Today, Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko released the following statement, condemning the creation of a new Ohio Department of Job & Family Services website for reporting employees who are unable to return to work amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis:
"As I've said all along, I’m the guy who brought you the casinos, so you know I like to gamble. But re-opening without proper testing or PPE is gambling with human lives. And now we're going to punish workers who can't or won't risk their lives to return this quickly to the workplace? Outrageous.
"Ohio has also thrown this website together instead of addressing the real problems that may be keeping hardworking Ohioans from their jobs. Maybe they lack childcare while schools and daycares are closed. Or they're taking care of vulnerable relatives. Or they're at high risk for the virus and worried about the lack of testing and PPE available to the general public.
"In times of crisis, we need to ask ourselves where our priorities lie. Plenty of Ohio workers are still waiting for their unemployment assistance to come through. Now we're going to add threats to their list of concerns?
"We should be coming together to support Ohio workers during this crisis, not finding new ways to make their lives more stressful."