COLUMBUS, Ohio – The state will appeal a Cuyahoga County court decision that upheld Cleveland’s Fannie Lewis Law guaranteeing that local residents get a percentage of work on public projects.
The ruling declared a state law, known as HB 180, unconstitutional. The law signed by Gov. John Kasich last May barred cities from establishing local hiring regulations in contracts for public improvements.
On Tuesday, Klasbahis Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Russo granted the city’s request for a permanent injunction that blocks the state from ever enforcing the law.
Related story: Judge rules state wrongly sought to block Cleveland’s Fannie Lewis Law, other local hiring ordinances
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson praised the ruling.
“There are billions of dollars of development happening in our city; yet special interests in Columbus are attempting to prohibit our residents from seeing a financial impact from that development,” Jackson said. “Judge Russo’s decision is right and I thank him for correcting this wrong.”
What did the judge rule?
Russo found that the state law violated protections in the Ohio Constitution that protect cities’ home rule authority.
The Ohio attorney general is charged with defending the state’s laws when they are challenged in court. That office had no comment on the case Tuesday, but confirmed today that it will appeal to the 8th District Ohio Court of Appeals in Cleveland.
What’s the case?
Cleveland sued the state last August, shortly before the law was to take effect, claiming it violated home rule powers guaranteed in the Ohio Constitution.
Legislators from more rural parts of Ohio downstate pushed the law through the General Assembly arguing that local hiring laws, such as the Fannie Lewis Law, hurt their constituents. They said local hiring rules shut out workers in their regions from getting construction work in big cities.
The Ohio Contractors Association and others who felt hiring laws should be banned also contended that such quotas often make it harder for contractors to hire the most qualified workers.
What is the Fannie Lewis Law?
Named for the longtime Cleveland Councilwoman Fannie Lewis, the city ordinance was enacted more than a decades ago to help combat poverty and to ensure that residents participate in the city’s economic development – and its prosperity.
Lewis, who died in 2008 at the age of 82, was long known for championing the interests of the residents of Cleveland’s neighborhoods.
The Fannie Lewis law requires that on projects of $100,000 or more, at least 20 percent of construction hours be performed by Cleveland residents. At least 4 percent of that work must be done by residents considered to be low-income. Failure to meet the requirements results in a fine equal to 1/8 of 1 percent of the total contract cost for each percentage by which the contractor misses the goal.
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