High-ranking Ohio Democrat visits Oxford
During a visit to Oxford, Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo discussed the impacts of changing federal policy on Ohioans and the risks facing higher education from pending state legislation.
The venue was standing room only at LaRosa’s Pizza as Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo spoke to members of the Butler County Progressive PAC Feb. 25.
Russo, a Democrat, is the second-highest ranking official in her party statewide. No Democrats have won statewide office since Sherrod Brown won reelection in 2018.
Russo has been rumored to be considering a run for Ohio Governor in 2026. Republican Governor Mike DeWine is term-limited, and multiple Republican candidates including Attorney General Dave Yost and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy have announced their campaigns. Democrat Amy Acton, who served as health commissioner for Ohio at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, has also announced a gubernatorial campaign.
While Don Daiker, founding president of the PAC, referenced rumors of Russo’s gubernatorial campaign as he introduced her, she did not address her next steps during the event.
Much of the discussion focused on the current federal and statewide political climate. President Donald Trump won Ohio by 11 points. Since inauguration, the Trump administration has quickly worked to reshape the federal government through mass firings led by Elon Musk and signaled hostility to the United States’ biggest allies.
Mass firings and federal funding freezes have already had a direct impact on Ohio, Russo said. Many farmers rely on grants to fund their operations, and Russo said she’s heard from constituents who haven’t been able to get responses about their funding.
“This is going to be extremely painful and is going to cause real harm to people,” Russo said. “... The pain will probably have to be experienced before people realize that they can’t continue to make this choice.”
During the event, Russo took questions from the audience, including several on the future of a bill targeting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and collective bargaining rights in Ohio’s higher education institutions. Senate Bill 1, which passed in the state senate the day after an eight-hour marathon of opponent testimony, would drastically curtail the reach of DEI initiatives in college, regulate how professors teach content and prevent faculty from striking.
While the bill focuses on higher education, Russo said it opens the door to rolling back collective bargaining rights in K-12 education, as well.
“We’ve already had a Republican say this in the senate,” Russo said. “What stops them, then, from moving to the K through 12 education space and saying, ‘You can’t strike during the school year, and you can’t negotiate these certain components during your labor negotiations?’ That is a huge step backwards for organized labor in this state.”
Tom Young, the chair of the House Higher Education Committee, doesn’t plan to hold testimony until budget hearings are over, Russo said. However, he has indicated that he only intends to hold two days of witness testimony, which Russo said characterized as an effort to rush the bill through.
Ohio’s state legislators are in the middle of a biennial budget process. Governor Mike DeWine presented his executive budget proposal earlier this month, and the State House is drafting its own version before the budget will go to the State Senate. By law, Ohio lawmakers need to pass a budget by June 30.
