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Advocates
Outraged by "Fundamentally Un-American" Senate Bill 349
Bill would protect landlords who discriminate and jeopardize
federal funding for Ohio Civil Rights Commission
This week, the Toledo Fair Housing Center and partners
announced a campaign to oppose Senate Bill 349 introduced by
Sen. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) in late June. Toledo Fair
Housing Center and its partners denounce SB 349 as an attack
on civil rights and an erosion of strong fair housing laws
in Ohio. The campaign's website is http://fight349.org.
Among other regressive measures, the bill would lower the
penalties for housing discrimination and damage the
important safeguards provided by the Ohio Civil Rights
Commission (OCRC). Ohio residents would either need to use
the administrative process provided on the federal level
through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) or be forced to use attorneys to sue violators in
state court. In addition, Ohio law would no longer be
"substantially equivalent" to federal law, thus ending
substantial HUD funding to Ohio.
"SB 349 would rob Ohio of its substantial equivalent status
and its ability to investigate and adjudicate housing
discrimination claims on the state level," said Jim
McCarthy, MVFHC's president/CEO. "Proponents of SB 349 are
just plain wrong if they believe that they will have an
easier time complying with civil rights laws administered
from the federal level as opposed to at the state level."
Specifically, SB 349:
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Sets up conflict between state and federal fair housing
law, thereby stripping Ohio of the approximately $1
million that HUD annually provides to the OCRC to
investigate discrimination cases. The housing law
conflict would prohibit the OCRC from accessing Fair
Housing Assistance Program dollars that support
complaint processing, enforcement activities, training
and other projects.
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Diminishes the consequences of discrimination by
lowering and capping the punitive damages that landlords
found guilty of flagrant discrimination would have to
pay.
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Discourages victims of housing discrimination from
filing a complaint to protect their rights by making
them liable for the attorney's fees of the party they
accuse of discrimination if there is not enough evidence
to prove their case.
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Reduces legal challenges to discrimination by
prohibiting state or local fair housing agencies from
collecting actual or punitive damages.
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Renders the OCRC unable to punish housing discrimination
and forces cases into the more expensive and complex
courts process.
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Superficially mirrors some portions of federal law while
gutting Ohio's current protections from housing
discrimination.
"SB 349 would significantly undercut the work of the Ohio
Civil Rights Commission and force housing discrimination
complaints to the Federal level," said Elizabeth Brown,
Executive Director of Housing Opportunities Made Equal in
Cincinnati. "Why would Ohio want to give up its control of
civil rights issues? Does the real estate industry really
think it is better off facing Federal investigators and
Federal attorneys? This is not the time for the state of
Ohio to gut its civil rights laws."
Michael Marsh, President/CEO of Toledo Fair Housing Center,
said, "SB 349 is a step backwards for Ohioans. Instead of
ensuring equal opportunity, it renders civil rights laws
virtually unenforceable within the Buckeye State and turns
away $1M in annual funding from the federal government to
enforce the fair housing laws. It is fundamentally
un-American to deny equal opportunity to families with
children and persons with disabilities. Senator Seitz should
be ashamed, and Ohioans embarrassed, by his buffoonery."
Advocate contacts:
Elizabeth Brown, executive director, Housing Opportunities
Made Equal, 513-721-4663
Elizabeth.Brown@homecincy.org
Bill Faith, executive director, Coalition on Homelessness
and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO), 614-579-6108
billfaith@cohhio.org
Lauren Green, enforcement director, Fair Housing Contact
Service, 330-376-6191
www.fairhousingakron.org
Hilary Mason King, executive director, Housing Research &
Advocacy Center, 216-361-9240
hking@thehousingcenter.org
Michael P. Marsh, MA, CFRE, president/CEO, Toledo Fair
Housing Center, 419-243-6163
MichaelMarsh@toledofhc.org
Michael R. Smalz, senior attorney, Ohio Poverty Law Center,
614-824-2502
msmalz@ohiopovertylaw.org
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