© 2024 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New Report Supports Need to Invest in Ohio Families, Seniors and Poor

photo of Lisa Hamler Fugitt
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
Lisa Hamler Fugitt supports the recommendation to bring all food assistance programs under one umbrella.

A new report by a coalition of social service groups says state leaders need to invest in families, Ohio’s seniors and the poorest in the state when they approve the next two-year state budget.

The report by Advocates for Ohio’s Future says it’s important for Ohio to maintain Medicaid expansion while increasing mental and behavioral health services. It also recommends the state bring food assistance programs under one umbrella, a move that Lisa Hamler Fugitt of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks applauds.

“Our request is for $30 million per year. That represents $1.25 per person per month served through the emergency food assistance network.”

Gov. Mike DeWine might include many of the suggestions made in this report when he unveils his budget next month.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.