Legislative Updates

STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM NEWS

All STRS members should be aware of the talk in Columbus about taking away the voting rights of the elected active (5) and retired (2) teacher members of the Board, if not removing them altogether. This could be accomplished by changing the Ohio Revised Code, something the legislature does on a regular basis through House and Senate bills.

Legislative Chair Bill Siegferth has sent a letter on behalf of SCRTA members and leadership to each member of the Summit County delegation in the Senate and the House. The letter is attached. In addition, we urge members to individually write their House Rep and Senator. Representatives and Senators with Summit County constituents include:

• House Members:

• HD 31: Bill Roemer (R)

• HD 32: Jack Daniels (R)

• HD 33: Veronica Sims (D)

• HD 34: Derrick Hall (D)

• HD 35: Steve Demetriou (R)

• Senate Members:

• SD 27: Kristina Roegner (R)

• SD 28: Casey Weinstein (D)

OHIO HOUSE PASSES OP&F PENSION EMPLOYER INCREASE

The Ohio House of Representatives has passed HB 296 which increases the employer contribution rate to the OP&F pension fund for police to 24%, aligning it with what employers (cities, townships, etc) now pay for firefighters. Under the bill, the increase--from the current 19.5%--would be phased in over a six year period. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

In the meantime, STRS continues to seek legislation increasing the employer contribution rate for teachers from its current 14% to 18%, phased in in 1/2% annual increments over an eight year period. According to information on the STRS website, over the last 10 years, "the employer rate in Ohio has been the second lowest in states where teachers are not covered by Social Security." "In contrast, Ohio teachers have contributed at the third-highest rate (averaging 12.8% compared to a median of 9.25%)." STRS is working through the Ohio Retirement Study Council to address the employer contribution increase issue along with other reform issues.

VOUCHERS: JUST WHAT IS THE LAWSUIT ALL ABOUT?

The use of public taxpayer dollars to pay private school tuition costs is becoming a greater issue nation-wide, as numerous states are considering legislation allowing vouchers. Now, the federal budget proposed by the President and approved by the House includes $5 billion per year over a four year period in school choice funding. The money is earmarked for tuition or other schooling needs at private or parochial schools or for homeschooling.

Here in Ohio, Vouchers Hurt Ohio has filed a lawsuit claiming such payments are illegal under Ohio the law. For members who have not followed the lawsuit very closely, it contains five counts. They are:

1. Vouchers are unconstitutional because the Ohio Constitution states that the legislature shall create a single system of common schools for the common good. Private school vouchers create a separate system of unequal and uncommon schools that benefit the wealthy with zero financial or academic accountability for the private school operators.

2. The Ohio school funding formula is unconstitutional. The Cupp Patterson Fair School Funding plan would have fully funded public schools. The plan was scrapped, in spite of the bi-partisan support for its creation and implementation a few years back, because, according to Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, the increased spending is "unsustainable." The third year of the plan was to be implemented in the budget being debated in Columbus.

3. Vouchers increase segregation in public schools. Private schools pick and choose who gets enrolled, and family income is becoming a critical component in the private school voucher scheme.

4. The Ohio Constitution is clear...its framers did not want public tax dollars going to private, religious schools. "No religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state."

5. We are all equal under the Ohio Constitution, and private school vouchers grant special privileges to a special class of people in our state.