Affordable Healthcare

  • Congressman Landsman supports lower prescription drug costs and broader Medicare benefits, including coverage for vision, hearing, and dental services for seniors. He strongly supports the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – a lifeline for 2 million Ohioans with pre-existing conditions – and supports legislation that capped insulin prices at $35 for Medicare enrollees [1].

    Landsman supports the Inflation Reduction Act, a significant step towards expanding the ACA by allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of life-saving drugs and capping the price of insulin for Medicare enrollees [2]. He also supports eliminating surprise medical bills, lowering prescription drug costs for seniors, and capping the cost of insulin for anyone 26 years old or younger [3].

    Landsman also co-sponsored the Black Maternal Momnibus in 2021, which aims to improve maternal health among racial and ethnic minorities. The Momnibus makes critical investments in housing, transportation, and nutrition.

    It also extends SNAP and WIC eligibility into postpartum and breastfeeding periods, funds community organizations working on maternal health and equity, supports moms with mental health conditions and substance use disorders and promotes maternal vaccinations [4].

  • Research could not find a clear stance on affordable healthcare for Sonza. 

    Sonza’s backers opposed the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Donald Trump – whom Sonza has endorsed for president – also pushed to repeal the ACA during his presidency.

    If the ACA is dismantled, 857,000 Ohioans would be at risk of losing their coverage, and nearly 2 million Ohioans with preexisting conditions could be denied healthcare [1].

Economic Relief For Black Families

  • Congressman Landsman is a strong supporter of the American Rescue Plan, which delivered immediate relief for hard-hit Black families and small businesses, built a bridge toward economic recovery, and reduced poverty in Black communities during the pandemic. While Black Americans are 13% of the U.S. population, they represent nearly 24% of age-adjusted COVID-19 deaths [5].

  • Research could not find a clear stance on healthcare for Orlando Sonza.

Economic Security For Working Families

  • Congressman Landsman is a childcare champion in Ohio and nationally. 

    As a Cincinnati councilmember, he was a staunch advocate of the Preschool Promise initiative, which ensured every kid has access to a high-quality preschool no matter where they live or what they look like [6].  Landsman is a former public school teacher who called early childhood education a “key” to childhood development and says he’ll fight for “more equitable access to education [7].”

    As a congressman, Landsman introduced the Childcare Insight and Improvement Act, which increases federal support for childcare businesses. He also introduced the Childcare Nutrition Enhancement Act, which increases funding for childcare providers and improves childcare nutrition [8]. 

    Landsman voted for the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, which increases the Child Tax Credit. This increase also led to a 7% boost in childcare staffing levels and a 10% increase in wages for childcare workers [9].

    Congressman Greg Landsman supports expanding tax credits that benefit working families. He voted in favor of bipartisan legislation to expand the Child Tax Credit [10] and is an advocate for expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit [11]. 

    He believes the tax code needs to be reformed to benefit working people rather than the wealthy sharing that "billionaires and big corporations don't pay all of their taxes, and it comes at our expense.” He aims to "fix the tax code so that it's built around working people, not billionaires and huge corporations [12]."

  • Congressman Landsman supports increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. 

    Raising the minimum wage would increase wages for nearly 32 million Americans, including roughly a third of all Black workers and a quarter of all Latino workers. While on Cincinnati City Council, Landsman secured higher wages and hazard pay for first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic [13].

  • During the pandemic, Congressman Landsman supported historic bipartisan legislation to address supply chain issues and bring jobs to Ohio. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan has created millions of American jobs, rebuilt our roadways and bridges, upgraded our energy infrastructure, and expanded high-speed internet to every community.

    Landsman is also a strong supporter of the CHIPS and Science Act – which has brought good-paying jobs to Ohio. The Act provides direct funding for the domestic semiconductor industry and incentivizes $150 billion in private investment. 

    One of its significant components – the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) program – aims to ensure that federal funding is equitably distributed nationwide, investing in technology hubs that have the potential to benefit women, Black, Latino, Native American, low-income, and other underrepresented communities [14].

    Landsman has also been vocally supportive of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), though it passed before he took office. He called the legislation “an unprecedented level of federal investment in our communities [15].”

  • Congressman Landsman supports protecting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. He called a vote to protect Medicare “the most important vote I’ve taken as a member of Congress [16].” 

    In 2023, Landsman voted for a federal appropriations bill that would guarantee no child would lose food access through SNAP [17]. 

    The congressman is also a strong supporter of the American Rescue Plan, which allocated $36 billion to keep pensions solvent. This protected a financially troubled pension plan from being cut by nearly 60% for roughly 350,000 Teamsters members and over 100,000 Ohioans [18].

  • Congressman Landsman has co-sponsored many bills to combat food insecurity, including directing the Department of Agriculture to create a grant program to reduce food deserts and take action to eliminate food waste. Landsman also supported expanding SNAP benefits for college students and disabled veterans [19].

    Landsman is a strong supporter of the American Rescue Plan, which increased SNAP benefits by 15%. It also funded partnerships with restaurants to feed American families and keep workers in the restaurant industry on the job [20].

  • Research could not find a clear stance for Sonza on providing childcare for Ohioans. 

    However, he was endorsed by Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, who called the American Rescue Plan’s (ARPA) expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) a “gimmick [2].” 

  • Sonza opposes raising the minimum wage [3]. 

    Sonza’s Republican supporters voted against the Raise The Wage Act of 2019, which would have raised the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour [4]. 

  • Research could not find a clear stance for Sonza on providing jobs for working families.

  • Research could not find a clear stance for Sonza on Social Security and the safety net.

Public Education

  • Greg Landsman is a former public school teacher and a strong advocate for public education. Landsman was instrumental in establishing the Cincinnati Preschool Promise, an initiative aimed at providing access to high-quality preschool for all children in Cincinnati [21]. 

    As a state representative, Landsman has introduced legislation to address college housing affordability. He co-sponsored the Campus Housing Affordability Act of 2024, which aims to provide housing assistance to vulnerable students, including those in foster care [22].

  • Sonza backs controversial school choice vouchers that take money and precious resources away from the public school system. He also supports “backpack bills,” which divert billions of taxpayer dollars from Ohio public schools to private and charter schools [5].

    Sonza is opposed to schools teaching critical race theory, despite previously having said that “students benefit from an educational environment that fosters diversity and an awareness of multicultural perspectives [6].”

    Sonza endorsed Trump for the 2024 presidency. Trump supports school choice vouchers, and recently unveiled an education policy plan that would cut funding for schools that teach critical race theory and eliminate teacher tenure [7].

Reproductive Health

  • Congressman Landsman supports codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law, saying, “it is not the place of government to dictate the decisions that Americans make about their own bodies.” 

    Landsman co-sponsored the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, which prohibits criminalizing women who cross state lines to get an abortion [23]. He also co-sponsored the Right to Contraception Act in 2023, which establishes the right for people to obtain birth control [24].

    Landsman voted for the Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act of 2023, which supports state-based maternal mortality programs. The bill authorizes the review of pregnancy-related deaths and recommendations to prevent future mortalities, particularly those impacted by racial discrepancy [25].

  • Sonza supported a total abortion ban at the state and federal levels in a questionnaire from Cincinnati Right to Life, an extremist group that opposes a woman's right to choose - without exception for rape or incest. He also called Ohio’s amendment to codify abortion rights into the state constitution (Issue 1) “extreme [8].”

    Sonza said he would support legislation that prohibited “the killing of human embryos,” which could threaten in vitro fertilization (IVF). 

    After Ohio voters overwhelmingly passed Ohio’s Issue 1 that protected the right to abortion, Sonza said: “I remain pro-life and pro-family, which is why I proudly support IVF access. We need to promote policies that help create Ohio families [9].”

Community Safety

  • As a Cincinnati councilmember, Landsman supported increased funding for the Cincinnati Police Oversight Board, introduced a motion to review Cincinnati PD’s use-of-force policies, and signed onto a motion to end the police department’s use of gas and pepper balls as means of crowd control [26].

    Landsman also voted to decriminalize marijuana possession within Cincinnati city limits. As congressman, he co-sponsored the SAFE Banking Act of 2023, which allows banks to work with cannabis businesses that are legal at the state level [27].

    Landsman is dedicated to the fight against gun violence. He co-sponsored both the Assault Weapons Ban and the Bipartisan Background Checks Act. In addition, he co-sponsored bills to create an Office of Gun Violence Prevention in the Department of Justice and establish new Safe Firearm Storage Assistance programs [28].

    Landsman supports providing recruitment and retention bonuses for police officers and firefighters. He co-introduced bipartisan legislation that would allow local law enforcement agencies to utilize program grants for recruitment and retention bonuses [29].

    Landsman said: “Communities are struggling to recruit and retain law enforcement officials, and this bill will help them significantly [30].”

  • Sonza supports creating new statewide legislation that strengthens policing and community relations. This includes creating a professional licensing and oversight board for police officers [10]. 

    He also seeks to increase funding for law enforcement training and community policing [11]. 

Student Debt Relief

  • Congressman Landsman says he’ll work to “lessen the burden” of college on students and parents and has criticized Republicans for opposing President Biden’s student debt relief plan [31].

    Landsman took a stand against a Republican bill that aims to repeal the Biden-Harris administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan. The SAVE plan is a lifeline for many low- and middle-income borrowers because it significantly reduces their monthly payments. 

    If passed, this new Republican bill could lead to a monthly payment increase for 5.5 million student loan borrowers [32].

  • Research could not find a clear stance for Sonza on student debt cancellation. 

    However, Sonza’s Washington supporters blocked President Biden’s student debt relief program, which would have canceled up to $10,000 in debt for most students and up to $20,000 for those who received a Pell Grant. 

    Over 1 million Ohioans who applied for this debt relief were deemed eligible, and over 700,000 Ohio fully-approved applications were sent to loan servicers for discharge [12].

Voting Rights & Democracy Reform

  • Congressman Landsman supports expanding voter registration and access, outlawing voter roll purges, increasing election security, strengthening ethics requirements, and establishing independent redistricting [33].

    Landsman supports the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA), which strengthens the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He called the Freedom to Vote Act “must pass” legislation, which protects voting rights, ends partisan gerrymandering, and improves campaign finance regulations [34].

    The VRAA would help restore the original VRA by preventing voter ID laws, polling place closures, and purges of voters from registration rolls. It would also help preempt policies that would marginalize voters of color and provide greater ability to sue for relief [35].

  • Sonza wants to restrict voter access for the purpose of election security [13]. 

Inflation

  • Congressman Landsman said he’ll hold corporations accountable for price gouging [36]. 

    Landsman has repeatedly praised the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill raised taxes on the wealthy, closed the tax evasion loopholes used by billionaires so that they will finally be forced to pay their fair share, lowered prescription drug costs, lowered energy costs, and protected the Affordable Care Act [37]. 

  • One of Sonza’s top priorities will be cutting back on inflation, which he says is crushing American families.

    He said the U.S. needs to reign in government spending and implement policies that encourage economic growth and increase goods and services [14]. 

Affordable Housing

  • Landsman supports safe and affordable housing. As a congressman, he delivered $15 million in federal funding for southwestern Ohio projects, including affordable housing [38].

    Landsman co-sponsored the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2023, a bill that would extend the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to incentivize affordable housing development. Landsman also voted for the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, which increases the low-income housing tax credit [39].

    Landsman also cosponsored the Yes In My Backyard Act, which encourages the construction of more affordable housing by combatting discriminatory land-use policies [40].

  • Research could not find a clear stance on affordable housing for Orlando Sonza.

Footnotes