Senator Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) has introduced Ohio Senate Bill 313 which would create the Federal Domestic Violence Options Task Force. The bill is slated to have a second hearing and a possible vote at the May 17 meeting of the Ohio Senate State and Local Government & Veterans' Affairs Committee. Ohio is one of a very small group of states that hasn't taken advantage of a domestic violence option in the federal welfare law. The bill holds the promise of getting advocates and state officials on the same page regarding this issue and their findings could be rolled into the next years biennial state budget.

The legislation (http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=126_SB_313) is bipartisan and has six cosponsors. It's the product of a lot of hard work by Senator Schuring and the Ohio Empowerment Coalition along with the Contact Center in Cincinnati. The committee hearing will begin at 4:00 p.m. in the Ohio Senate South Hearing Room and testimony is welcome. If you do plan to testify you should bring 25 copies of your testimony to the hearing.