Ohio bargaining limits prevail, unions vow fight

By JULIE CARR SMYTH
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio lawmakers have had their chance to vote on a bill limiting collective bargaining rights for 350,000 public workers across the state. Next will be the public’s turn.
Even before the contentious Senate Bill 5 — in some ways tougher than Wisconsin’s — had cleared the Legislature late Wednesday, unions and Democrats in this once-proud labor stronghold vowed to put it on November’s ballot as a referendum.
“O-H-I-O! S.B. 5 has got to go!” protesters chanted ahead of a final Senate vote of 17-16 that sent the bill to Gov. John Kasich, who planned to sign it Thursday. The vote followed a day filled with Statehouse demonstrations by about 750 people, who raucously chanted and shouted throughout the process. After a House vote of 53-44, opponents spewed expletives at House members.
The vitriol wasn’t limited to the Statehouse.
Leo Geiger, 34, a Republican who works as a sewer inspector for the city of Dayton, said he’s “deathly afraid that this is going to affect me, my family and the entire state of Ohio in an incredibly negative way.”
He believes the bill is political payback for unions’ support of Democrats in November’s election.
“I find this to be loathsome,” he said from Dayton on Wednesday night. He didn’t attend protests because he couldn’t take the time off. “I find this to be disrespectful to Ohioans and disrespectful to the process of democracy.”
The measure affects safety workers, teachers, nurses and a host of other government personnel. It allows unions to negotiate wages and certain working conditions but not health care, sick time or pension benefits. It gets rid of automatic pay increases, and replaces them with merit raises or performance pay. Workers would also be banned from striking.
A ballot challenge would stall implementation of the law that Republicans championed as vital to Ohio’s economic future. Backers have 90 days after Kasich signs the bill to gather 231,148 valid signatures from at least half Ohio’s 88 counties to get it on the fall ballot.
“Local government and taxpayers need control over their budgets. This bill, as amended and changed, is a bill that will give control back to the people who pay the bills,” House Speaker Bill Batchelder said Wednesday.
Kasich has said his $55.5 billion, two-year state budget counts on unspecified savings from lifting union protections to fill an $8 billion hole.
During House debate, state Rep. Robert Hagan, a Democrat from Youngstown, questioned whether the bill was aimed at saving money.
“Don’t ever lie to us and don’t be hypocritical and don’t dance around it as if it’s finances, because you know what it is: It’s to bust the union,” Hagan told his fellow lawmakers.
Democratic state Sen. Charleta Tavares, a recent Columbus city councilwoman, called the bill “paternalistic, patronizing, disrespectful and condescending” to city leaders who balance their budgets annually, not every two years as Ohio does.
As she awaited the Senate vote, Pickerington teacher Patricia Kuhn-Morgan said educating kids is the best way to create jobs. She predicted Wednesday’s votes will hurt GOP lawmakers on Election Day.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of educators who are typically straight-ticket Republicans that have said to me that they won’t ever vote for another Republican because of how this bill’s been pushed through and the democratic process has been abused,” she said.
But Chris Littleton, who represents a coalition of tea party groups called the Ohio Liberty Council, disagreed. He said tea party backers who helped seal Republican victories last fall are all for the changes.
“We set making Ohio a right-to-work state and complete elimination of employee unions as a primary objective for 2011,” he said. “So we would have liked to see it go even further, but we are definitely supportive of this measure.”
Though protests were much larger in Wisconsin, Ohio unions claim they hold the hearts of a majority of voters in their political swing state. Republicans say polling indicates a high number of voters, though perhaps ones not as vocal as union supporters, favor the collective bargaining changes and would uphold the new law.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill this month eliminating most of state workers’ collective bargaining rights. That measure exempts police officers and firefighters; Ohio’s does not.
The Ohio bill has drawn thousands of demonstrators, prompted a visit from the Rev. Jesse Jackson and packed hearing rooms in the weeks before the Senate passed the earlier version of the measure. Its reception in the House was quieter, as unions resolved themselves to its approval and shifted their strategy to the fall ballot.
Democratic state Sen. Joe Schiavoni said the way the bill had been rushed through the legislative process without union input was unfair — but he said voters would have the last word.
At the ballot box, he said, “all Ohioans will get the opportunity to right the wrongs they committed in the last election, and, ladies and gentlemen, that is fair.”
Associated Press writers Ann Sanner and JoAnne Viviano contributed to this report.
___

U.S. underestimated hispanic population, literally

How Many Hispanics?

Comparing New Census Counts with the Latest Census Estimates

By Jeffrey S. Passel and D’Vera Cohn, Pew Hispanic Center

To read a breakdown of Ohio click here

The number of Hispanics counted in the 2010 Census was nearly 1 million more than expected, based on the most recent Census Bureau population estimates, according to an analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center.

The 2010 Census count of Hispanics was 50,478,0001

By comparison, for the total U.S. population, the 2010 Census count of 308.7 million was

barely lower (about 232,000 people) than the bureau’s population estimate for April 1, 2010.  Compared with results a decade ago, the national Hispanic count in the 2010 Census was closer to the bureau’s population estimates than it had been in 2000. The 2000 Census count included 10% more Hispanics than the population estimates, and state-level discrepancies also were larger than in 2010.  compared with 49,522,000 Hispanics in the bureau’s own estimates. The count was 1.9% higher (955,000 people) than the estimated  population. In 32 states, the 2010 Census count of Hispanics was at least 2% higher than the  estimates; in nine states, it was at least 2% lower than the estimates. In the nine remaining states and the District of Columbia, the difference was less than 2% in either direction.

Unlike the decennial Census, designed to be a 100% count of the U.S. population, the Census Bureau’s population estimates are annual updates of counts from the previous census based largely on birth certificates, death certificates, immigration data and other government records. The most recent published state population estimates for Hispanics were as of July 1, 2009. For this analysis, the Hispanic estimates were updated to Census Day, April 1, 2010, by extrapolating the 2009 estimates based on each state’s Hispanic population growth rate from  2008 to 2009. This report replaces an analysis published March 15, 2011, which examined  Census 2010 data and population estimates from 33 states.

Numbers throughout this report are rounded to the nearest thousand.

The Census Bureau also analyzes a sample of federal tax returns for people who moved from one state to another (linked to  other data on age, sex, race and ethnicity of the tax filers) to calculate the number and characteristics of in-migrants and outmigrants for each state. For group quarters such as prisons and college dormitories, the bureau mainly relies on counts supplied by states and localities.

How Many Hispanics?

www.pewhispanic.org

State detail

The Pew Hispanic Center analysis indicates that states with large  percentage differences between their Hispanic census counts and census  estimates also were likely to have large percentage differences between census  counts and census estimates for their total populations. This reflects the large role that Hispanics play in overall  population growth-nationally, Hispanics accounted for 56% of the U.S. increase. Hispanics have accounted for most of the discrepancy between 2010  Census counts and census estimates of states’ total populations.

In addition, according to the Pew Hispanic Center analysis, states that  have Hispanic populations under a million people (including many where Hispanic counts grew sharply) collectively had a larger percentage gap between their census counts and census  estimates than did the nine states with larger, long-duration Hispanic communities.

Those nine traditional Hispanic states include Arizona, California, Colorado,  Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Texas. Each has  more than a million Hispanic residents (except New Mexico, with 953,000).  Collectively, 28% of their population is Hispanic. As a group, those states are  home to 38.6 million Hispanics, according to the 2010 Census, and their aggregate census count was about  362,000 (or .9%) larger than their

Figure 1

States with Largest Differences between Census Counts and Population

Estimates for Hispanics, April 1, 2010 (%)

Note: Base of percentage is population estimate. For the nation the

Census count was 1.9% higher than the estimate Sources: Census–Pew Hispanic Center tabulations of Redistricting_Files-PL_94-171 for states; Estimate–extrapolation of Vintage 2009 population estimates for July 1, 2008 and 2009.

PEW HISPANIC CENTER 15.9% 13.2 10.8 10.7 10.4 9.8 9.7 9.1 9.0 8.5

Alabama, Louisiana, Kansas, Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Wyoming, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Iowa

Census higher than estimate -0.3, -0.4, -3.3,  -3.3, -6.1, -8.6, -8.7, -10.1, -10.2, -12.9, -14.3

District of Columbia, Colorado, Vermont, New Hampshire,West Virginia, Montana, Arizona, South Dakota, Maine, North Dakota, Alaska,

Census lower than estimate

How Many Hispanics?

www.pewhispanic.org

Aggregate Census Estimate.

In the other 41 states and District of Columbia, Hispanics make up 7% of the total population. These states as a group are home to 11.9 million Hispanics, and their combined 2010 Census count was 593,000 people (or 5.3%) higher than their combined census estimate. Among them was Alabama, where the Hispanic census count of 186,000 people was 16% higher than its census estimate, the largest gap among states. At the other extreme, the census count of 39,000 Hispanics in Alaska was 14% below the most recent census estimate. (Smaller populations by nature tend to be more volatile than large ones, so even a small numerical difference could result in a large percentage change.)  In the nine states with large Hispanic populations, five had gaps of more than two percentage points in either direction between census estimates and census counts. In four, the count was higher than the estimate. In New Jersey, the census count of 1.555 million was 4.6% higher than the census estimate for Hispanics. In Florida, the census count of 4.224 million was 3.7% higher than the estimate. In New York, the census count of 3.417 million Hispanics was 2.9% higher than the census estimate. In New Mexico, the census count of 953,000 was 2.6% higher  than the estimate of Hispanics.

In the fifth, Arizona, the census count of 1.895 million Hispanics was 8.7% lower than the estimate; it also was lower than the Census Bureau’s estimates for 2008 and 2009. The gap in Arizona was almost entirely due to a lower-than-expected Census count in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. The numerical gap of 180,000 between Arizona’s 2010 Census count and census estimate of Hispanics was the largest among states.

As the accompanying table shows, there were differences between census counts and census estimates for Hispanics in most parts of the country.

Accuracy of Estimates

The accuracy of these census population estimates is important not only because they are the major source of basic demographic data in the years between census counts, but also because they are the basis for distributing billions of dollars in federal funds during those years. They are relied on for sample design and weighting in widely used federal surveys, including the bureau’s own American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey from which federal unemployment and poverty rates are calculated. The estimates also are used to calculate birth and death rates for the total population and for sub populations such as race and ethnic groups.

The Census Bureau has invested study and effort over the past decade to improve its  population estimates after the publication of 2000 Census counts pointed to a shortfall in  census estimates published in the 1990s.4

How Many Hispanics?

www.pewhispanic.org

In 2000, the population estimate for April 1, 2000 of 274.5 million was about 7 million people short of the census count for that day of 281.4 million people, or 2.5%. Later analysis attributed much of the gap to a low census estimate of Hispanics, the nation’s largest minority group. The 2000 Census count of Hispanics of 35.3 million was nearly 10% larger than the official estimate for April 1, 2000 of 32.2 million.

Much of the problem, the bureau concluded, was that the estimates failed to account for growth in the number of unauthorized immigrants. Analysts also concluded the 1990 Census count had been too low, so the estimates began from a base that was too small.

At the state level, the gap between 2000 Census counts and census estimates of Hispanics was even wider (for this analysis the 1999 estimates were extrapolated to Census Day 2000). In eight states, the count was 50% or more above the estimate, higher than any variation found in the 2010 state census counts. In only three states was the census count within 2% of the census estimate.The bureau made several changes to its population estimates methodology over the past decade. Most notably, it began including state-level data obtained from the American Community Survey, which collects information on characteristics of the U.S. population, including immigrants. The bureau also devoted additional effort to outreach in the 2010 Census to groups that have been hard to count in the past, such as immigrants.

Latino group raises fair housing rights awareness

CHICAGO (AP) – Friday marks the start of Fair Housing Month and a Latino advocacy group says it’s time to raise awareness about the rights established under the law.

The year marks the 43rd anniversary of the law, passed at the height of the Civil Rights movement. The Chicago-based Latino Policy Forum says Latino immigrants continue to be subject to discriminatory housing practices, and it’s raising awareness about rights under the law.

For example, the group notes that any landlord questions about immigration status must be asked of all housing applicants, regardless of race or country of origin.

Also, landlords can require social security numbers for rental applications, but that means for all applicants. And landlords must require the same documentation and fees for all applicants, regardless of immigration status.

Press release: Hispanic rep. Casts “No” Vote on ohio SB 5

(The release reads in part)

COLUMBUS – Representative Dan Ramos (D-Lorain) voted against Senate Bill 5 in the House Commerce and Labor Committee this afternoon.

“Our committee members carried 65,414 signatures into the hearing room today from Ohioans who oppose this bill, and they were disregarded,” said Rep. Ramos.  “Thousands have come to our doorstep to protest these measures, and they have been ignored – they’ve even had the nerve to lock them out of the Statehouse!  Tomorrow, I expect that they will pass this legislation with contemptuous ease, leaving hundreds of thousands of Ohio’s families with less job security, lower wages, and in many cases, no job at all.”

Rep. Ramos joined Democratic colleagues on the Commerce & Labor Committee in opposition to the bill, which passed 9-6 along party lines.  Senate Bill 5 is likely to go before the entire House for a vote on Wednesday.

The Republican Majority is expected to have the necessary votes to pass the bill despite unwavering opposition from Democratic members and from tens of thousands of Ohioans who have written to the majority members, called statehouse offices, and surrounded the Statehouse in protest.

Making a positive difference for Latino student?

Do you know about a program or department making a positive difference for Latino students at the associate, baccalaureate, or graduate level?

Now, more than ever, Excelencia in Education wants to know.

One program at each level will be selected as the 2011 Example of Excelencia, receive a $5,000 award, be recognized at national events and through the 2011 edition of What Works for Latino Students in Higher Education, and be included in the Growing What Works Database, which allows users to find promising practices accelerating Latino student success in higher education.

Nominations will be accepted online through
April 15, 2011 at 5pm EST.

Support the efforts in your community making a difference for Latino student success by making your nomination today.
Press play or copy the link below into your browser to view this message

Scholarship program available

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Best Buy Children’s Foundation and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) have announced the launch of the fifth annual NCLR-Best Buy Emerging Latino Leaders Scholarship Program. The scholarship will award a total of $25,000 to four graduating Hispanic high school seniors throughout the United States. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 15, 2011, and winners will be announced in May.

The program will award four scholarships:

One grand prizewinner will receive a one-time payment of $15,000. One winner will receive a one-time payment of $5,000. Two winners will each receive a one-time payment of $2,500.

“The opportunities that this scholarship provides for students are immeasurable,” said Delia Pompa, NCLR vice president of education. “For far too long, the burgeoning costs of college tuition have been a major obstacle to the Hispanic community’s ability to attend college. This scholarship significantly aides future Hispanic leaders and their ability to prepare themselves to adequately advocate for the rights of Hispanic Americans.”

Applicants must submit an essay detailing their role as an advocate for the Latino community. For more information, and to apply online, please visithttp://lideres.nclr.org/section/opportunities/bestbuyscholarship1/rules_and_guidelines/

From Tea Party to Tequila Party?

By Ruben Navarrette Jr.

In the 2012 presidential election, Latinos might be so disgruntled with both parties that they could wind up craving a shot of tequila.

Inspired by how the Tea Party shook up the Republican establishment from the right, Latino activists are threatening to form a “Tequila Party” to challenge President Obama and the Democratic establishment from the left.

Right now, the idea exists only in theory. It’s been mentioned in articles and speeches, but there is no formal apparatus. Yet, among Latinos, there is a palpable amount of disillusionment with both political parties and especially with Democrats.

About 10 million Latino voters cast ballots in 2008. And with 500,000 new voters joining the rolls every year, as many as 12 million Latinos are expected to vote in 2012.

In every presidential election since 1960, the Democrat has won the majority of the Latino vote. But there’s more to the story. If Republicans get 35 percent or more, it’s usually enough to win the White House. Below 25 percent, they usually lose.

In the 2008 election, Obama was given a whopping 67 percent of the Latino vote. Yet, while in office, as far as many Latinos are concerned, he has fallen short of expectations.

According to a recent poll by ImpreMedia and Latino Decisions, President Obama’s job approval rating among Latinos is still at 70 percent. Yet only 43 percent of Latino voters are sure they will vote for him next year. One reason they give is Obama’s broken promise to pursue comprehensive immigration reform. This doesn’t translate into support for the GOP; only 9 percent said they would definitely vote for a Republican candidate, and another 8 percent said they might.

The question isn’t whether Latinos are going to defect to the GOP. It’s whether Latinos are so disappointed in Obama and the Democrats that they don’t vote at all. The White House can’t afford to let that happen.

For the first time in years, Latinos are in play because of a genuine anger at how both parties mistreat those voters.

Just listen to Robert DePosada, a Washington-based GOP political strategist. I asked him what he thought about the idea of Latinos forming a Tequila Party.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said DePosada. “Both parties are just playing with us. And unless we send a message to these people, they’re going to continue going as they are.”

Or listen to Arnoldo Torres, a Sacramento CA-based Democratic strategist.

“Latinos are starting to realize that Democrats are not responsive to their concerns,” Torres said. “In fact, there is phenomenal ignorance in both parties. Latinos have got to change the paradigm by demanding more.”

There has long been a frustration among Latinos that Democrats were taking their support for granted. But the straw that broke the donkey’s back was the immigration debate, which Democrats have badly mismanaged.

In 2006 and 2007, Senate Democrats — including a freshman Illinois senator named Barack Obama — proposed “poison pill” amendments to kill, at the behest of organized labor, a comprehensive immigration reform bill that included guest workers. In 2009 and 2010, Democrats – in control of both the White House and Congress — put immigration reform on the back burner to concentrate on health care, trade, global warming, education, and other matters. And finally, during last year’s lame duck session, five Senate Democrats  – Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Kay Hagen of North Carolina, and Jon Tester and Max Baucus of Montana  – voted against cloture on the DREAM Act and prevented the bill from moving to a final vote.

And yet, as bad as Democrats have been on immigration, Republicans have been worse by making the issue one of “us” vs. “them” – and putting Latinos squarely in the “them” category.

Tequila might not be on the menu for Latinos in 2012, but it could be more appetizing in 2014 or 2016. After all, as long as Latino voters feel undervalued by both parties, they’re going to be up for grabs in ways that could shake up the political system.

That’s a good thing. Loyalty is an admirable trait. But, in politics, it can be debilitating. Latinos need to give their loyalty to the Democratic Party a rest. They need to flex their muscle, express their concerns, spell out their issues, and hold both parties accountable with equal enthusiasm.

It’s true that a third party insurrection could help them do that. But this is a tall order. There is an easier way. Latino voters should simply become more engaged with the process and more demanding of the parties they have now. If they’re tired of being ignored, then they must make themselves heard.

Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a member of the editorial board of the San Diego Union Tribune, a nationally syndicated columnist, a frequent lecturer, and a regular contributor to CNN.com.

Cincinnati has latino running for council seat

By Marcus Atkinson

hispanicohio.com editor

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For the first time, a Latino has a serious chance of taking a seat on the Cincinnati city council.

Jason Riveiro has begun a campaign and his first test will be to win the Democratic primary in May.

According to the Cincinnati Herold and the Cincinnati Enquirer, Riveiro is Vice President of media and business development for TSJ Media as well as a member of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC),

With LULAC having their national conference in June and the Hispanic population in is Cincinnati growing, according to the latest census information (the Hispanic community has doubled from 4,301 in 2000 to 8,504 in 2010), Riveiro may have the opportunity to impact southern Ohio at a greater capacity than usual.

Jason Riveiro was born in Texas and has spent 10 years in Mexico.  He is married and has lived in Cincinnati since 2005

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Coalition for Hispanc/Latino Issues and Progress to have 16th Hispanic Leadership Conference

All are invited to attend the 16th Hispanic Leadership Conference at Lorain County Community College on Saturday, April 16, 2011.

The keynote address will be given by Isabel Framer, Founder of Language Access Consultants and the 2010 Presidential appointee to the State Justice Institute Board

There also will be a special tribute to the Honorable Jose Reyes Ferriz, former mayor of Cuidad Juarez, which has been called the “most violent city in the world.”

The conference will include several workshops, cultural entertainment, free health screenings, as well as breakfast and lunch for only $35.

The evening Dinner Gala will be at DeLuca’s Place in the Park, 1800 W. Erie Ave.  There will be entertainment by Ballet Folklorico Imagenes Mexicanas, Karen Paz Labra and Agrupacion Cultural V.I.D.A. and a dance featuring Son de Oberlin.

The cost of the Gala is 35 dollars.

High school students will receive scholarships during the event.

College students need only pay half price for the Gala

There will be a pre-conference held at the Ramada Inn (formerly the Holiday Inn of Elyria) on Friday, April 15 at 6 p.m., 1825 Lorain Blvd.,  Elyria, Ohio. There are overnight accommodations available for only $59 plus tax -call 1-80-321-7333

There will be a public reception to meet the conference speakers and sponsors with a showing of the movie “No Turning Back”, then meeting the director of the movie, Jesus Nebot.

The pre-conference is free and open to the public.

In case you missed it

One-Third of Latinos Polled Say They’d NEVER Vote for a Republican

Arizona Hospitals Won’t Have to Check Patients’ Citizenship

Medicaid needs more than tweaking

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