Tom Schmida
TWINSBURG — House District 37 candidate Tom Schmida today pledged his support for H.B. 596, the medical right-to-know bill, if he is elected on November 6. District 37 is in the northeast portion of Summit County.
H.B. 596, introduced earlier this month by Rep. Bob Hagan (Youngstown), would fix the medical right-to-know and ‘gag-order’ provisions of Ohio’s new hydraulic fracturing law. That measure contained provisions allowing drilling companies to hide chemical information from doctors, nurses, emergency responders, medical technologists, and medical researchers. It also put a gag order on medical professionals who do obtain this chemical information.
On October 30, Schmida wrote to Ohio Citizen Action:
“Should I be elected to the Ohio House of Representatives from District 37, I would be happy to cosponsor H.B. 596 or other legislation that serves the same purpose. Transparency and full disclosure are essential to protect the health of Ohio’s citizens related to the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. Beyond the environmental impact issues related to fracking, I have additional concerns regarding the need for local communities to have more control over the permitting process and the protection of local infrastructure.”
Schmida’s opponent, State Rep. Kristina Dailey Roegner, voted for the defective hydraulic fracturing law last May and has not co-sponsored H.B. 596 to fix it.
— Melissa K. English, Development Director, Ohio Citizen Action
