State may change pension requirements for teachers

Apr. 26, 2012, Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum

By Jessica Alaimo
CentralOhio.com

Teachers may have to work longer and pay more into their pension system if a proposal to the Ohio Legislature is accepted.

The Legislature is moving on public pension reform, and three of the funds have updated their proposals. The most significant updates are in the State Teachers Retirement System, or STRS.

These reforms are happening because three of the five pension systems don't meet the state-required obligation of being able to pay off all their benchmarks within 30 years. All funds recognize changes need to be made for long-term stability.

Read more in the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum.

Ohio considering workers' comp reform

Apr. 19, 2012, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette

By Jessica Alaimo
CentralOhio.com

Ohio lawmakers want to attract more employers to the state, and one key to doing so is improving the state's workers' compensation system.

State Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark, is overseeing hearings on three bills that would do just that. Hottinger is chairman of the House Insurance Committee.

The bills do not involve privatization of or competition for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

The state's main goal is to make sure injured employees get access to better medical care so they can go back to work sooner, Hottinger said.

Read more in the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette.

Parole getting harder to come by

Apr. 16, 2012, Port Clinton News Herald

By Jessica Alaimo
CentralOhio.com

Ohio's longest-serving prisoners are finding it increasingly difficult to get out on parole, an opportunity not even afforded most of those sent to prison since 1996.

In 2011, just 7 percent of the 1,918 inmates getting release consideration hearings were paroled. This compares to 20 percent of the 2,121 inmates getting hearings the previous year. In years before that, the number was closer to 50 percent.

The drop in release rates comes as Ohio officials strive to decrease the prison population despite the 1996 sentencing law which ended parole for any future sentence.

Columbus defense attorney Barry Wilford said these are the toughest times he's known to be an inmate facing the board, because the board has gotten tougher. Wilford is also the Public Policy Director for the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

But JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said that after 16 years all the inmates likely to be paroled have been released already, leaving behind 3,200 of the state's worst inmates to cycle through the process again and again.

Read more in the Port Clinton News Herald.

Legislators take shot at regulating Internet cafes

Apr. 11, 2012, Fremont News-Messenger

By Jessica Alaimo
CentralOhio.com

Lawmakers are taking yet another spin at regulating Internet cafes and their sweepstakes.

Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-Canfield, has introduced a bill that would require licensing of Internet cafes, which have popped up across Ohio, and allow municipalities to regulate them within city limits.

Other bills to regulate these cafes have fallen short because lawmakers couldn't agree on the extent of the regulation, or if the cafes should even be allowed to exist in the first place...

Read more in the Fremont News Messenger.

Texting-while-driving ban stalls in the Ohio Senate

Apr. 9, 2012, Mansfield News Journal

By Jessica Alaimo
CentralOhio.com

Most House members backed it. Key advocacy groups are calling for it. Yet a bill to ban texting while driving in Ohio is sitting at a very long red light.

The Ohio House passed the measure 88-10 last June, but it has since stalled in a Senate committee.

There are two reasons for the holdup...

Read more in the Mansfield News Journal.

Ohio college students save money by working quickly

Apr. 7, 2012, Port Clinton News Herald

By Jessica Alaimo
CentralOhio.com

Kaytlyn Tracy hasn't had a lot of time to be a college student.

Instead of partying, going out on Thursday nights and joining a sorority, Tracy has kept her head down and focused on getting her college career done in three years instead of four.

She's eager to graduate early from Kent State University with a psychology degree so she can move to North Carolina to be with her husband, who is in the Marines...

Read more in the Port Clinton News Herald. 

Ohio judges bristle at new sentencing reforms

Apr. 7, 2012, Port Clinton News Herald

By Jessica Alaimo
CentralOhio.com

John Elder pleaded guilty to six counts of theft, three counts of insurance fraud and three counts of forgery in February. He stole from his church and defrauded the insurance company he worked for.

The prosecutor wanted to send him to prison. Fairfield County Common Pleas Judge Richard Berens agreed. But first, the judge had to jump through another hoop.

Last year the Ohio General Assembly passed a sweeping sentencing reform designed to reduce the prison population and promote community corrections. House Bill 86 requires judges to first consult with the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction if they want to imprison a first-time, non-violent, low-level felony offender like Elder...

Read more in the Port Clinton News Herald.

Ohio mulls 'Stand Your Ground' law

A man wearing a hoodie lurking across the street may not be a threat. A man standing 10 feet away wielding a knife may very well be.

Somewhere between those two extremes is a murky gray area that lawmakers and law enforcement attempt to draw a line through.

When is a "threat" legitimate enough to justify deadly force in protecting oneself?

Read more in the Port Clinton News Herald. 

Anti-abortion measures gaining traction in Ohio

Jan. 15, 2012, Marion Star

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

If you have been out and about over the weekend, there’s a good chance you were approached about the Personhood Amendment, a ballot measure that could effectively end abortion in Ohio.

It’s just another step forward in a successful yet contentious era for Ohio’s abortion opponents. The Ohio Legislature passed seven anti-abortion measures last year — the most in recent memory of Ohio Right to Life Society President Mike Gonidakis.

“Elections have consequences,” Gonidakis said. “In 2010 every Ohio Right to Life-endorsed candidate was elected.”

These candidates pursued the organization’s legislative agenda, he said. But there’s more on the horizon, with pending measures so volatile the anti-abortion movement is fractured. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio is already promising legal action.

Ohio law mostly silent on regulating wild animals

Oct. 20, 2011, Marion Star

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

When animal sanctuary officials in neighboring states found out what happened in Zanesville, they said they weren’t surprised.

Ohio has some of the most lax laws regarding private ownership of exotic animals, being one of fewer than 10 states with no regulation.

“My reaction was, ‘Here we go again.’” said April Truitt, director and founder of the Primate Rescue Center in Nicholasville, Ky. “Ohio is simply full to the brim with exotic animal breeders. ... You can buy anything you want in Ohio.”

The same response came from Ohio’s eastern neighbor.

“We knew something like this was going to happen, we just hoped it wouldn’t be on this scale,” said Melissa Bishop, of the East Coast Exotic Animal Rescue in Fairfield, Pa.

Truitt and Bishop were responding to a situation that broke late Tuesday, when authorities killed 49 of 56 exotic animals that escaped from a Zanesville farm after owner Terry Thompson killed himself.

New law means more thieves will go to jails, not prisons

July 9, 2011, Fremont News-Messenger

By Jona Ison and Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

Law enforcement officials fear savvy career criminals will start swiping bigger-ticket items once the law allows them to steal $999 worth of stuff and still get slapped with a misdemeanor.

In a sweeping overhaul of Ohio’s sentencing laws last month, the General Assembly approved a provision increasing the threshold for felony-level thefts and vandalism. The legislation, which aimed to keep lower-level offenders out of prison as a cost-savings issue, passed with strong bipartisan support. Gov. John Kasich signed the bill into law June 29.

Projections differ when it comes to how much the legislation will save the state. Legislative analysis puts the savings at $78 million a year, while the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections estimated savings of $46 million over four years, The Associated Press reported.

Proposal would allow ads on school buses

May 25, 2011, Newark Advocate

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

NEWARK — Cash-strapped school districts could have the right to sell advertising on the outside of school buses under a law proposed last week.

State Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-Canfield, said anything that can help a school buy a new computer or textbooks or not lay off a teacher is a positive, with school districts facing less revenue.

However, a national interest group is fighting the proposal in Ohio and several other states, claiming the small revenue boost is not worth the exploitation of captive audience of students.

Throwing away ‘throw away the key’

May 8, 2011, Marion Star

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

Judge Richard Berens knows there are problems with Ohio’s corrections system and more needs to be done to help ex-prisoners adjust back into society.

But the Fairfield County Common Pleas judge also thinks the people he sends to prison belong there.

State lawmakers have proposed sweeping reforms to Ohio’s corrections system. A comprehensive bill passed the House on a 96-2 vote Wednesday, and it’s been the subject of ongoing Senate committee hearings. Gov. John Kasich supports the measure.

While Berens supports the bill’s efforts to reduce recidivism and boost rehabilitation, he fears some provisions will tie judges’ hands and put more stress on county departments.

The legislation would mean first-time, nonviolent, low-level felony offenders could not be sent to state prison, and instead would get three years probation. The bill also doubles the threshold for felony-level thefts, meaning more would head to the county jail on theft charges.

Lawmakers look at comp time

Jan. 31, 2011, Fremont News-Messenger

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

Special to The News-Messenger

Some Ohio lawmakers want to change how hourly employees for small businesses get paid.

State Reps. Andy Thompson, R-Marietta, and Jarrod Martin, R-Beavercreek, want to allow small, private employers to give compensatory time to employees. That would mean employees who work more than 40 hours in a week could bank compensatory time instead of collecting overtime pay.

Thompson and Martin’s bill would apply only to businesses with gross sales of less than $500,000. Larger businesses are governed by federal law, which allows comp time for public-sector employees but not private-sector employees.

Faced with state cuts, governments urged to consolidate

Jan. 29, 2011, Newark Advocate

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

NEWARK — Ohio sends millions to government agencies in Licking County each year for both day-to-day operations and special projects. However, as lawmakers struggle to close an $8 billion budget deficit, the future of subsidies to local schools, counties and cities is up in the air.

This year, legislators might push consolidation efforts, urging governments to share services with their neighbors.

Licking County agencies received $298.3 million from the state in fiscal year 2010 to run schools and local government services. In addition, $27.8 million in state funds was used for capital expenses, according to the state’s Legislative Service Commission.

No one is sure how this number will change as Ohio lawmakers scramble to mend the budget gap.

GOP looks to end Ohio estate tax

Jan. 12, 2011, Newark Advocate

BY JESSICA ALAIMO AND RUSS ZIMMER

CentralOhio.com

COLUMBUS — A bill was introduced Tuesday at the Statehouse to eliminate Ohio’s estate tax, also known ominously as “the death tax” by its detractors.

The state’s estate tax is the strictest in the nation, said state Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark, one of the bill’s sponsors.

Although the federal government doesn’t tax estates worth less than $5 million, Ohio starts taxing estates at $338,000. This includes everything: cash assets, property, land and machinery.

Hottinger and state Rep. Cheryl Grossman, R-Grove City, rolled out a plan Tuesday to repeal the tax at a Statehouse news conference. Gov. John Kasich also supports the measure.

Proposed change in speeding law likely won’t affect enforcement

June 27, 2010, Marion Star

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

Getting a speeding ticket based on radar is bad enough. But what about one based on a police officer’s observations?

A recently publicized development in state law means police officers need no more than a trained eye to issue a speeding ticket. A state lawmaker fears this leaves a door wide open to abuses in the system.

Passing legislation requiring officers to use a mechanical device while issuing speeding tickets will take some time, however — the General Assembly is on summer recess.