THE PROMISE: Three years ago, in October 2016, Trump promised Ohio voters, “I’m going to bring back your jobs… Wages will rise, jobs will return, and factories will come rushing onto our shore.”
THE REALITY: Thousands of workers have received pink slips as layoffs increased by nearly 30% in 2018 over the previous year — while corporate profits soared. President Trump hasn’t followed through on his boasts about returning overseas factories and investment to the U.S. as promised. In fact, the Trump’s administration’s corporate tax breaks created loopholes that actually incentivize companies to outsource jobs overseas.
Below, we outline some of the Trump administration’s harms to Ohio workers like Nanette from Lordstown, an employee at the recently closed General Motors plant. Share her story on Facebook and Twitter, and check out our factsheet for more information on Ohio.
FIVE FACTS ON TRUMP’S POLICY RECORD IN OHIO
1. Ohio manufacturing workers’ real wages have remained flat since President Trump took office. The number of automobile manufacturing jobs has declined by 15% over the last 18 months as companies faced rising input costs due to President Trump’s erratic and misguided tariff actions.
2. Following the passage of the 2017 tax bill — championed by the Trump administration — a million Ohio households either received no tax cut or experienced a tax increase. But five of the state’s largest corporations paid zero federal income taxes last year.
3. The Trump administration has rolled back safety protections for coal miners and refused to bolster miners’ pension and health care, even as the wage gap between industry executives and average workers continues to widen. With industry barons and lobbyists exerting influence at the EPA, the Trump administration’s actions have raised energy costs, increased exposure to toxic pollutants, and threatened promising job growth in the state’s clean energy economy. See below for more about Trump’s broken promises to coal workers.
4. The Trump administration has already made health care more expensive for Ohioans: the average family of four can expect to pay an additional $2,210 in premiums this year due to the administration’s efforts to sabotage the ACA. Now, the Trump Administration is seeking to take health insurance away from 741,000 Ohioans by backing a pending federal lawsuit that would demolish the entire ACA and also eliminate provisions that protect 4.8 million Ohioans with preexisting conditions.
5. Last week, President Trump signed an executive order signaling a shift toward Medicare privatization that could dismantle health care protections for 2.3 million Ohio seniors. The Trump administration’s plan lays out a path to shift costs onto seniors, put them at risk for surprise medical bills, and restrict choice of providers.
TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES TO MINERS
“We are going to put the miners and the steelworkers back to work. And we are going to get your energy bills down.” –Donald Trump in August 2016, Akron, Ohio
The Trump administration promoted an Ohio state law that bailed out failing coal plants and eliminated clean energy incentives — which cost Ohio ratepayers $4 billion in energy savings over the next decade. The bill specifically advantages Murray Energy Corp, a coal mining company owned by baron Bob Murray, who donated more than $1 million to Trump in 2015 and 2016. Nationally, coal mine owners have contributed more than $6 million to Trump’s political fundraising.
Unsurprisingly, President Trump and his EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler — a former Murray Energy lobbyist — have advanced a dangerous agenda that has lined the pockets of wealthy coal magnates while excluding workers from this prosperity. The Trump administration has rolled back safety protections for coal miners and refused to bolster miners’ pension and health care.
Wheeler’s department rolled back public health protections designed to limit the amount of mercury released by coal-fired power plants and finalized a rule that made it easier for coal companies to pollute waterways.
To the benefit of the fossil fuel industry, Wheeler rolled back the Clean Power Plan, which will cost up to $54 billion annually in health and climate impacts, 3,600 additional premature deaths, and 300,000 missed workdays and schooldays each year. While Ohio’s coal industry jobs declined by 10% in 2018, the administration has simultaneously worked to suppress the state’s growing clean energy industry, which experienced 5% job growth last year even as the state continues to hemorrhage jobs overall.
For more on how Trump’s broken promises are impacting your state, head to TrumpsBrokenPromises.org.