"This election is important because we're talking about local school boards, local judges. Those elected officials that can really affect our daily lives, how funding will be spent in our communities, what policies are implemented."
By Mary Schuermann Kuhlman, Ohio News Connection, Allison Babka and Megan Hadley
The Unemployment Insurance Improvement Act would lower the threshold for how much workers must be paid in order to qualify for benefits if they lose their job.
"Anti-Muslim discrimination still exists in policies. Secret watch lists still exist," says Amina Barhumi, outreach director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Ohio.
Democrats believe that raising the minimum wage would increase economic activity and spur job growth. But many Republicans believe it would force businesses to lay off employees to cope with the costs of higher wages.
Hamilton County Job and Family Services, said the pandemic created additional instability for children in foster care, who may already be at an educational disadvantage.
Advocates are urging transparency to "lift up the voices of Black, brown and immigrant Ohioans who have long been left out of the conversation; unheard, under-represented during the official redistricting process."
"We have to look at the progressive states that are seeing the benefits and are opening up a whole new industry for business opportunities, and it's working," Rep Sedrick Denson says.