A regular feature to the Chagrin Gateway Democrats from Lyn Newman

What happened? The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (S.A.V.E.) Act, which passed the House and is currently stalled in the Senate, is a bill that mandates proof of citizenship to register to vote. Does not sound like a bad thing. We only want citizens to be voting right? The problem is how people are being asked to prove citizenship. Were you on the rolls before, but skipped an election and got “purged”, so now you have to re-register? You have to dig out your birth certificate. But if you are a married woman, your birth certificate may not have the same name as your driver’s license so you also need your marriage license. However, not all states may accept that as proof of who you are. It may be that only a passport will do. See a problem? In addition, providing state ID and passports are generally not an issue for people of means, who can afford a passport. People with cars are able to drive to the DMV to get their enhanced driver’s license and update their voter registration. But for the elderly person who may no longer drive, or the person of limited resources who never had a car, getting to where their birth certificate is stored and then to the DMV may be a significant challenge. Add in physical disabilities, and you have made it nearly impossible. This is the reason registration drives, and mail in registration were such a boon. But this new law will make those illegal.  

Why it matters? : You have to ask yourself, who is this meant to target? Are we really worried about non-citizens voting? Or are we worried about making it too easy for people to vote who might not vote a certain way? When we make it harder for people to register to vote, we are often disenfranchising the very people who would be supporting candidates that are for upholding the good government  issues like infrastructure, school funding, childcare and nutrition, and the social safety net of Medicare and Medicaid. Are the people who support those issues, the same ones who are trying to make it harder for people to register to vote, and to vote once they are registered? I think not.  

 What can we do about it?: We lost by such small margins. The problem may not be the Republicans, it may be the couch. Whether or not the S.A.V.E. act passes, we need to get more like-minded people registered to vote and to the polls. We need to help people see that nothing changes if we do not change it. We all need to ask ourselves, “What can I do? Do I know someone who isn’t registered to vote? If so, why?  Do they not have a state ID? Can I help them get to where their birth certificate is and then to a DMV so they can get a state ID and then get registered? And then plan to take them with me to vote. Can I do that? I bet I can.”   What if we all did that? How much larger would our turn out be?   

Lyn Newman can be found on Bluesky

A regular feature to the Chagrin Gateway Democrats from Lyn Newman

What happened?:  I spent most of Saturday morning standing in the drizzle with my husband and 1,200 of my neighbors at the STAND! While We Can! rally, waving our soggy protest signs at the drivers around Lander Circle. The signs ranged in subject from general concern about the state of our democracy to specific concerns about the Ohio budget, cuts to social services, the tanking economy, job losses and some very amusing takes on Elon Musk’s overreach and our president’s subservience to Vladimir Putin. Many of the drivers honked and waved or gave a thumbs up. A few gave a “one-fingered salute”, but more mouthed “thank you.”. Why “thank you?” Probably for doing something, amid what feels like overwhelming chaos.

Why it matters? : Because we need to do something and this is as good a place to start as any. The hard right played a long game. While we were not paying attention, they were getting hard right judges and the Ohio assembly elected so that we now have an election map so gerrymandered that it is nearly impossible for progressive ideas and candidates to succeed. So now we must play a long game. We must concentrate on local elections and start flipping council seats, school boards and Judgeships. And now is the time, because discontent is strong. No matter what their politics, people in Ohio are not going to be happy with the coming economic changes. These protests are a step in reminding people that this is not what anybody voted for. 

What can we do about it?: We need to talk to people about what is happening and why.  People are upset and frustrated, we need to encourage them to harness that into doing something. Participate in protests. Call and e-mail congresspeople. Speak up at town halls and school board meetings, join local Democratic clubs and most of all VOTE (and take 5 friends with you—we did not lose by all that much).

Lyn Newman can be found on Bluesky

On April 3 the  Chagrin Gateway Dems were treated to an evening that was at once both inspiring and thought-provoking.  Three engaging speakers enlightened us about the true cost of the changes in education funding and policy. First, Dr. Christine Collins of Honesty for Ohio Education helped us see why we cannot allow the words DEI to be demonized.  Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are the definition of good teaching because kids are different and should learn in welcoming environments. But SB 1 ends DEI, and curtails tenure protections and collective bargaining in higher education—and while that may be a done deal pending court intervention, SB113 and HB 155 are current attempts to strip DEI out of K through 12.  Collins encouraged us to advise our schools officials to: not “discriminate in advance” out of fear of coming legislation; to consult with civil rights attorneys; to focus on what is best for kids

Dan Heintz, school board member in Cleveland Hts./University Hts., and a history teacher in Chardon, spoke about why private school vouchers are not only unconstitutional, they are harmful to Ohioans because they undermine public schools. While the state pays public schools  $600-900/year per student;  the state is paying families with vouchers $8408  per student /year. That money is coming out of school budgets. The schools that receive the money are going to have little or no oversight and many of the students receiving the voucher money were not in public schools before receiving the money. He encouraged us to make our voices heard; to run for school boards and support judicial candidates that will uphold the constitution. 

Finally, former Chagrin Falls school board member Kathryn Garvey spoke to us about the Fair School Funding Plan. This was a plan that was created by a bipartisan group of lawmakers along with education experts to create a constitutionally fair and financially appropriate allocation of state and local dollars to fund Ohio education. It was to be implemented over 6 years, but after 4 years, the Ohio Assembly decided not to cover the State’s share of the true cost—opting instead to give a only 2% increase. This leaves property owners to make up the difference—except that due to a complex sub-bill, communities with greater cash reserves would have to rebate taxpayers. That also means they would never have the cash reserves to qualify for AAA bonds needed to be used to renovate schools. Catch 22?  It cannot be that the state general assembly wants public schools to fail, can it? The Fair School Funding Plan was a good idea when it was implemented and it needs to be followed. Garvey encouraged us to tell Governor DeWine and our state representatives that.   

We ended the evening feeling both frustrated and hopeful.  Thank you to Dr. Christine Collins, Dan Heinz, and Kathryn Garvey.

– Lyn Newman

A regular feature to the Chagrin Gateway Democrats from Lyn Newman

What happened? :  On April 1, 2025 Susan Crawford won her seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court despite Elon Musk having spent millions of dollars and making personal visits to Wisconsin trying to defeat her. She not only won, she won by a 10 percent margin. 

Why it matters?: Crawford’s victory maintains a 4-3 liberal advantage on the Wisconsin court for a least another year in a term that could decide cases about congressional maps and redistricting as well as reproductive rights and collective bargaining. But more than that, her victory is a sign that votes matter. Message matters. When people can see the local consequences of political action, they can be persuaded to vote for their own interests.  

What can we do about it?: Talk about issues. Avoid “us vs them language”. Talk to people about what needs doing and finding leaders that can help us get it done. We need local School Board Members, City Council Members and Judges who believe in upholding the constitution.  We all really do want to make America Great. But we want it to be great for all of us. We can do it if we all work together. Susan Crawford just proved it.

Lyn Newman can be found on Bluesky

A regular feature to the Chagrin Gateway Democrats from Lyn Newman

What happened? : Candidate Trump told us “I have nothing to do with Project 2025” and he would be bringing down grocery prices on day one. President Trump has put a laser focus on the priorities of Project 2025 and grocery prices have soared. This week, while still doing nothing that helps lower food prices, he made good on another Project 2025 goal. He signed an executive order to shut down the Department of Education. Trump wants to give the responsibility for education “back to the states”.

Why it matters? : The Department of Education is responsible for financial aid, data collection about education, education reform, and prohibiting discrimination. Getting rid of the department puts at risk programs like Pell grants that provide financial aid for future teachers, the research that allows us to identify areas of improvement, and programs for the disabled. Poorer states get a much larger percentage of their education budget from federal monies. Leaving aside the fact that presidents cannot unilaterally end cabinet level departments without congressional approval, who does the Department of Education closure serve? Our society is best served by having a well educated workforce taught by creative and well compensated teachers. Taking money away from schools is not the way to make that happen. Especially in an environment where tax cuts are being planned for those in our wealthiest tax brackets.

What can we do about it? We can start by attending the April 3, 6:30 pm meeting of the Chagrin Gateway Democrats at the Orange Library where a panel discussion on the education and funding cuts including several current and former school board members. There we will learn how these cuts might affect our schools, and how we might most effectively target our protests.

Lyn Newman can be found on Bluesky