Policy Matters Ohio
10/26/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/25/2024 12:33
Saturday Stats
Saturday Stats
Posted October 26, 2024 in eNews
$112, $48, $36, $22: Per-person amount of state spending on public transit in 2022 by Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan respectively.
$4: Per-person amount spent on public transit by the state of Ohio that year. Our new report examines how Ohio's 65 transit systems get their funding. Working with researcher Molly Bryden, summer interns Lila Wright and Joseph Liang found that the state does far too little to support public transportation compared to similar states, the federal government, and local sources. That failure by our legislature leaves too many Ohioans dependent on carbon-emitting personal vehicles, and too few alternatives for those who rely on (or would simply prefer) accessible, reliable public transit.
13,500: Estimated number of new jobs Ohio added last month. That's a big bounce from August, which was in fact worse than originally thought. To understand these changes, how they are related to the Federal Reserve's decisions about interest rates, and what it all means for working Ohioans, check out the latest JobWatch from Molly Bryden.
~70,000: Number of new EdChoice Expansion vouchers given by Ohio this year to pay private school tuition with public funding.
~3,000: Number of new enrollments in Ohio private schools. Where did the other 67,000 vouchers go? To households already sending their students to private schools-without help from the state. Every dollar spent on vouchers is one that doesn't go to our public schools, which state legislators have done an unconstitutionally poor job of funding for decades. For help resisting legislators' attempts to privatize education in Ohio, check out our summary of messages and data for public school advocates against vouchers.
Calls to action:
With early voting underway, it's a great time to listen to What's Good with Election Protection, the latest episode of What's Good Ohio?! It's also a great time to volunteer to help protect the vote!
There is still time to register for Lame Duck Testimony Training with our friends at Honesty for Ohio Education, this Monday, October 28, 7-8:30 PM.
Register for "Community Response in Albuquerque and Durham," a webinar presented by Policy Matters, OFUPAC and the Columbus Safety Collective. Learn how Albuquerque and Durham are keeping their communities safer by sending trained peers, clinicians, and other unarmed responders on crisis calls at noon on November 19.
Contact your legislators and tell them to add "failure-to-appear" and insurance-related suspensions to the types that are eliminated in SB 37, and pass it during Lame Duck. (For details, see this note on our legislative Watchlist.)