Given the dearth of good information available to citizens today, I challenge AAUW branches to reclaim a vital role they once performed admirably—and one that a few still do—of informing their fellow citizens about issues we believe are important. When armed with trustworthy information, citizens are more likely to feel impelled to vote without being nagged by frequent telephone calls. In the short term on the state level, please work on overturning SB 5 and getting signatures for the petition to overturn the H.B. 194 voting bill (deadline Sept. 29). In the long term, focus on turning out the vote of people who support our issues in 2012. You might consider forming a study group to work on the latter project (see article below); working in partnership with other like-minded organizations will enhance your effort. All hands need to be on deck for the former issue as November is right around the corner, and outside conservative funding groups will soon be inundating our airwaves in support of SB 5.While the AAUW Public Policy Program does not include a provision in support of unions, it does unequivocally support public education. The terms of SB 5 are so wide-ranging and so offensive to educators, who believe that it will damage the institution for many reasons, that AAUW members are encouraged to work for its overturn…if not as a branch then individually as part of another initiative. While researching the issue myself, I found it difficult to find up-to-date analysis. You either find legalese that really doesn’t convey the underlying problems clearly or emotion laden pieces that don’t offer sufficient detail. However, the Innovation/Ohio article attached gives a first look at the issue and some important background. Also attached is a memo written for us by a Cleveland labor law firm involved in the We Are Ohio campaign to overturn SB 5. It documents in mind-numbing detail the many assaults being made on public workers both through SB5 and the budget bill, HB 153. For even greater mind-numbing detail, call up the Ohio Legislative Services Commission summary of the bill at: http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/analyses129/s0005-rh-129.pdf. Finally, I have attached a piece that I wrote which highlights several over-arching themes that may help persuade your fellow citizens that SB 5 should be repealed.

AAUW Ohio members should be aware that after it became apparent that there was strong support for a referendum of SB 5, Ohio lawmakers inserted many provisions of SB 5 into the budget—some rewritten, which cannot be changed except by electing a new legislature in 2012 and a new governor in 2014. Nonetheless, overturning SB 5 will nullify some deleterious provisions, and victory may mobilize Ohioans to elect a more citizen friendly state government in the future.In addition, I have attached an Economic Policy Institute 2011 Issue Brief entitled The Teaching Penalty that documents how teachers have lost ground for years salary-wise to comparable workers in the private sector even when benefits are factored in. This kind of information is especially useful when dealing with the pro-SB 5 argument you will hear a lot of in the coming months that teachers need to give back like all other private employees have been expected to. The supporters of SB 5 are relying on their ability to turn one group of citizens against another by obfuscating the evidence. I challenge AAUW groups to provide their fellow citizens with this information either through public forums, letters to the editor or word of mouth. It’s important to recall that SB 5 only passed by one vote in the Senate, that six Republican Senators crossed party lines to vote against it, and that Republicans had to remove two committee members to get the onerous bill through key committees and onto the floor for a vote. Clearly, the bill does not possess the rationale that its supporters claim. Please remember that when AAUW has a policy on a given issue, branches are supposed to advocate only for that policy and not spend resources providing a forum for airing both sides.

At the recent Leadership Workshop I distributed a flyer related to the referendum drive to overturn HB 194. However, you can find even more information about it at: http://www.ohiofairelections.com/faq and even download your own petition for circulation among branch members and friends. The AAUW Public Policy Program stands strongly behind civil rights, an important one of which is voting rights. This webpage explains why this offensive, regressive bill is designed specifically to suppress the vote of certain segments of our citizenry including seniors. It could have been worse had the voter ID provision been included, but that could still be acted upon. However, if enough signatures can be gathered by Sept. 29, it will keep the current regulations in force until the election of 2012 since the issue will not qualify for this fall’s ballot due to the timing.

AAUW JOINS “HERvotes” COALITION TO FOCUS ATTENTION
ON VITAL WOMEN’S ISSUES THAT ARE AT RISK
AAUW President Linda Hallman announced on Women’s Equality Day (Aug. 26) AAUW’s participation in a coalition of women’s groups dubbed “HERvotes” with the HER standing for “health and economic rights” dedicated to protecting 10 vital women’s issues now deemed at risk. Please read an outline of these issues at:
http://msmagazine.com/HERvotes/index.htm, which explains the issue and why it is under threat. You might copy and distribute this page at a meeting this year and include it in your newsletter. If you have an open slot, you might also schedule a speaker on one or more of the issues once we move past the SB 5 vote.On a blog AAUW created for this campaign at: http://blog-aauw.org/hervotes/, where you can listen to a TV ad created for this campaign, Hallman wrote: “AAUW is proud to launch a serious investment in getting out the women’s vote for the 2012 election. With our new ‘My Vote: I Will Be Heard’ campaign, we will work to educate women across the country about the rights and privileges that are at stake in the upcoming election. We will increase the volume and direction of women’s voices and commit ourselves to getting women to the polls in record numbers. How will we do it? By doing what AAUW does best: educating, building community, and advocating. We have developed voter-education materials, including how-to manuals, community and campus outreach guides, and online and social media resources.” Branches, please decide how you can be involved.

LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE SUMMARY
The 2011 Leadership Workshop at Otterbein University in Westerville on Aug. 6 organized by Isabel Seavey of the Warren-Trumbull County Branch was well attended and is well summarized on the AAUW website at: http://aauwoh.org/aauwoh/2011/08/06/speakers-are-standouts-at-leadership-workshop-2011-get-what-you-missed-here/. There were a number of excellent public policy sessions including a keynote by Theresa Flores, a victim of trafficking who has written a book about her experience and works with Gracehaven, a Columbus area safe house. AAUW Ohio will continue its focus on the issue of trafficking this year, and a special page has been established on the AAUW Ohio website that you should check frequently to update you on the latest information at: http://aauwoh.org/aauwoh/about/projects/stop-trafficking-in-ohio/. There you can read about a new bill—H.B. 262, the Safe Harbor Act—introduced by now Rep. Teresa Fedor of Toledo, which gives us something concrete to advocate for.

The Leadership Workshop also featured a panel, which I organized and moderated, on important AAUW issues currently being savaged by Ohio state government—public education, reproductive choice and voting rights. You can view the former District 43 State Representative Steve Dyer’s punchy Powerpoint about education funding, the budget and SB 5 at the first link listed above. Dyer is now a fellow at a Innovation/Ohio, a progressive think tank that covers education and other issues listed at: http://innovationohio.org/issues/reports.

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio’s Jaime Miracle outlined the many anti-abortion bills that have been introduced and told us what to expect this fall—several links are included in the web coverage. While we did not have a speaker on the voting rights issue, a handout was provided. See the webpage mentioned in the first article above for further information. Branches were encouraged to share the information with the public. Attached is a summary of this information which I presented on a display at the convention. You may wish to reproduce and share it with your members.