registered voter – period.

Note that this messaging predominately taps into the fairness frame but also uses a family frame to underscore the potential cost – and value – of voter registration issues to Ohio families.

Focus on lived experience

Voting gives Ohio’s working families a say in what happens in our lives and in our communities. Many are struggling these days – to find a job, pay the rent, put food on the table – and we want a say about what we can do to solve these problems. One vote may not make a difference by itself, but together, Ohioans’ voices count.

Name the causes

The voter ID bill is part of a decades-long, national strategy by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) – an alliance of corporate legislators and multi-national companies – to concentrate wealth and political power in fewer and fewer hands. The politicians who carry ALEC’s political water are trying to manipulate the system for their own gain. If passed, a photo ID law would disproportionately harm minorities, seniors, veterans, students, people with disabilities, and folks who have been hardest hit by the economic downturn and are most likely to vote Democratic.

Link the problem to the solution

We need to change the way we think about voter registration. We have the technology to add millions of new voters

After Republicans emerged from the November 2010 elections with new majorities in statehouses across the country, a total of 37 states saw strict voter ID laws introduced in 2011 and 2012. Many of those proposals contained elements of the ALEC “model” voter ID act, which imposes new burdens on the right to vote by requiring voters show state-issued ID cards that approximately 11 percent of voting-age American citizens do not possess.

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Opposition Messaging When faced with the opposition’s message, your goal should always be to pivot back to your core messaging – what the bill or campaign is all about and what it is trying to accomplish. You want to control the conversation, not win or persuade the opposition that you are “right” and they are “wrong.” You need to avoid going on the defensive and tell your story on your terms. Spend some time brainstorming the opposition’s arguments and developing responses that come back to your main message, rather than getting drawn in to an unproductive back and forth. Above all, do not repeat the opposition’s message. If you repeat it, you are unintentionally giving it more credence and putting the thought into people’s heads. A great example of this is President Nixon’s famous dismissal, “I am not a crook.” By repeating the opposition’s

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message, we automatically think of Nixon as a crook, despite his intent. Likely opposition messaging suggested responses follow.

and

Minimum Wage False narrative: Increasing the minimum wage will harm American businesses and workers. If we increase wages, businesses will be forced to cut jobs and pass costs on to consumers. Response: Increasing wages is both fair and smart. It is fair because no one who works full-time should live in poverty, worrying about putting food on the table or making rent every month. It’s smart because when people have more money to spend, it boosts local economies and creates jobs and thriving communities. False narrative: Increasing the minimum

wage won’t help Ohioans living in poverty. Response: Raising the minimum wage to $12 by 2012 would help 1.5 million people, including 316,000 parents and more than 700,000 women, in our state. Right now, many hardworking Ohioans make barely $16,500 a year, even if they work full time. Raising the minimum wage helps set the standard for fair wages for all. It’s the right thing to do for Ohio and especially for families who work hard and play by the rules.

Paid Sick Leave and Family and Medical Leave False narrative: Small businesses are still recovering from the economic recession. This isn’t the time to impose new mandates that will cost businesses money and may force them to cut jobs. Response: Ohioans who work hard and play by the rules should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that one bout of flu won’t cost them their job or that month’s rent, and that they can take time off from work when they need to deal with a major life event, like the birth of a child or a critical illness. Paid sick leave and family and medical leave are good for families and good for businesses. Businesses that implement these policies report more productive workers and lower employee turnover costs.

Child Care and Early Childhood Education False narrative: Cradle-to-grave government programs keep adding up, with taxpayers picking up the tab. The government shouldn’t force hard working Ohio families to pay for new entitlement programs.

Response: All families should be able to afford child care that gives kids a stable and nurturing environment and sets the next generation up for success. But quality child care is out of reach for too many Ohio families. Take a Cleveland family with two young kids: the parents would have to make more than $60,000 a year to pay for child care. That’s outrageous. Especially because we know that investments in early learning pay for themselves. For every $1 spent on early learning, we get back $8.60 – that’s a pretty good return.

Environmental Justice False narrative: Extreme environmental mandates hurt Ohio businesses and increase costs for Ohio families. Ohio’s misguided clean energy regulations drove up electric bills, which is why probusiness policymakers put a stop to them. Response: We all have a basic responsibility to leave our kids and grandkids a healthy future. But oil companies are desperate to protect the rigged system that keeps Ohio dependent on dirty energy and creates environmental and health disasters across the state. Fair rules that curb pollution and develop clean energy can create jobs that pay good wages for Ohio families and free us from the outdated fuels that pollute our communities.

Criminal Justice Reform False narrative: Proposals to reform

our justice system go easy on criminals and would let violent offenders roam free in our communities. Response: Communities will be safer – and more families will be whole – when we create a criminal justice system that reduces the number of people we put

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behind bars, increases the treatment of mental illness and addiction, and invests in the people and places that have been chronically stripped of jobs and opportunities. We need a smart criminal justice system that issues sentences that actually fit the crimes. False narrative: The times have changed. Children today aren’t as respectful as they once were, especially in school when they are surrounded by other kids their age. Children who act up in school need to be removed from the classroom and disciplined so that they don’t interrupt learning. Response: When kids are thrown out of school for bringing a plastic knife on the playground or starting a food fight, we are placing them on a path that increases violence, increases public costs, and does not reduce crime. Zero tolerance school policies deprive students of their right to learn. Instead, we need smart school discipline policies that keep all children focused on learning and preparing for the future.

Democracy and Civic Participation False narrative: It is far too easy to commit voter fraud in Ohio. Each election season, we hear reports of dead people and illegal immigrants voting. We need common-sense rules to prevent voter fraud, such as the voter ID bill that would require voters to show a governmentissued ID to vote. Response: All eligible Americans should be able to cast a ballot and have their voices heard on Election Day. Voter ID is a prohibitively expensive proposition that will place an unfunded mandate on counties and the state. It’s a complicated idea that will have devastating consequences, disenfranchising eligible voters including seniors and veterans. It

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will keep these eligible voters from standing up for their families and their communities. Politicians should be pushing for policies that make it easier – not harder – to vote.

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