Policies
There are many issues currently facing the citizens of Fairfield County. Below are some of the most important and how I would address them.
Will of the People
The Republicans that dominate the Ohio General Assembly have made it clear that they do not care about what the people they represent have to say. Several issues that have passed a statewide referendum are being completely ignored by the Assembly or manipulated to avoid giving the people their fair say.
Redistricting reform has been passed multiple times. Even further, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that Republican-drawn maps are illegal and do not properly represent the citizens of the state. In spite of this, they continue to ignore their legal obligations, knowing that they would no longer be able to cruise directly to reelection if they were forced to follow the law.
This is just one example. The Republican members of the General Assembly clearly feel that they are not obligated to follow either the law or the voters’ wills. This must be stopped, and the only way we can do that is by replacing the people who represent us with people who do take this obligation seriously.
Education
Education is massively important to the state for multiple reasons. First and most obviously, all children are entitled to a quality education to make them as prepared as possible for a successful future. Beyond that, a society of well-educated people is a society that can make everyone’s lives better by supporting and uplifting the community.
Republicans in the statehouse don’t care about any of that. They continue to fund schools using their unconstitutional property-tax structure, and even then they continue to find ways to cut it further, such as their latest attempt to “reclaim unspent funds” on the order of over one billion dollars. They continue to siphon money away from our public schools towards charters, causing ever-escalating budget crises in the systems we set up to benefit everyone.
The system of charter schools is an attempt to provide schooling by lottery via the voucher system. Meanwhile the schools are not held accountable to the same standards as public schools and are allowed to be selective, artificially inflating their effectiveness. These are all ways to starve our education system and avoid providing quality education to everyone as they should.
We need a system that will ensure everyone gets education that’s thorough and useful for preparing them for the future. We need funding that isn’t cut or diverted to charter schools to avoid providing education for all. We need a more equitable funding system that avoids basing the quality of your education on where you live.
Health Care
Just like education, health care is a critical need for everyone in Fairfield County. And just like education, it’s under attack. Thanks to the massive cuts included in the Republican budget, this is also escalating into a crisis in short order.
According to statistics provided by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, over 20% of Fairfield County was enrolled in Medicaid in 2025. The GOP budget is set to slash that number significantly, causing a major loss of insurance for a county that sorely needs it.
Even for people not on Medicaid, though, this is going to cause serious issues. Hospitals depend on the money provided by Medicaid to stay in business and offering services. Patients who do not have insurance will be forced to go to the emergency room rather than seek treatment before conditions get serious. Even people who aren’t on Medicaid are likely to have financial fallout as well. I’ve already met with someone whose insurance premiums more than doubled this year just to maintain the coverage she already had!
Prices are skyrocketing, coverage will continue to get worse, and getting to see a doctor at all will become increasingly difficult. In order to turn the tide back and help avoid these worst case scenarios, we need to properly fund our medical system and ensure that people are able to get medical care when they can.
Property Taxes
One of the issues that people have mentioned the most when I’ve talked to them is concern about property taxes. Taxes have suddenly shot up, and people are finding themselves unable to make ends meet. It’s impossible to budget around a tax burden that’s suddenly changing and could result in losing your home if you don’t scramble for a way to deal with it.
I am opposed to the ballot proposal that would zero out property tax. There are too many things which currently depend on property taxes to properly fund, such as schools. These issues need to be addressed before the state could hope to take such a massive budget hit.
Instead, I propose that property taxes should be stable and only update on a predictable schedule. Every five years the property tax should be reassessed, which allows residents to plan around the cost and allows for the state to set budgets based on a known tax quantity. The only exceptions for reevaluation should be in the event that property is sold or otherwise changes hands.
Reach Out
My hope is to represent all citizens of the district and their concerns. I would love to hear from you and what I can do to help serve you. Please fill out the form to the side or email me directly at foltzforfairfield@gmail.com and I will follow up with you.