One Ohio Now was a coalition of over 100 largely left-of-center activist and labor organizations that advocated for raising taxes in the state of Ohio and increasing taxpayer funding for education, infrastructure, welfare programs, and other priorities. In 2018, One Ohio Now was brought under the banner of Ohio Voice, a left-leaning voter mobilization group and a branch of State Voices. One Ohio Now was endorsed by  groups such as local councils of American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), as well as local left-of-center activist organizations. ^{1 2 3 4}

History and Advocacy

One Ohio Now was a coalition of labor unions, advocacy groups, and “human service organizations” that advocate for balancing the Ohio state budget through tax increases. While the group did not reject the need to cut state-funded programs and services, it argued that public services have become underfunded and that to support state-funded programs sufficiently the Ohio state legislature should raise taxes to address budgetary shortfalls. One Ohio Now advocated for higher taxes by educating the public in support of its public policy proposals, which included increasing funding for education, health, and human services, and mobilizing activists to lobby political leaders. ¹

One Ohio Now’s policy platform included increasing state funding for K-12 education, college infrastructure, public health, safety, environmentalism, elderly care, disability care, and public welfare. One Ohio Now called for “equitable” taxation, using left-of-center rhetoric arguing that “the wealthiest Ohioans and big corporations” should “pay their fair share.” According to One Ohio Now, the “wealthiest Ohioans” pay 6 percent of their income toward state and local taxes and the “poorest Ohioans” pay 12 percent of their income toward state and local taxes because of regressive property and sales tax. One Ohio Now also advocated for a refundable earned income tax credit to provide low-income Ohioans with tax rebates that exceed their tax liabilities. One Ohio Now also advocated for closing tax loopholes and to “update” taxes on natural resources. ^{2 3}

One Ohio Now offered supporters resources to help them persuade elected officials to adopt the organization’s policy proposals. These included tips and formats for how to write a letter to the editor of local papers, as well as a list of dozens of local newspapers to submit such letters to; support for activists to contact their legislators; and resources to help activists understand the state budget, tax and public policy, jobs and the economy, education, public health, and infrastructure. ^{5 6 7}

In 2018, One Ohio Now was brought under the banner of Ohio Voice, a left-leaning voter mobilization group and a branch of State Voices. Certain aspects of One Ohio Now’s website appear to have not been updated in years. For example, as of July 2024, the organization’s page on how to write letters to the editor referenced the release of Ohio’s 2019 budget and the organization’s website footer states the website is copyrighted from 2012 to 2020. ^{5 3 4}

People

As of July 2024, One Ohio Now’s staff page on its website was defunct. Internet archive Wayback Machine revealed the staff page was live as of at least December 25, 2023. At that time, One Ohio Now’s outreach director was listed as Nick Bates. On his LinkedIn page, Bates was listed as the outreach director of One Ohio Now from 2012 to 2018. From 2018 to 2022, he became the policy director of Ohio Voice. Beginning in 2016, Bates was also the director of Hunger Network in Ohio. Previously, Bates was the youth advocacy program coordinator of COHHIO-YEP and an Americorps Vista member. ^{8 4 9}

Endorsers

One Ohio Now was a coalition endorsed by over 100 organizations, the majority of which are left-of-center labor and activist organizations. One Ohio Now had been endorsed by AFSCME Ohio Council 8, Cleveland Jobs with Justice, Columbus Jobs with Justice, Democratic Voices of Ohio, Environmental Health Watch, Georgetown Federation of Teachers, IUE-CWA, National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Ohio Chapter, Ohio AFL-CIO, Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, Ohio Education Association, Ohio Environmental Council, Ohio Farmers Union, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Ohio Poverty Law Center, Ohio Public Transit Association, Ohio School Boards Association, Ohio Voice, Ohio Voter Fund, Ohio Votes, Ohio Youth Voice, People’s Empowerment Coalition (PEC) Ohio, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Ohio, Policy Matters Ohio, Putting People First, SEIU District 1199, SEIU Local 1, Toledo Jobs with Justice, UFCW Local 1059, UFCW Local 75, We Believe Ohio, and the Youth Empowerment Program. ¹⁰

1. “About Us.” One Ohio Now. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://oneohionow.org/about-us/.
2. “Policy Platform.” One Ohio Now. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://oneohionow.org/about-us/platform-publications/.
3. “One Ohio Now.” One Ohio Now. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://oneohionow.org/.
4. “Dcn.  Nick Bates.” LinkedIn. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcn-nick-bates-30628a8/.
5. “Letter to the Editor.” One Ohio Now. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://oneohionow.org/take-action/letter-to-the-editor.
6. “Take Action.” One Ohio Now. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://oneohionow.org/take-action/.
7. “Resources.” One Ohio Now. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://oneohionow.org/resources/.
8. “Staff.” One Ohio Now. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://oneohionow.org/about-us/staff/.
9. “Staff.” One Ohio Now. December 25, 2024. Accessed via Wayback Machine on July 22, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20231225101013/https://oneohionow.org/about-us/staff/.
10. “Endorsers.” One Ohio Now. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://oneohionow.org/about-us/endorsers/.