Politics over people
Ohio GOP state legislators: What are you doing? Ohioans are facing unprecedented economy uncertainly and the federal government has slashed hundreds of millions of dollars from state grants. Ohioans face a housing shortage, rising prices of groceries and gas, rising electric bills because of incoming data centers, and farmers in particular are suffering from tariffs and a spike in fertilizer costs because of the war in Iran.
Why are you wasting time and taxpayer money to ban drag shows (House Bill 249), impose an unconstitutional 24-hour waiting period for abortions (House Bill 347), and force hospitals to provide “certificates of life” for abortions (House Bill 754)?
I am certain there are constituents who consider these top priorities, and that certainly is their right. But for the rest of us who are watching gas prices steadily tick up and our paychecks remain the same, why are these the fights you’re picking? Is any of this going to lower grocery bills, or rent payments, or fund struggling rural hospitals?
Why are culture war hot buttons your priorities? Aren’t you supposed to be working for we the people? Or are you afraid to take on really tough issues like affordable housing and food insecurity?
Dennis Drew, Columbus
Protect kids from real threats
Apparently, Ohio “Republi-ban” legislators are traumatized by boys dressing up as girls. They are passing a law that makes dressing in drag “indecent exposure.”
The Red Oak Community School “Holi-drag” story hour was canceled a couple of years ago because of the Proud Boys demonstration across the street. School children are not traumatized by boys dressing up as girls. It’s silly, not dangerous.
They are traumatized by boys dressing up as school shooters complete with long guns.
Matthew Biggert, Columbus
Urban counties deserve adequate assistance
The Republican supermajority Ohio House of Representatives recently passed House Bill 730. The bill would appropriate $12.5 million to provide food assistance to Ohioans whose federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have been cut by the “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Republicans in Washington. The amount is less than one-third of the estimated $38 million immediate shortfall in federal funding to Ohio.
HB 730’s meager funding would be divided equally among Ohio’s 88 counties, rather than in proportion to population. That means that most small population rural counties would be able to fully fund food assistance. In contrast, most large population urban counties like Franklin County would have to make up significant funding shortfalls by drawing upon county resources, cutting benefits to citizens in need, or both.
The rural Ohio citizens who stand to gain the most from HB 730 are disproportionately White and Republican. I very much doubt that is merely a coincidence, but I don’t want to be unfair to our Republican legislators. Perhaps they plan to feed our urban citizens in need by asking Washington for some of the $24 million that Trump’s Department of Defense spent on rib-eye steak, lobster tail and Alaskan king crab legs.
Brent C. Taggart, Columbus
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why are culture wars taking priority over our wallets? | Letters
Reporting by Letters to the Editor, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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