Portage County Legal News

Proposed legislation seeks to recognize Latino contributions to the Buckeye State

KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News
Published: September 20, 2018

Rather than having to introduce and pass a resolution every year to recognize the contributions Latin Americans have made to Ohio, a pair of Latino lawmakers has championed a bill that would codify a Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month.

State Reps. George Lang, R-West Chester, and Dan Ramos, D-Lorain, have proposed the bipartisan plan to designate Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 as the month-long period at which time the state would recognize the important role Latinos and those of Hispanic ancestry play in the Buckeye State.

Lang said Hispanics owned more than 16,000 business in 2012 - a 64.7 percent increase since 2007, while the overall growth rate for all firms in Ohio was recorded at only 0.8 percent.

"The employment rate for Hispanic-owned businesses in Ohio has increased at a rate of 104.3 percent," he said. "Hispanic-owned firms also had a 1.9 percent increase in people employed from 2002-07, providing more jobs to Ohioans."

Lang, the grandson of a Cuban immigrant, noted that as the state's Latino population increases, so do opportunities for business growth and with the population growing by more than one-and-a-half times from 2000 to 2013, it "continues to open doors to a new and increasingly powerful market."

Projections peg Hispanic buying power at $11.7 billion by the end of the year, he said.

Ramos explained to members of the State and Local Government Committee in the Ohio House of Representatives the rationale behind the 30-day period between mid-September and mid-October, which mirrors federal recognition of Hispanic heritage.

"Sept. 15 was chosen in 1968 as it is the independence day of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua in 1821," he began. "Additionally, Mexico celebrates Independence on Sept. 16, Chile on Sept. 18, and Belize on Sept. 21; so, in essence, the dates coincided with the beginning of Hispanic nations, rather than colonies of the Spanish and British empires."

Next, Ramos made the distinction between the words Hispanic and Latino.

"We are choosing to call it Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month, because that encompasses all of Americans from Latin America, including the Caribbean, in that Hispanic means someone whose origin is a Spanish-speaking country, thus excluding, for example, Brazil, Surinam, Guyana and French Guyana, whereas Latino means someone whose origin is all of Latin America."

Offering testimony in support of the measure, which is filed as House Bill 589, Ohio Latino Affairs Commission Executive Director Lilleana Cavanaugh said the state's future to a large extent will be placed in the hands of its Latino population.

"Our median age of 25 is 14 years younger than the median age of all Ohioans, and nearly 21 percent of our community falls between the ages of 5 and 14 years old," she said. "Hispanic (and) Latino students make up 5.5 percent of Ohio's student body with over 91,700 students enrolled in our public schools last year.

"It is our hope that designating a Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month will inspire those younger members of our community to continue enriching our state with their unique competencies and perspectives."

Cavanaugh said much of the growth within the state's Hispanic and Latino population has occurred among the Mexican community. Ohio, however, is also home to Puerto Ricans, Guatemalans, Cubans, El Salvadorans and Spaniards, among others.

"This diversity of heritage is part of what makes our community flourish in Ohio," she said. "And the name Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month aims to celebrate this diversity by encompassing Ohioans of both Latin American and Spanish origin."

HB 589, which has cosponsor support of 18 fellow House members, has been reported out of committee, awaiting a vote by the full House.

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