Brothers and Sisters,

We have another election in the books.  Our endorsed candidates on the State level won three of the seven races we endorsed in.   Letters are being prepared to congratulate the winners in every race, whether or not we endorsed the candidate.

Our hope is that every politician recognizes the fact public safety and the role of rank and file law enforcement officers in keeping our communities safe needs to be a priority during the next General Assembly and four year term in the Executive and Judicial branches of our state.   Our hope is that Ohio continues to improve its economic footing and that our members will share in its improvement.   Our hope is that our pensions continue to be strong and stable and recognized for the economic impact they have in this state.  

We truly hope for every elected official in Ohio to succeed at making the Buckeye State a better place to live, work and raise a family for all Ohioans.    We are ready and willing to work with every elected official to make that happen. 

The legislative and political goals of the Fraternal Order of Police will continue to be to protect our rights to have a seat at the table when our pay, benefits and terms and conditions of work are being determined; to maintain the defined benefit pension systems; to insure that local governments have the support from the State of Ohio to provide essential law enforcement services and to continue to be the Voice of Law Enforcement in this great state.

We have been preparing for the next General Assembly for a long time but we still have a few weeks left in this one.   We will need the membership to become even more engaged in the legislative arena for the remaining sessions of this General Assembly and as we move forward.   We have two bills to pass this year still, (SB 252 the PTSD bill and SB 288 the death benefit bill) and we are hopeful moving forward.

Jay McDonald