The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled the state did not overstep its authority when it passed a law that forbids cities from placing residency requirements on workers employed by contractors doing business with those local governments.
But the leader of Democrats in the Ohio House takes issue with that verdict.
Cleveland sued over the state law that prevents the city from requiring contractors to hire residents for 20 percent of the labor in public works projects. House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes (D-Akron) says her hometown of Akron went through a similar situation with a local sewer project. She says the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling is wrong.
“We always talk about all politics is local but every time we turn around, it seems like the state legislature is removing power from local governments so at some point, this has to end. We have home rule. We have to allow local governments to do the best they need to do to govern effectively," Sykes says.
The Supreme Court’s verdict overturns lower court rulings that said Cleveland was within its rights in this case.
