Chairman Dolan, Vice Chairman Cirino, Ranking Member Sykes, and members of the Senate Finance Committee, my name is Will Petrik. I am the Project Director with Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. Our mission is to create a more prosperous, equitable, sustainable and inclusive Ohio. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on House Bill 33.
No child should have to go to bed hungry in Ohio. No family should have to worry about whether to pay the rent or go to see a doctor. Yet, Ohio’s children are more likely than children nationwide to go without food and less likely to live in financially secure households.[1] The child care sector is in crisis, stifling children’s development and hamstringing the workforce. Legislators have the opportunity and responsibility to use the state budget to reverse course, and make Ohio the best state to live, work, raise a family and pursue happiness. We have the resources to do it.
Things recently got worse for many of our neighbors: An estimated 673,000 households in Ohio now have fewer resources to keep food on the table.[2] Households have seen their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food assistance decline by $188 a month, on average. An estimated 220,000 Ohioans are expected to lose health coverage and be disenrolled from Medicaid as the state redetermines eligibility for the program.
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