Children frolicked on the playground of the Wayman Palmer YMCA, where Ohio Democrats gathered to celebrate the party’s efforts to move Americans out of the pandemic.
State Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D., Toledo), Lucas County Treasurer Lindsay Webb, Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, and union representative Justin Richmond highlighted how the child tax credit and national infrastructure legislation will benefit residents.
The “Road to Recovery” tour consists of three stops — Toledo on Monday, Akron on Tuesday, and Cincinnati on Wednesday — leading up to President Biden’s Wednesday visit to the Queen City.
“It’s been a tough year for communities around the state, including Toledo, and we know it’s not enough just to return to normal,” Ms. Hicks-Hudson said. “We have to build back better and invest in working families to create a better future for our state, and that’s exactly what President Biden is doing.”
Bolstering infrastructure is a key component in the “Road to Recovery,” they said.
Though Republicans favor a more conservative, traditional infrastructure package, Ms. Webb said simply paving roads will not pave the way to recovery.
She stressed the importance of expanding access to high-speed internet, addressing climate change, and replacing lead paint and pipes, revitalizing industry, and investing in education and child care.
“That’s how we’re going to move our state forward, our city forward, and our country forward. There is no other way,” Ms. Webb said.
The state of Ohio’s recently passed budget includes broadband expansion, Ohio Republican Party Communications Director Tricia McLaughlin said.
Infrastructure legislation has not yet made its way through Congress.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) plans to bring up a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion Democratic reconciliation bill.
Both address infrastructure, but the former provides for traditional issues such as roads and bridges, while the latter will spend on Medicare, climate change, and college and only requires a simple majority to pass.
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) is one of the 22 U.S. senators — 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats — spearheading the bipartisan package.
“We have a situation now in our country where we do have crumbling infrastructure. It’s hurting our efficiency, therefore our productivity and our competitiveness,” Mr. Portman told CNN on Sunday.
Mr. Portman differentiated his bill from the Democrats’ reconciliation plan, which he believes will lead to high inflation.
“I think [the reconciliation bill] is a terrible idea for our economy coming out of the pandemic and I hope that they're not successful,” he said. “But ours is on an entirely different track and everyone acknowledges that.”
However, Mr. Portman rejected Mr. Schumer’s Wednesday deadline, claiming the legislation is too important to rush. If senators fail to come to an agreement before Wednesday — the same day Mr. Biden is set to visit Cincinnati — it is unclear whether the bills will pass.
Ms. Webb said that Toledo will soldier on even if the deal falls through.
“Public policy on the Trump administration had been for local communities to figure it out and we figured it out,” she said, though she added that the city needs federal funding to make significant improvements.
Mr. Portman frequently emphasizes the importance of bipartisan compromise, but he joined U.S. Senate Republicans in unanimously rejecting the child tax credit, a policy that Ohio’s other U.S. senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, has championed.
The child tax credit passed through the American Rescue Plan in February and will put $250 in parents’ pockets for each child aged two to 17. Those with children under age two will receive $300 per toddler. Tax credit money began to be delivered last week.
While a group of children climbed the jungle gym behind her, Ms. Hicks-Hudson said that the child tax credit will benefit 92 percent of Ohio’s minors.
Mr. Richmond, an Old West End resident and Ms. Hicks-Hudson’s neighbor, represents the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
Mr. Richmond refuted the talking point that the tax credit discourages Americans from working.
He said that argument “upsets” him because many members of his union left their jobs to care for their children. He added that their salaries failed to cover day-care costs.
“The child tax incentive will give people the opportunity to stay in the work force and not leave the workforce,” he explained.
Mr. Richmond has a 2-year-old daughter, and he said that the child tax credit will be “a huge benefit” to him and his wife, who works at the Toledo Museum of Art.
The money will enable Americans in Toledo and beyond to bear the cost of day care, gas, and groceries, Ms. Webb said.
Ms. McLaughlin pointed out that the Trump administration doubled the child tax credit in 2017, though the same legislation cut personal deductions, which limited benefits for larger families.
That tax credit exists as temporary coronavirus relief.
But Mr. Brown and other Democrats are pushing to make the policy permanent.
Ms. Hicks-Hudson, Ms. Webb, and Mr. Kapszukiewicz — the Democratic party’s endorsed candidate for Toledo’s upcoming mayoral race — each credited congressional Democrats with helping Americans progress beyond the pandemic.
But none of the speakers mentioned Mr. Biden’s upcoming stay in Cincinnati, which the Ohio Democratic Party cited as the reason for Monday’s event.
Mr. Biden will stop in Cincinnati for a CNN town hall addressing coronavirus and the economy. CNN anchor Don Lemon will lead the event, which will air live at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
The visit will mark Mr. Biden’s third visit to Ohio following his eight-point loss to Donald Trump for the state’s electoral votes during the 2020 presidential election. It also will be Mr. Biden’s first visit since the election to Cincinnati. Vice President Kamala Harris came to the Queen City in April to discuss public transportation.
First Published July 20, 2021, 12:26 a.m.
