previously used to make submarine parts,
but we’re not really sure,” says Hanauer.
The focus of Policy Matters has
expanded well beyond the organization’s
early emphasis on work and wages, to
include education, economic development,
the state’s revenue and budget, the region’s
foreclosure crisis, sustainability, and much
more. Yet the goal remains the same.
“Our mission is to create a more
vibrant, equitable, sustainable, and inclusive
Ohio,” explains Hanauer. “So, the ideal way
it works is that we do the research, then
hand it off to a community organizer or
labor leader or elected official who will go
out and activate the troops and get policies
changed. It’s not always as clean as that,
but that’s the vision and it’s a vision that for
many things has really worked.”
For example, early on, Policy Matters
staffers took an up-close look at how
raising the minimum wage would help
Ohio’s economy by putting more money
in the pockets of the state’s lowestpaid
workers. The research helped get a
proposal to raise the state’s minimum
wage – from $5.15 to $6.85, with further
The focus of Policy
Matters Ohio has
expanded beyond
its early emphasis
on work and
wages to include
education, economic
development, the
state’s revenue and
budget, the region’s
foreclosure crisis,
sustainability, and
much more.
increases tied to inflation – on the ballot. It passed in 2006, with more than 55 percent of
Ohioans voting for the measure. Today, Ohio’s minimum wage is $7.95 an hour.
More recently, Policy Matters played a pivotal role in getting a bill passed by the Ohio
General Assembly that makes way for so-called “work sharing” in the state. The legislation,
which was signed by Governor John Kasich last summer, lets Ohio’s employers reduce
employees’ hours instead of laying employees off. Those employees are then able to apply for
unemployment insurance to get back some of the income for those lost hours of work.
“There are real benefits to this for both employers and employees,” says Zack Schiller, who
joined Policy Matters in 2000 after a 20-plus year career in journalism, which included 18 years
as the Cleveland bureau chief for BusinessWeek magazine and another four years at The Plain
Dealer. “We did a report three or four years ago about this, which said that if Ohio had this law
in time for the last recession, and if we had the same level of participation as they have in other
states, we could have had several thousand people who could have kept their jobs.”
This kind of advocacy on behalf of Ohioans, in particular those who don’t walk the
corridors of power, is key, says Bergholz, who after retiring from the Gund Foundation
joined Policy Matters’ board of directors. “If there ever was a moment when you needed a
voice that was speaking for the working person, this is it. It’s a declining force in America,
much to my regret, so it’s more vital than it’s been for decades.”
Another major victory for Policy Matters, which also benefited the state’s workers:
Ohio’s advanced energy standard, which says that by 2025, at least 12.5 percent of the
electricity generated in the state be from renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar.
“Early on, we realized that there was a lot of opportunity for a state like Ohio if we
invested in green technologies,” explains Hanauer. “If the United States had more wind
turbines and solar panels, a lot more Ohioans could be put to work producing those things.”
In 2008, Policy Matters worked with then-Governor Ted Strickland to pass the standards
and today Ohio is a leader in wind-related manufacturing, with more than 60 facilities in
the state. “Unfortunately, those standards are under assault right now,” says Hanauer. “But
we really feel the economy and the environment can grow together – that there is a smart
approach that involves more use of transit, more use of renewable energy, and denser and
more vibrant communities.”
A Home in Shaker
You could say that in some ways, Hanauer is talking about an Ohio that looks more like
Shaker Heights, a fact that is not lost on her. “A greater embrace of diversity, public services,
great schools, great parks, and mass transit would make this state a better place. Shaker
residents understand that,” she says.
Hanauer and Cassell made the move to Shaker Heights in 2004 after six years in
Cleveland Heights. By then they had a daughter, Katrina.
Hanauer says, “What drew me to Shaker as a community was the fact that it was
unequivocal about investing in schools and paying teachers well. Educating the next
generation is one of the highest priorities we can have as a society, and that is certainly what
made me want to raise my kids in Shaker.”
She and her husband were also struck by Shaker’s ethnic diversity. “At one point,
Katrina did a story for the Onaway Observer where she went around the school and
interviewed students about whether they spoke another language at home. There were
dozens.” That included Hanauer’s own home; Cassell is originally from Germany and speaks
his native language with the couple’s children. Shaker also reminds Hanauer of the New
Jersey town where she grew up, and which she partly credits with helping develop her
progressive worldview.
“I was raised in an economically diverse community, much like Shaker in that respect,
and I remember noticing that a number of elementary school classmates were struggling
economically and how unfair that seemed,” she recalls. Her mother’s career, teaching
severely disabled children, many of whom were economically disadvantaged, also had an
impact.
“I think I realized early on that we are all interconnected,” Hanauer says, “and if you want
your community to work for you, you need your community to work for everyone.” SL
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