Non-profit

Policy Matters Ohio

Website:

www.policymattersohio.org/

Location:

CLEVELAND, OH

Tax ID:

34-1921881

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2017):

Revenue: $1,261,975
Expenses: $1,079,900
Assets: $867,446

Formation:

2000

Founding Executive Director:

Amy Hanauer

Type:

Research Institute and Public Policy Analysis Group

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Policy Matters Ohio is a left-of-center advocacy group and policy research organization founded in January 2000 focusing on the state of Ohio. The group advocates for left-of-center state-level policies in Ohio through research, media work, and policy papers. 1

Policy Matters Ohio pushes for the Service Employees International Union-backed $15 minimum wage by 2023 indexed to inflation and the elimination of the tip credit, which allows employers to count workers’ tip income toward meeting the statutory minimum wage. 2 Policy Matters Ohio supports epanded collective bargaining privileges for Ohio’s public sector workers and opposes right-to-work-laws allowing employees to refrain from paying fees labor unions they do not wish to support. 3 The group advocates for the taxation of pollution and carbon emissions to raise revenue for the radical environmentalist Green New Deal. The organization advocates for additional taxes for unemployment insurance paid for by businesses, an increase in Ohio’s severance tax, taxing single-use plastic, and removing tax breaks from every sector of the economy. 4 5

Policy Matters Ohio’s annual budget of $1,261,975 in 2017 included contributions from a number of national left-of-center foundations including the Ford Foundation, George Gund Foundation, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Public Welfare Foundation, Stoneman Family Foundation, Ohio Organizing Collaborative, and Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Policy Positions

Labor and Employment

Policy Matters Ohio pushes for a $15 minimum wage by 2023 and the elimination of the tip credit, which allows employers to count workers’ tip income toward meeting the statutory minimum wage. The group further seeks to indexing the minimum wage to inflation. The group also wants to establish an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) from Ohio in addition to the current federal EITC. 6

Policy Matters Ohio supports organized labor by campaigning for expanded collective bargaining rights for Ohio’s public sector workers and opposing right-to-work-laws that prohibit unions from compelling workers to financially support unions they oppose. 7 Other left-of-center worker-related policies advocated by the group are higher employer contributions to the unemployment compensation system,  a statewide law to force private-sector employers to produce mandatory paid family leave, and the removal of “work requirements in public benefit programs like food assistance and Medicaid.” 8

Environmentalism

Policy Matters Ohio wishes to change Ohio’s energy standards and prop-up a market for environmentalist energy sources. It advocates for the taxation of pollution and carbon emissions to raise revenue for a “Green New Deal,” a policy critics have described as a “radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire U.S. economy.” 9

Policy Matters Ohio campaigns for an end to conventional energy subsidies and increased taxes on resource extraction, along with other environmentalist policies such as closing tax loopholes on LLCs, taxing single-use plastic, expanding tree planting, restricting construction on all new greenfield projects, requiring unionized labor, and  subsidizing environmentalist energy jobs to “create on-ramps for women and people of color into these jobs.” 10

Policy Matters Ohio desires to remove most tax breaks on individuals, businesses, and non-profits from every sector of the economy. 11

Funders

Policy Matters Ohio has listed its funders as the Ford Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, the St. Luke’s Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation, the Sisters of Charity Foundation, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Stoneman Family Foundation, the Working Poor Families Project, Environmental Health Watch, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, the Raymond John Wean Foundation, the EMA Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, United Way of Greater Cincinnati, the Doll Family Foundation, Central Ohio Community Shares, and Greater Cleveland Community Shares. 12

Other Policy Matters Ohio funders include labor unions like the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees national union;13 the Communications Workers of America;14 and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE), AFSCME Local 4. 15

Partners

Policy Matters Ohio has ten partnered organizations; four of them are well-known left-of-center activist and policy organizations. 16

  • State Priorities Partnership is a network of more than 40 independent left-of-center nonprofits that support research on and fund progressive economic, social, and racial programs. 17
  • The Ohio Organizing Collaborative is a collection of local left-of-center community and policy groups that target democratic leaning populations that support progressive economic policies, climate change theories, racial justice issues, and profess pro-union views. 18
  • Emerald Cities Collaborative is an environmentalist coalition advocating for alternative energy sources through government subsidies combined with left-of-center policies on racial issues, income inequality, and voter laws. 19
  • Demos (formally Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action) is a New York-based nonprofit that advocates for left-wing public policy and has close ties to the progressive left-wing movement of the Democratic Party associated with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren(D-Massachusetts). 20

People

Policy Matters Ohio’s executive director is Amy Hanauer, whose policy concentrations are on left-progressive economic, racial, and social policy; criminal justice; and environmentalism. Amy holds leadership positions in several other left-of-center groups that fund Policy Matters Ohio, including Demos Action, the Economic Analysis and Research Network, State Priorities Partnership, and Ohio Voice. 21

References

  1. “Who We Are.” Who We Are. Accessed October 25, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/who-we-are.
  2. “Fair Economy.” Policy Matters Ohio. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/research-policy/fair-economy/work-wages.
  3. “So-Called Right to Work and the next Generation.” Policy Matters Ohio. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/research-policy/fair-economy/work-wages/collective-bargaining/so-called-right-to-work-and-the-next-generation.
  4. “Ohio’s Ballooning Tax Breaks.” Policy Matters Ohio. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/research-policy/quality-ohio/revenue-budget/budget-policy/ohios-ballooning-tax-breaks.
  5. “Who We Are.” Who We Are. Accessed October 25, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/who-we-are.
  6. “Fair Economy.” Policy Matters Ohio. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/research-policy/fair-economy/work-wages.
  7. “So-Called Right to Work and the next Generation.” Policy Matters Ohio. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/research-policy/fair-economy/work-wages/collective-bargaining/so-called-right-to-work-and-the-next-generation.
  8. “A New Way Forward: 10 Ways to Support Ohio’s Working People.” Policy Matters Ohio. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/research-policy/fair-economy/work-wages/collective-bargaining/a-new-way-forward-10-ways-to-support-ohios-working-people.
  9. McConnell, Mitch. Twitter Post. March 25, 2019, 5:18 P.M. Accessed March 29, 2019. https://twitter.com/senatemajldr/status/1110289975386492929
  10. “A Green New Deal: 10 Ways to Promote a Sustainable Ohio.” Policy Matters Ohio. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/research-policy/sustainable-communities/local-sustainability/a-green-new-deal-10-ways-to-promote-a-sustainable-ohio.
  11. “Ohio’s Ballooning Tax Breaks.” Policy Matters Ohio. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/research-policy/quality-ohio/revenue-budget/budget-policy/ohios-ballooning-tax-breaks.
  12. “Who We Are.” Who We Are. Accessed November 9, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/who-we-are.
  13. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Schedule I
  14. Communications Workers of America AFL-CIO CLC, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2016, Schedule I
  15. Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE), AFSCME Local 4, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Schedule I
  16. “Projects & Partnerships: Policy Matters Ohio: Cleveland, OH.” Policy Matters Ohio | Cleveland, OH. Accessed October 25, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/who-we-are/projects-partnerships.
  17. “State Priorities Partners.” State Priorities Partnership. Accessed October 25, 2019. http://statepriorities.org/state-priorities-partners/.
  18. “Our Vision.” Ohio Organizing Collaborative. Accessed October 25, 2019. https://www.ohorganizing.org/our-vision.
  19. “The Organization.” Emerald Cities Collaborative. Accessed October 25, 2019. http://emeraldcities.org/about/the-organization.
  20. “Our Issues.” Demos. Accessed October 25, 2019. https://www.demos.org/our-issues.
  21. “Staff: Policy Matters Ohio: Cleveland, OH.” Policy Matters Ohio | Cleveland, OH. Accessed October 25, 2019. https://www.policymattersohio.org/who-we-are/staff.

Directors, Employees & Supporters

  1. Amy Hanauer
    Executive Director

Supported Movements

  1. Green New Deal (GND)
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: July 1, 2000

  • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2017 Dec Form 990 $1,261,975 $1,079,900 $867,446 $911 N $1,261,975 $0 $0 $102,916 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $1,193,773 $1,023,576 $690,688 $6,228 N $1,193,773 $0 $0 $97,629
    2015 Dec Form 990 $1,129,450 $859,398 $523,221 $8,958 N $1,129,450 $0 $0 $94,270 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $895,507 $753,797 $252,862 $8,651 N $895,507 $0 $0 $88,616 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $804,833 $781,723 $106,513 $4,012 N $804,833 $0 $0 $86,963 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $974,690 $1,102,990 $150,778 $11,341 N $974,690 $0 $0 $86,873 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $1,021,893 $1,049,764 $281,983 $14,246 N $1,021,893 $0 $0 $84,380 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Policy Matters Ohio

    3631 PERKINS AVENUE SUITE 4C-EAST
    CLEVELAND, OH 44114-4705