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00:00:39The new two year
00:00:39session of the Ohio General
00:00:41Assembly begins,
00:00:42and a conversation
00:00:42with a lawmaker
00:00:44ousted in November
00:00:44after 18 years in office.
00:00:47Former U.S.
00:00:47Senator Sherrod Brown.
00:00:49That's this
00:00:49week in the state of Ohio.
00:01:09Just.
00:01:10Welcome to the state of Ohio.
00:01:12I'm Karen Kasler.
00:01:14We begin
00:01:14with a sudden development.
00:01:15Late this week, Vice
00:01:15President elect J.D.
00:01:17Vance resigned from the U.S.
00:01:19Senate at midnight Thursday,
00:01:21opening the door to governor
00:01:21Mike DeWine
00:01:23to announce who he's chosen
00:01:23to appoint to Vance a seat.
00:01:26DeWine was among
00:01:26the Republican governors
00:01:28at Mar-A-Lago, with president
00:01:28elect Trump on Thursday
00:01:30night, and said
00:01:31he wasn't ready
00:01:31to make his choice public yet.
00:01:35We certainly have been working
00:01:36on this for some time,
00:01:36and I'll.
00:01:38I'll have an announcement
00:01:38probably next week.
00:01:41You know,
00:01:42I'm looking for someone,
00:01:42first of all, who
00:01:45will be a worker in the U.S.
00:01:45Senate.
00:01:46I spent 12 years there.
00:01:47I think
00:01:47I have a pretty good idea
00:01:49of what it takes
00:01:49to be successful.
00:01:51I want someone who understands
00:01:51Ohio,
00:01:53who has a deep knowledge
00:01:53of of our state.
00:01:55We need that strong
00:01:55advocate there.
00:01:59Ohio also has to be
00:01:59someone who's willing to run
00:02:01and and in two years
00:02:01and turn right around and run
00:02:04two years after that.
00:02:06So that's, Ohio's a big state.
00:02:08That's a tough
00:02:08that's a tough, thing to do.
00:02:11Also,
00:02:11someone who can win a primary
00:02:13and who can win
00:02:13a general election in Ohio.
00:02:15So those are
00:02:16those are the kind of the
00:02:17kind of main criteria
00:02:17The 136th Ohio
00:02:21General Assembly got a snowy
00:02:21and stressful start this week.
00:02:24Lawmakers are required
00:02:24by the Constitution to convene
00:02:27on the first Monday
00:02:27of an odd numbered year,
00:02:29and some legislators
00:02:29had to travel through
00:02:31as much as ten inches of snow
00:02:31to get to the statehouse.
00:02:34But there were
00:02:34no complications
00:02:36with the election of the House
00:02:37Speaker and Senate president,
00:02:38as Matt Hoffman and Rob
00:02:38McCauley were selected,
00:02:41as they had been
00:02:41by the Republican caucuses
00:02:43in the House
00:02:44and Senate in November.
00:02:45there's some things
00:02:45that I think
00:02:46will be addressed in then.
00:02:49And one is the resolution
00:02:49of marijuana and, Delta
00:02:54issues, the THC
00:02:54and another four issues,
00:02:58which has kind of pending
00:02:58for about a year
00:03:00I do think, that there's
00:03:00going to be
00:03:03some pretty synergies the way
00:03:06we create with you and
00:03:10in the
00:03:10state of Ohio, my estimation
00:03:13is an out of date of what?
00:03:16And I think that will be a lot
00:03:16of discussion about that.
00:03:20There's a lot of discussion
00:03:20about,
00:03:23developments
00:03:23throughout the state and how
00:03:28we can change those
00:03:28regulations, whatever it is,
00:03:31so that developers can have
00:03:33in Well,
00:03:33I think there's a lot of
00:03:35things
00:03:35we need to take a look at.
00:03:36Property tax reform,
00:03:36I think, is going to be
00:03:38one of the things
00:03:38we take a look at.
00:03:40There's going to be a lot
00:03:40of conversations about energy,
00:03:42as there has been
00:03:42for the past several months.
00:03:45Of course we're going
00:03:45to jump into the budget.
00:03:46And, I would imagine there's
00:03:48going to be a desire
00:03:48to continue the tax reform
00:03:51that we've done
00:03:51over the course of time.
00:03:52And There are six
00:03:53freshmen members in the Senate
00:03:55and 27 among the 99 members
00:03:55of the House.
00:03:58Most lawmakers
00:03:58made it to Columbus unscathed,
00:04:01but longtime
00:04:01representative Gene
00:04:02Schmidt had to be sworn in.
00:04:04John Glenn
00:04:04International Airport
00:04:05following a string of flight
00:04:05delays.
00:04:08Governor Mike DeWine
00:04:08signed 29 bills this week,
00:04:11finishing up last year's
00:04:11lame duck session.
00:04:13They include House Bill eight,
00:04:13also known as the parents
00:04:15Bill of rights,
00:04:16which requires
00:04:16parental notification
00:04:18about sexual content
00:04:18in schools
00:04:20and has a provision
00:04:21allowing kids to leave school
00:04:21for religious instruction.
00:04:24He approved an expansion
00:04:25of school superintendents
00:04:25powers to expel students.
00:04:29Also a crackdown
00:04:29on sextortion.
00:04:31He signed a ban on requiring
00:04:31gun owners to carry liability
00:04:35insurance
00:04:35and a bill boosting fines
00:04:37and penalties for drunk
00:04:37driving.
00:04:39DeWine approved
00:04:39bipartisan measures
00:04:41to require employers
00:04:41to provide
00:04:43pay stubs to employees,
00:04:45and a bill that seeks to lower
00:04:45Ohio's high infant
00:04:47mortality rate, but doesn't
00:04:47include any funding.
00:04:50The mine signed a bill
00:04:50that some talked about
00:04:52since 2018, shut down
00:04:52frivolous lawsuits from people
00:04:55who want to stifle
00:04:55others free speech rights.
00:04:58And the attorney general
00:04:58will have the power
00:05:00to reject a potential ballot
00:05:00issue based only on its title,
00:05:03as part of an election
00:05:03related bill.
00:05:06And the first woman to head
00:05:06the Ohio Department of Health
00:05:08has become the first person
00:05:08to formally announce
00:05:10a run for governor next year.
00:05:12Doctor Amy Acton,
00:05:12who got national attention
00:05:14as DeWine's health director
00:05:16at the start of the Covid
00:05:16pandemic, will run
00:05:18as a Democratic candidate
00:05:18for governor.
00:05:20Acton
00:05:20said in a statement, quote,
00:05:22unlike most of our leaders,
00:05:23I know the answer
00:05:23to moving our state forward
00:05:25isn't giving politicians
00:05:25more power.
00:05:28It's giving
00:05:28people more freedom.
00:05:29Today,
00:05:30I filed papers
00:05:30to run for governor
00:05:32because I refuse to look away
00:05:32from Ohioans
00:05:34who are struggling,
00:05:34while self-serving
00:05:36politicians
00:05:36and special interests
00:05:38take our state
00:05:38in the wrong direction.
00:05:40It's time to give power back
00:05:41to the people
00:05:41and our communities.
00:05:42It's time for a change.
00:05:44Acton, who's headed up
00:05:45some nonprofit efforts
00:05:45since resigning
00:05:47from the state in June 2020,
00:05:49has been
00:05:50speaking at county
00:05:50Democratic events
00:05:51and hinted at the Democratic
00:05:51National Convention in July
00:05:54that she was considering
00:05:54a campaign for governor.
00:05:57Attorney General Dave
00:05:57Yost has said
00:05:58he will announce his campaign
00:05:59for the GOP nomination
00:05:59for governor soon,
00:06:02and fellow Republican
00:06:02Lieutenant Governor
00:06:04Jon Husted
00:06:04has been raising money,
00:06:06but is said to top the list
00:06:07of possible appointees
00:06:07to Vice President elect J.D.
00:06:10Vance's U.S. Senate seat.
00:06:13Ohio will have two freshmen
00:06:13in the U.S.
00:06:15Senate, with whoever
00:06:16is chosen to replace Vance
00:06:17and the departure
00:06:17of a veteran lawmaker.
00:06:20So to my colleagues,
00:06:20this is my.
00:06:21This is my last speech
00:06:21on the Senate floor.
00:06:24But it's not.
00:06:25I promise you the last time
00:06:25you'll hear from me.
00:06:27Sherrod Brown
00:06:27is back home in Cleveland
00:06:29after losing to Republican
00:06:29Bernie Marino
00:06:31in November, in a race
00:06:31that he'd always
00:06:33said would be his toughest one
00:06:33ever.
00:06:35My Statehouse News
00:06:35Bureau colleague, Joe Ingles,
00:06:37talked to the former senator
00:06:37about what's next
00:06:39following the closing
00:06:39of his Senate career.
00:06:42it ended.
00:06:42It was some drama
00:06:42and certainly effectively
00:06:46my last vote
00:06:47of probably 13,000 votes
00:06:47in the House and Senate.
00:06:50My penultimate.
00:06:52I've always wanted to use
00:06:52that word in a real interview.
00:06:54My next to the last vote
00:06:55after midnight
00:06:55on the last day of session,
00:06:58we passed a bill
00:06:58I've been working on
00:07:00for ten years
00:07:00with Susan Collins. Remain.
00:07:02It was bipartisan.
00:07:04It, passed with, in the end,
00:07:0476 votes.
00:07:09It didn't look like
00:07:09it was going to pass
00:07:11until the last few months.
00:07:12It it will provide
00:07:12for Social Security benefits
00:07:15to 250,000 Ohioans, 3 million
00:07:15people across the country.
00:07:20That we're not going to get
00:07:20those
00:07:22that have been shortchanged
00:07:24on their earned benefits
00:07:24from Social Security.
00:07:26So it was a huge victory.
00:07:26It really is.
00:07:28I mean, I, I worked right up
00:07:28until the end.
00:07:31I was hired
00:07:31for six years to do that.
00:07:33And I was proud of what
00:07:33we've done.
00:07:35But it's really
00:07:36what I've tried to do
00:07:36my whole career
00:07:37and the dignity
00:07:38work, looking out for people,
00:07:40you know,
00:07:40whether you were a school
00:07:40secretary or a bus driver,
00:07:43a cafeteria worker
00:07:43or a stadium employee
00:07:45that's at a desk all day
00:07:45or was out in the field,
00:07:48whether you're a teacher
00:07:48or a firefighter,
00:07:50or police officer,
00:07:50we restored those full
00:07:53benefits to those to those,
00:07:57those earned benefits for
00:07:57Social Security beneficiaries.
00:08:00Also, the president
00:08:00I was at the bill signing,
00:08:03sports, actually three days
00:08:06after I left office
00:08:06with the president, bill
00:08:08signing the Social Security
00:08:08Fairness Act.
00:08:10But the other thing
00:08:10that happened,
00:08:11literally my last day
00:08:11in office, the president,
00:08:15at our request of the request
00:08:15of a of
00:08:17a small number of others,
00:08:19black weather steelworkers
00:08:19and notably blocked the sale
00:08:23of half of U.S.
00:08:25Steel to Nippon
00:08:25to a Japanese company.
00:08:27That'll mean American jobs.
00:08:29But it's foremost
00:08:29it's a national security issue
00:08:32that Japan Nippon
00:08:34had too many ties
00:08:34to the Chinese steel industry,
00:08:37and of any private sector
00:08:37industry.
00:08:39The most important, probably
00:08:41for national security,
00:08:41is production of steel.
00:08:44So it was a victory
00:08:44for workers, for sure.
00:08:47It was a victory
00:08:47for trade enforcement.
00:08:49It was a victory
00:08:49for our national security.
00:08:51So, my mission from now on,
00:08:51my post
00:08:54Senate career will be about
00:08:54how do we
00:08:56how does
00:08:57the Democratic Party again
00:08:57become the party of workers,
00:09:00the Republicans or certainly
00:09:00not the party of workers?
00:09:03You and the media like to make
00:09:03it sound more and more that
00:09:06the Republicans
00:09:06are gravitating that way.
00:09:09And, but it sounds to me
00:09:09that Democrats really need to,
00:09:14to kind of push away
00:09:14this reputation
00:09:17we have as a party of being a
00:09:17bi coastal party
00:09:21were to were to
00:09:21bicoastal, were to corporate.
00:09:25Again, Republicans are worse
00:09:25in terms of their,
00:09:29their slavish ness, if you
00:09:29will, to corporate interests.
00:09:32But the Democrats
00:09:32should be about workers.
00:09:34It's what I built
00:09:34my career on.
00:09:36It's what I want
00:09:36to continue to fight for.
00:09:39You've accomplished
00:09:39a lot during your tenure.
00:09:42What do you think
00:09:44is the most important thing
00:09:44you've accomplished?
00:09:47I remember on the,
00:09:47when March 6th, 2021,
00:09:51I said to Senator Casey,
00:09:51who sat next to me
00:09:54on the Senate floor,
00:09:54I said, this is the best.
00:09:56This is the best day
00:09:56of my career.
00:09:57Because that day
00:09:58we were passing the bill
00:09:58to restore pensions,
00:10:02to 100,000 Ohio workers,
00:10:05who had who had
00:10:05at the bargaining table.
00:10:08He had negotiated
00:10:08giving up dollars
00:10:11in the president
00:10:11to get a pension.
00:10:13And Wall Street
00:10:14shenanigans essentially took
00:10:14these, these benefits away.
00:10:18We restored those
00:10:18at the same time in that bill
00:10:21passed by one vote
00:10:21in that case,
00:10:24every Democrat voted yes,
00:10:24every Republican.
00:10:26No. The vice president
00:10:26broke the tie.
00:10:28We passed the biggest tax cut,
00:10:28called the child tax credit,
00:10:32for literally hundreds
00:10:32and hundreds,
00:10:35thousands of families,
00:10:36and that the families of 2
00:10:36million Ohio children,
00:10:40got a major tax cut or refund,
00:10:4360 mil families of 60 million
00:10:43children around the country.
00:10:46Unfortunately,
00:10:46that lasted only one year.
00:10:49If you would ask me
00:10:49the next question,
00:10:51what unfinished business
00:10:51did you leave behind?
00:10:54I would say making the child
00:10:54tax credit that that huge tax
00:10:58cut for working families,
00:10:58regardless of income,
00:11:0190% of families of kids
00:11:01were eligible.
00:11:04Us all. But the 10% wealthiest
00:11:04families.
00:11:07We're getting these benefits,
00:11:08and it's the way
00:11:08we should should have gone.
00:11:11We passed it for one year.
00:11:13It's what this Congress
00:11:13should do.
00:11:15Well, I kind of am going there
00:11:15with the next question.
00:11:18I wanted to know
00:11:18what your biggest concern
00:11:21or your biggest worry
00:11:22is with the Trump
00:11:22administration coming in now.
00:11:26My biggest worry is that
00:11:26he has surrounded himself
00:11:29with billionaires,
00:11:31billionaires
00:11:31who have a reputation
00:11:33of using government
00:11:33to get even richer.
00:11:36And they, they seem unaware of
00:11:39probably the most persistent
00:11:39problem as a nation.
00:11:42We face next,
00:11:42perhaps, to climate change,
00:11:45is that the wealthy
00:11:46are getting wealthier
00:11:46and wealthier
00:11:48and the middle class
00:11:48is shrinking.
00:11:50The, the last 40 years,
00:11:53wealth is, is is migrated
00:11:53to the richest people
00:11:57from the middle class.
00:11:57The middle class is shrinking.
00:12:00I grew up in Mansfield,
00:12:01and I went to school
00:12:03with the sons and daughters
00:12:03of, steelworkers and rubber
00:12:07workers and auto workers
00:12:07and, and, and machinists and
00:12:12and carpenters
00:12:12and electricians and
00:12:15and millwrights
00:12:15and pipefitters who service
00:12:17those manufacturing plants
00:12:19a real path
00:12:19to the middle class for
00:12:21for millions of Americans,
00:12:21that path,
00:12:24because of bad
00:12:24trade agreements,
00:12:26were presidents
00:12:26of both parties sold us out
00:12:28and continue to all the way
00:12:28to the present day
00:12:32and into the future
00:12:32with the new president.
00:12:35And we're seeing,
00:12:35there's no real addressing
00:12:38that I can see
00:12:39in this administration
00:12:39or in the upcoming Congress
00:12:42that that wealth gap
00:12:42where the middle class
00:12:44continues to shrink
00:12:44and the rich
00:12:47get richer and richer
00:12:47and richer and richer.
00:12:49And it's it's most it's most,
00:12:49represented,
00:12:52by, by the number
00:12:52of billionaires
00:12:55in the president's cabinet
00:12:57and the people whom he is
00:12:57listening to.
00:12:59He says he's
00:13:00a billionaire himself
00:13:00in, in several other
00:13:04building,
00:13:04I think a dozen or so
00:13:06billionaires
00:13:06literally surround him.
00:13:08Give me you advice.
00:13:08Sitting in his cabinet.
00:13:10We've never seen anything like
00:13:10that in American history.
00:13:13Well,
00:13:13speaking of billionaires,
00:13:16would you support state
00:13:16funding or state backed
00:13:20bonds for a domed stadium
00:13:20for the Cleveland Browns?
00:13:24If they moved to Brook
00:13:24Park as planned?
00:13:26That was easy.
00:13:27No, I, I,
00:13:28I find it reprehensible
00:13:28that a billionaire owner
00:13:32who had no ties to Ohio
00:13:32comes and buys a team
00:13:35and then asks taxpayers
00:13:35in Cleveland
00:13:38for hundreds
00:13:38of millions of dollars.
00:13:40And when essentially
00:13:40they've said no,
00:13:42he says he wants to move it
00:13:43to the suburbs,
00:13:43the Browns team.
00:13:46And he's asking for,
00:13:46I believe,
00:13:47as much as $1 billion
00:13:47from Ohio taxpayers.
00:13:50So why should Ohio taxpayers,
00:13:50why should taxpayers
00:13:54generally, fund millionaire
00:13:54multi-millionaire
00:13:58players
00:13:58and billionaire owners?
00:14:00It's it's
00:14:01emblematic of the power
00:14:02that billionaires
00:14:02have in this government.
00:14:04And I'm hopeful
00:14:04the state legislature
00:14:06will say no to him, although
00:14:06I'm I'm not optimistic.
00:14:11There were things that you
00:14:12were working on, and
00:14:12you had to leave them undone.
00:14:16Tell me about some of those.
00:14:18Well, certainly
00:14:18the child tax credit was one,
00:14:20the Recoup act,
00:14:21which we passed
00:14:21out of the committee,
00:14:23chaired
00:14:23the banking Housing Committee,
00:14:25which would have
00:14:25clawed money back
00:14:29from those bank executives
00:14:29that defrauded the system
00:14:33and put in
00:14:34and caused a collapse of part
00:14:34of the banking system.
00:14:37They should be penalized
00:14:37by giving the money
00:14:40they essentially stole back,
00:14:40and they should be penalized
00:14:43by never being allowed
00:14:43to be bank executives again.
00:14:47I, a number of other issues.
00:14:49The child tax credit,
00:14:51it's probably foremost
00:14:51in that what we
00:14:54to to to, make permanent
00:14:54what we did for one year,
00:14:58the, the East
00:14:58Palestine railroad issue,
00:15:02the power
00:15:02of the railroad lobby.
00:15:05We had enough Democrats
00:15:05to pass the jump pass
00:15:07a bipartisan bill.
00:15:08Senator
00:15:08Vance and I worked on it.
00:15:11But we couldn't get enough
00:15:11Republican votes.
00:15:14We had a few.
00:15:14We couldn't get enough
00:15:14Republican votes
00:15:16to Republicans
00:15:16to stand up to the railroads.
00:15:18And, you know, whether it's
00:15:18the railroads, whether it's,
00:15:23the the,
00:15:24the billionaires generally,
00:15:24whether it's
00:15:28the banks and wall Street
00:15:28have far too much power.
00:15:31They've had far too much power
00:15:31under, frankly,
00:15:33with too many
00:15:33of my Democratic colleagues.
00:15:35And they they seem to own
00:15:35lock, stock and barrel.
00:15:38The Republican leaders
00:15:38in this country.
00:15:41You talked at the top
00:15:41about the Social Security
00:15:44Fairness Act.
00:15:45That had been a long time
00:15:45coming,
00:15:48and you had fought for that
00:15:48even when you were in
00:15:51the house.
00:15:52Tell me what it felt like
00:15:52to get that across
00:15:54the finish line.
00:15:55And what are you hearing from
00:15:55public retirees
00:15:59now that
00:15:59they're going to get the money
00:16:01they put
00:16:01in the Social Security?
00:16:03I'm hearing from people
00:16:03all the time
00:16:06now by my government
00:16:06email is no longer exists.
00:16:09So I'm not hearing it
00:16:09that way.
00:16:11But I'm hearing all kinds of
00:16:11thank you.
00:16:12So I was at the bill signing
00:16:14when the president called out
00:16:14Senator Collins,
00:16:16Republican, and me
00:16:18on passing this bill and
00:16:18sticking to it for ten years.
00:16:22She and I worked together
00:16:22on it.
00:16:24We had only 20 sponsors
00:16:24when I began with her,
00:16:27and it grew and grew and grew.
00:16:29We got,
00:16:31every Democrat voted for it,
00:16:33and we got 25 Republicans
00:16:33for it.
00:16:35And one day, I think a couple
00:16:35of Democrats weren't there.
00:16:37But every Democrat
00:16:37who voted supported it,
00:16:39not all of them were for it
00:16:39initially.
00:16:41And it took some
00:16:41real persuasion and pushing.
00:16:44But it means that I,
00:16:44I'll give you a story
00:16:47that this story of somebody
00:16:47that we had to
00:16:51this really took off
00:16:51when we had a field hearing.
00:16:53And I believe you covered
00:16:53in Columbus months ago.
00:16:57One of the people
00:16:57who testified is a bus driver,
00:17:00named Barb from,
00:17:03Gallup from, I believe, megs
00:17:03County on the river.
00:17:06She drove 200 miles a day.
00:17:08Barb Ward is her name.
00:17:09She drove a school bus
00:17:09with disabled kids
00:17:13to, 200 miles a day.
00:17:15She, done it for,
00:17:15I believe, 30 years.
00:17:19She's in her 70s.
00:17:20She finally retired
00:17:20when she retired, she
00:17:24she gets a small pension.
00:17:25She didn't make a lot of money
00:17:25as the school bus driver.
00:17:28Didn't work a lot of hours
00:17:29compared to a full time
00:17:2912 month job.
00:17:31So she didn't get paid
00:17:31a lot anyway. So.
00:17:34But when she got her pension,
00:17:34she her Social Security
00:17:36was was cut by more than 50%
00:17:36her husband's social security
00:17:41that she had in a sense
00:17:41in essence here inherited.
00:17:44So we restored those benefits.
00:17:46It will make such a difference
00:17:46in her life.
00:17:48And I've heard from her
00:17:48and heard
00:17:50from a school secretary
00:17:50in Dublin
00:17:52and talked to a police officer
00:17:52in Cleveland,
00:17:54talked to a firefighter
00:17:54in Cincinnati.
00:17:56I mean, people
00:17:56all over this state
00:17:58and the 250,000 people in Ohio
00:17:58are going to get there
00:18:02for Social Security.
00:18:03This is not a giveaway.
00:18:05They worked
00:18:05to, to to, to qualify
00:18:09for Social Security,
00:18:09you need 40, 40, quarters.
00:18:12That means ten years
00:18:12of private
00:18:14sector work
00:18:14where you're receiving social,
00:18:16where you're paying
00:18:16into Social security
00:18:16doesn't make you rich,
00:18:19but you should get
00:18:19what you earned.
00:18:20And this was a ten year
00:18:20effort, to make sure
00:18:25people got what they earned.
00:18:26And that's really been
00:18:26my career is the child tax
00:18:29credit took, 8 or 9 years.
00:18:32The pension bill took
00:18:32ten years.
00:18:34This Social Security bill took
00:18:34ten years.
00:18:37The PAC act,
00:18:38which is named after
00:18:38an Ohioan, is the pension
00:18:40bill is named after Columbus,
00:18:40a young married,
00:18:44a young serviceman
00:18:44from Columbus, Heath Robinson.
00:18:47And I know his wife is
00:18:48his widow and his daughter
00:18:48and his mother in law.
00:18:52It named after Ohio and it
00:18:52took years to get that passed.
00:18:54So I think the key here
00:18:54is, is, I mean,
00:18:57I said during my campaign
00:18:57that,
00:18:59you know,
00:18:59you could count on me
00:19:01the things I've worked on,
00:19:01I'm going to see them through.
00:19:04And I saw that
00:19:04through the last day.
00:19:06We're in session
00:19:06on the Social Security
00:19:08Fairness Act and my promise
00:19:08on my promise to try.
00:19:11I never I never promise
00:19:11I'll absolutely succeed.
00:19:14But my promise to try on
00:19:16stopping US steel
00:19:16from being bought by Nippon.
00:19:19Finally, as I said
00:19:19the day after day of the day,
00:19:23my last day in office was
00:19:23when the president said that
00:19:27you had advocated
00:19:28for other changes, to
00:19:28Social Security and Medicare.
00:19:31And I'm specifically thinking
00:19:33about the provision
00:19:33that would have allowed people
00:19:35in their early 60s
00:19:35to buy into Medicare.
00:19:40That really didn't
00:19:40materialize.
00:19:43But you fought for it.
00:19:44Do you still believe that
00:19:44that should happen?
00:19:47And what do you think
00:19:47should be done to shore up
00:19:51that Social Security
00:19:51trust fund? Now?
00:19:54Well, so you just signed
00:19:54there's a
00:19:56there are a lot of ways
00:19:56to do it.
00:19:57And I'm
00:19:57not going to debate them now
00:19:58because the Congress
00:19:58has to make that decision.
00:20:01But it's not it's
00:20:01not complicated.
00:20:03It's just they've got to have
00:20:03the political will to do it.
00:20:05And it means Congress
00:20:05has to stand up
00:20:07to some of its rich
00:20:07contributors.
00:20:08And Congress doesn't
00:20:08have a history of doing that.
00:20:11Frankly, the most important
00:20:11benefit, the most important
00:20:15success
00:20:15we've had with Medicare
00:20:17is something I've worked on.
00:20:18I used to, when I was
00:20:18in the house, I used to drive.
00:20:21I used to rent a bus
00:20:21from Lorraine.
00:20:24We go from Lorraine
00:20:24to through Sandusky to Toledo
00:20:28to Detroit to Windsor,
00:20:28across the river to Canada.
00:20:31And, seniors and seniors
00:20:31could Medicare beneficiaries
00:20:34could buy
00:20:35prescription drugs, same drug,
00:20:35same packaging, same dosage,
00:20:39but cost twice
00:20:40cost half as much in Canada
00:20:40because their government
00:20:42has stood up to the drug
00:20:42industry.
00:20:44Finally, we succeeded
00:20:44this year in doing that.
00:20:47Insulin capping
00:20:47insulin at $35 a month,
00:20:51a cap on out-of-pocket
00:20:51expenses, $2,000 a month to,
00:20:55I'm sorry, $2,000 a year
00:20:55for Medicare beneficiaries and
00:20:59it's important,
00:20:59as any of those,
00:21:01this is the Congress now for a
00:21:01finite number of drugs, ten
00:21:05and then another ten.
00:21:06And then the number will grow
00:21:07larger, will negotiate
00:21:07drug prices on behalf
00:21:11of, I believe, 35 million
00:21:11maybe it's 40 million.
00:21:14Now Medicare beneficiaries
00:21:15will negotiate on their behalf
00:21:15with the drug companies.
00:21:19And and
00:21:19if if what happened in Canada
00:21:19and what happens at the VA
00:21:23or any indications
00:21:23then those the drug prices
00:21:27price will be cut
00:21:27by 30 or 40 or 50 or 60%,
00:21:31because the government
00:21:31will use the buying power
00:21:33of all those Medicare
00:21:33customers,
00:21:36if you will, in extracting
00:21:37a better price
00:21:37from the drug companies.
00:21:40Okay, what is your
00:21:40greatest regret either way?
00:21:43One more.
00:21:43You got that? I'm sorry.
00:21:45Go ahead, I said,
00:21:45what is your greatest regret?
00:21:52That we haven't
00:21:53one of my,
00:21:53I'll say it both ways.
00:21:56We changed the debate on
00:21:56trade policy in this country.
00:22:00The the mainstream thought
00:22:00on trade today.
00:22:04It's what I advocated
00:22:0430 years ago when NAFTA passed
00:22:07and I saw the damage NAFTA.
00:22:07Did I still hear about it?
00:22:10The Mahoning Valley I still
00:22:10hear still hear about it.
00:22:12The Miami Valley
00:22:12and Ohio and elsewhere.
00:22:15My greatest regret.
00:22:17What did you say? Regret.
00:22:19My greatest regret?
00:22:21Yes. Your greatest incident
00:22:21is that we haven't.
00:22:24Seriously, close that gap.
00:22:28And people are cynical
00:22:29about their government
00:22:29because government
00:22:31far too often stands
00:22:31for the rich.
00:22:34And government
00:22:34has far too often cited
00:22:37with the most powerful
00:22:37against everybody else.
00:22:40And, this president
00:22:40has no interest in that.
00:22:42He talks about it. No.
00:22:44And this new president,
00:22:45but no interest
00:22:45in dealing with that.
00:22:47And my regret is that that
00:22:47we've what we've not won
00:22:50those battles, which the
00:22:50public deserves, that we win.
00:22:55Now, that kind of
00:22:55leads into the next question.
00:22:58The Democrats,
00:22:58at least in Ohio, have a brand
00:23:02that is proven unacceptable
00:23:02to voting Ohioans
00:23:06in this past election.
00:23:07And you've long been able
00:23:07to retain your seat
00:23:11by focusing on what you call
00:23:11the dignity of work.
00:23:14But that didn't work in
00:23:14November with Ohioans anymore.
00:23:18So what do you think
00:23:18needs to change,
00:23:21and how are you going
00:23:21to message to Ohioans
00:23:25so that they can embrace
00:23:25the Democratic brand again?
00:23:29Well,
00:23:29my my percent goal is mission
00:23:32is to, make the Democrats
00:23:32the party of workers again.
00:23:35I ran seven and a half points
00:23:37ahead of the national ticket.
00:23:38You can't run much more
00:23:38than that.
00:23:41I think my message worked
00:23:41with people in that way.
00:23:44Understanding. It's easy
00:23:44to say, well, didn't work.
00:23:46You lost.
00:23:47I understand that, of course.
00:23:48But, my mission
00:23:48will continue to do that.
00:23:51I also would point out
00:23:53that, you know, Republicans
00:23:53lied about redistricting.
00:23:57They made it harder to vote.
00:23:58They tried to change.
00:23:58They changed ballot language.
00:24:01They did all kinds of
00:24:01I know I lost fair and square.
00:24:05I know that
00:24:05other Democrats lost.
00:24:07But I also know that,
00:24:08the powerful interests
00:24:08in that state,
00:24:10have no interest in helping
00:24:10middle
00:24:13class voters, have no interest
00:24:13in helping working families.
00:24:17They have an interest
00:24:17in continuing their power,
00:24:20and they're very good at it
00:24:20in the way they run elections
00:24:23and the way they know.
00:24:23No bitterness on my side.
00:24:25I am I am honored to
00:24:25have had the career I did,
00:24:28but I see what it does
00:24:28to ultimately
00:24:30to middle class families
00:24:30in my neighborhood.
00:24:32And Cleveland,
00:24:32where I used to live in
00:24:34Lorain,
00:24:34where I grew up in Mansfield.
00:24:36And I know people who are
00:24:36victimized by a government
00:24:40that doesn't care about them.
00:24:41Frankly, We've also requested
00:24:41an interview
00:24:43with Republican Senator
00:24:43Bernie Marino,
00:24:45who I spoke with
00:24:45before the primary last year.
00:24:48You can see that interview
00:24:49in our archives
00:24:49at State News org.
00:24:52And that is it for this week
00:24:52for my colleagues
00:24:54at the Statehouse News
00:24:54Bureau of Ohio Public Media.
00:24:56Thanks for watching.
00:24:57Please check out our website
00:24:57at State news.org
00:24:59or find us online by searching
00:24:59the State of Ohio show.
00:25:03You can also hear more
00:25:03from the Bureau
00:25:04on our podcast,
00:25:04The Ohio State House scoop.
00:25:07Look for it
00:25:07every Monday morning
00:25:08wherever
00:25:08you get your podcasts.
00:25:10Thanks for watching and please
00:25:10join us again
00:25:12next time
00:25:12for the State of Ohio.
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Note : Transcripts are compiled from uncorrected captions