‘Ohio is too expensive.’ Ohio House Democrats plan to introduce series of affordability bills
By:Megan Henry-April 2, 20263:50 am
The Ohio Statehouse. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal).
Democratic lawmakers in the Ohio House are introducing several affordability bills in an attempt to lower the state’s cost of living.
The bills focus on five areas — health care, housing, child care, consumer goods, and energy affordability.
“Ohio is too expensive for too many, and it’s time that legislators and leaders stepped up to take action,” Ohio state Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, said. “For too long, politicians in Columbus have steered the economy in the wrong direction.”
Many Ohioans are living paycheck to paycheck, she said.
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“They try to save up for the hard times, but then they open an electric bill or pick up a prescription, and the dollars that were meant to go to the savings account are gone in an instant,” Piccolantonio said.
La’Quisa Richardson, a mother and a foster parent, said she has struggled to make ends meet.
“More families and individuals find themselves living paycheck to paycheck or day to day after paying for housing and childcare they can’t afford much else,” she said. “When you factor in food and medicine, there is little left.”
Ohio Democrats argue these bills are not about partisan issues.
“We were very intentional about choosing bills that will decrease the cost of living, increase affordability for Ohioans and have a proven track record of bipartisan success around the country,” Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, said when asked how likely these bills will pass with a Republican majority in the Ohio Statehouse.
Health care
Ohio state Rep. Anita Somani, D-Dublin, is introducing a bill that would create a reinsurance program in Ohio. Seventeen states have enacted a similar law.
“A reinsurance program operates like insurance for insurance companies,” she said. “So if someone got cancer or had a serious heart condition that required expensive treatment, the state would be able to step in and cover part of the cost of that catastrophic care.”
States that have implemented a reinsurance program have seen the price of health care premiums go down, Somani said.
After an enrollee’s annual medical costs surpass $30,000, the State Reinsurance Program would reimburse insurers for 80% of claims up to a maximum cap of $250,000.
Somani is proposing funding this through two revenues of funds. The first would add a 1% assessment fee on health insurance carriers in Ohio, making it a charge on the insurance industry. The other way would be redirecting federal “pass through” funding of the Affordable Care Act to Ohio.
“The crushing weight of the cost of health care is one of the main contributors to the affordability crisis in Ohio,” said Somani, who is an OB-GYN.
Housing
Ohio state Rep. Karen Brownlee, D-Symmes Township, is introducing bills that would provide down payment assistance for new home buyers with $50 million in stimulus funding to the Ohio Housing Trust Fund and a $100 million residential development loan program.
“Ohio used to be a place where you can afford to pay your rent, save up and buy your first home and raise your children,” Brownlee said.
“What we’re going to do is expand the loan program statewide through a tiered structure that will still prioritize rural communities. This is how you launch a housing boom. You stimulate the economy around it.”
Nearly half of Ohio’s 1.58 million renters are paying more than they can afford on rent and Ohio has a shortage of 266,000 affordable and available rental units, according to the 2026 Gap Report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio.
Affordable housing costs 30% or less of a person’s gross income, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Child care
The average cost of child care in Ohio is more than $10,400 a year, said Ohio state Rep. Crystal Lett, D-Columbus.
“How can we claim to be pro family or pro growth when our policies are pushing parents out of the workforce?” Lett asked.
State Rep. Ashley Bailey Bryant, D-Cincinnati, introduced Ohio House Bill 804 — a child care tax credit bill that would create a refundable income tax credit for eligible child care expenses for Ohioans with a child under 5 years old.
The tax credit would be $2,000 per child, maxing out at $4,000 for two or more children.
The maximum income eligibility for the tax credit is 550% of the federal poverty line — $150,260 annual income for a family of three or $181,500 annual income or less for a family of four.
“This is absolutely not a radical idea,” Lett said. “When we invest in child care, we are investing in our workforce, in our businesses and in our economy.”
Consumer goods
Ohio state Rep. Munira Abdullahi, D-Columbus, talked about Ohio House Bill 633, a bill she introduced with Ohio state Rep. Michele Grim, D-Toledo.
“If a fee is mandatory, it belongs on the advertised price,” Abdullahi said. “The price you see should be the price that you pay. … This bill does not tell businesses what to charge. It just requires honesty and transparency.”
Energy affordability
Ohio state Rep. Tristan Rader, D-Lakewood, talked about energy affordability bills he is introducing.
One bill would call on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to freeze all utility rate increases for the next 12 months and the other bill would increase Ohio’s gas mileage severance tax from 2.5% to 7%.
“What that will generate is a credit on everybody’s bill in the state of Ohio who pays utility of $150,” Rader said. “That’s an annual credit that real Ohioans can use today.”
That will create a $150 annual credit on customer’s bills, Rader said.
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Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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