Ohio
Written by Debbie Siverstein
State-based SP bills
HB 292 – To provide universal health care coverage
Sponsors: Reps Mike Skindell and Bernadine Kennedy Kent (8 of 99 co-sponsors)
Related legislation (pending)
Na
Obstacles to SP in the current context
Lack of support from either political party; no spine in our legislators
Historical context” We did have proponent testimony on our bill in the last session. The chairman of the committee, a very conservative Republican, was enthused by our bill and especially by the testimony of Jerry Friedman and Dave Steil. This session, the bill has been assigned to a different committee in the hopes of stalling it.
Advantages for SP in current context
Goals for SP movement in CA 2019-2020
To move our bill forward in the Ohio legislature. Also working on national bill: trying to get Rep. Marcy Kaptur to co-sponsor HR 1384 and Sen. Sherrod Brown to co-sponsor S 1129
Shorter-term initiatives
We are lobbying for sponsor hearing followed by proponent testimony.
Where can people find news about Single Payer in your state and/or join a group?
span@spanohio.org www.spanohio.org
OH Legislation
OH Organizations
State-based SP organizations
SP Action Network Ohio (SPAN) www.spanohio.org
Healthcare for All Ohioans (https://hcfao.org/).
Educational arm of SPAN Ohio, David Milender, chair dmilender@gmail.com
National SP organizations with significant presence
Healthcare-NOW! https://www.healthcare-now.org/