HB 200 Restores Work Requirement to Ohio’s Able-Bodied Food Stamp Recipients

  In 1996 the United States Congress passed welfare reform, which added work requirements for able-bodied adults receiving food stamps, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  Under President Obama in his 2009 stimulus bill, a waiver was created that allows states and local governments to opt out of those work, training and volunteer requirements. State Representative Scott Wiggam (R-Wooster) has introduced House Bill 200 to restore the dignity of work in Ohio.  According the analysis of the bill, “SNAP recipients must meet work-related eligibility requirements to remain (in) the program.”  The requirements for all non-disabled individuals between the ages of 16 and 59, include the following: accepting a job offer registering for work not voluntarily quitting a job or reducing hours worked participating in a state-offered SNAP employment and training program Additional requirements are in place for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) to obtain benefits with HB 200.  “Individuals between the ages of 18 and 49 who have no dependents and are not disabled…can only receive SNAP benefits for up to three months every three years,” the analysis states.  The only exceptions are if: the ABAWD is working at least 20 hours per week the ABAWD is participating…

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What Sherrod Brown Refusing to Run Means for 2020 and the Future of Ohio

Ohio’s only potential 2020 contender announced Thursday that he wouldn’t run for president. After taking a three-month tour of key battleground states, dubbed the “Dignity of Work” Tour, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown’s decision shocked many who saw him as one of the best chances to defeat President Trump. No one can say for certain why he chose not to run, but a great deal can be said about what his not running means. As previously reported, Sherrod Brown’s entire campaign strategy revolved around him being able to harmonize a message that would appeal to the blue-collar working class that turned away from Democrats in 2016, with the recent Democratic-Socialist philosophy that currently dominates that 2020 Democratic political conversation. His plan was to reach out to blue-collar workers across America and declared; “dignity of work means hard work should pay off for everyone, no matter who you are or what kind of work you do.” That having a job wasn’t enough; one must have security and prosperity. From here, he inferred that he would tack into Democratic-socialist programs like major healthcare expansions, free college tuition, and a $15 minimum wage. This would give him a cross-base advantage as he would be able to appeal to…

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Sherrod Brown Makes Final Stop in Dignity of Work Tour

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown arrived in South Carolina Friday in the final planned stop on his three-month “Dignity of Work” tour. The official aim of the tour, which began in January, was to share “some of his ideas to make hard work pay off for everyone.” Unofficially, the tour has been an attempt to “test the waters” to see if he would be a viable candidate for a potential 2020 run. The tour took the Senator to Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, which are all considered critical battleground states in presidential elections. While it appears he will conclude the tour without announcing his candidacy, the tour did, as far his public statements are concerned, seem to fully convince him that his campaign would have one unassailable advantage over his opponents. In an interview with Buzzfeed, Brown stated: It has surprised us that this many people, including Republicans, that this many people have begun to talk about the dignity of work. I don’t think they flesh it out well enough yet or extensively enough. I think they mean it. I don’t mean there’s any insincerity in it. But I think we can’t do it enough … I carry it better than anybody else…

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Sherrod Brown: If I Run I Will be ‘The Most Pro-Union, Pro-Worker Candidate’

Saturday, before an assembly of the Culinary Union – the most powerful workers union in Las Vegas – Democratic Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown declared that should he run, he would be “The Most Pro-Union, Pro-Worker Candidate” out of the entire field. He stated, “I will always fight for workers, I will always be on the side of workers.” Brown also announced that should he become president, he would immediately convene a meeting of key industry leaders and encourage them to pay their workers, at least, a minimum wage of $15. He did not say that he would introduce a $15 minimum wage bill, however, only that he would encourage corporations to pay a minimum wage of $15 per hour. The Ohio Senator is in the middle of his “Dignity of Work” tour and has been traveling to key presidential battleground states to advocate for “workers-first policies.” He stated that he would make his formal decision whether or not to run sometime next month. His declaration to be the most “pro-union” candidate is at odds with his oft-repeated campaign positioning strategy of being a center-progressive who can win moderate votes. By vowing to take pro-union positions that would put him to the left…

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Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown’s ‘Dignity of Work’ Tour Slammed by RNC

Republican National Committee Spokesperson Mandi Merritt issued a blistering broadside Wednesday against Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and his “Dignity of Work” tour. She stated: As Sherrod Brown takes his phony pro-workers’ agenda to the early primary states, he risks abandoning his own Ohio constituents. Ohio didn’t sign up for a part-time Senator, and by partaking in the Democrats’ turbocharged race to the left, Brown is bound to leave Ohio voters in the dust. Brown’s ‘Dignity of Work’ tour has nothing to do with fighting for hard-working families, and everything to do with Brown’s own political ambitions. Senator Brown’s “Dignity of Work” tour is scheduled to take him from Iowa, to New Hampshire, South Carolina, and then Nevada. As previously reported, much of his political platform hinges appealing to the populist blue-collar, politically moderate, working class and far-left democratic-socialist progressives. He intends to see if his many democratic-socialist positions will appeal to voters in these key battleground states. In 2016, many of those blue-collar moderates ended up siding with President Trump. In 2018, Brown was the only Democratic legislator in the Buckeye State to win or maintain his seat. Next year in what promises to be a highly-charged (and very crowded) presidential election cycle, Brown will be in…

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