Jan. 3—Many federal and state leaders spent 2022 delivering results for Ohioans, supporting veterans and creating jobs in a flurry of community-based and legislative activity.

Two officials, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Congressman Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge Township, summarized details of last year's achievements while noting more work is to be done in 2023.

Brown — 2022 at a glance

Brown said he spent the year protecting democracy, prioritizing Ohioans' health, safety and economic security, and addressing the pandemic.

Overall, the senator sponsored 47 pieces of legislation and co-sponsored an additional 132 pieces of legislation, and participated in more than 100 in-person and virtual events with constituents.

After years of urging investment in domestic manufacturing and bringing "good jobs back home to the United States," Brown helped write and pass the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which includes "historic funding" for domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

Currently, 90 percent of chip manufacturing capacity is overseas, according to data, but with investments like Intel's $20 billion semiconductor plant, technology of the future will now be made in Ohio.

The CHIPS Act also aims to support the next generation of Ohio workers, manufacturers and companies by providing $200 million over five years to promote the growth of the semiconductor workforce, which, Brown noted, will need to add 90,000 workers by 2025.

In October, Brown visited a high-tech manufacturing class at Lorain County Community College to learn more about how communities are leading in developing the manufacturing of the future.

The bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 was named after Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson, a Central Ohio veteran who died in 2020 at age 39 from lung cancer after exposure to burn pits during a one-year deployment in Iraq in 2006.

The act is the result of a "years-long fight" to ensure those exposed to toxins can access the health care and disability benefits they've earned and deserve.

Last year, Brown traveled to 17 counties hosting roundtables and events with veterans and advocates to raise awareness about expanded health care and disability benefits veterans may now be eligible for.

"This is a cost of going to war," Brown said. "If you were exposed to toxins while serving our country, you deserve the benefits you earned. Period. No exceptions."

PACT was signed into law by President Biden last summer and is described as "the most comprehensive expansion of benefits for veterans who face toxic exposure in the country's history...."

Moreover, PACT guarantees VA health care coverage for 23 different medical conditions connected to toxic exposure and also extends health care eligibility to veterans dating to the Vietnam era.

The Inflation Reduction Act aims to lower prescription costs for seniors, invest in domestic energy production and manufacturing, and reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030, Brown noted, adding the secretary of Health and Human Services will now be able to negotiate directly to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries.

"For the first time in years, we are standing up to three of the most powerful special interests in Washington — we're taking on 'Big Pharma' to lower seniors' drug prices, 'Big Oil' to lower energy prices, create jobs and grow new industries, and we're taking on Wall Street to rein in stock buybacks that reward CEOs at the expense of workers," Brown said.

Additionally, the legislation encourages domestic clean energy manufacturing with "billions of investment in tax credits to help speed up U.S. clean energy production and manufacturing."

The bill also offers tax credits to encourage retooling existing auto manufacturing facilities to manufacture clean vehicles.

After "years of leading the fight to save the pensions that Ohioans earned over a lifetime of work, multiemployer pension plans and small businesses, in 2022, started to see results of key provisions" Brown ensured in his Butch Lewis Act in the American Rescue Plan, named in memory of Butch Lewis, the former retired head of Teamsters Local 100 in Southwest Ohio.

According to Brown, so far, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has approved billions in Special Financial Assistance funding to pension funds that are rapidly running out of money, meaning more than 100,000 retirees, workers and their families will keep their hard-earned pensions with no cuts.

The fix also supports Ohio businesses that participate in these pension plans.

As chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over public transportation, Brown worked with senators on both sides of the aisle to secure record resources for Ohio communities to expand and improve service, upgrade infrastructure, train workers, and transition to pollution-free buses.

The senator confirmed that public transit agencies in Ohio have already received funds and agencies across the state are expected to receive $1.3 billion in funding over the next five years.

Bus and metro rail replacement programs will also be subject to Brown's Buy America provisions, with more American jobs making transit system more reliable.

Since helping launch the My Brother's Keeper statewide coalition in Columbus in 2018, the program has expanded to now encompass 12 chapters.

In an effort to help address opportunity gaps young men of color face, in 2022, members were able to participate in programs throughout the year to learn more about their goals and opportunities to succeed.

Joyce — 2022 at a glance

According to his office, Joyce introduced 19 bills, seven of which were signed into law:

—H.R. 8785, Lake Erie Water Quality Protection Act

—H.R. 8965, Aquatic Invasive Species Control Act

—H.R. 6735, Supporting Access to Nurse Exams Act

—H.R. 654, Drug-Free Communities Pandemic Relief Act

—H.R. 3050, Kenneth Meisel Public Servants' Claimant Fairness Act

—H.R. 7746, Sgt. Wolf Kyle Weninger Veterans Education Fairness Act of 2022

—H.R. 5274, Prevent Exposure to Narcotics and Toxins Act

The congressman also returned $17,996,000 in federal taxes to Northeast Ohio for local projects. Moreover, his office responded to 54,270 constituent inquiries and assisted 1,869 constituents with a federal agency.

Joyce co-led the introduction of the TCJA Permanency Act to make permanent 23 different tax cuts for individuals, families and small businesses.

He also introduced the Small Business Cybersecurity Assistance Pilot Program Act — to provide small businesses with access to critical tools amid heightened threats — and the Commission on the American Workforce Act to help overcome the labor shortages hurting community businesses.

Joyce co-sponsored the American Energy Independence from Russia Act to require the Biden Administration to "unleash America's domestic energy, reduce dependence on foreign fuel sources, and stimulate economic growth in energy-abundant states like Ohio."

He also introduced an amendment to force the Biden Administration "to flip the switch on their failed energy policies and lower energy costs for Americans by issuing offshore oil and gas lease sales."

Joyce noted he was proud to introduce the Advanced Border Coordination Act to establish joint operation centers along the southern border to bolster security efforts and improve law enforcement coordination.

He also co-sponsored the POLICE Act to make assaulting a police officer a deportable offense and introduced the Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act to help establish mental health programs for law enforcement and first responders.

Joyce introduced the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Reauthorization Act to conserve, restore and manage Lake Erie's fish and wildlife populations and their habitats, in addition to the DEFEND the Great Lakes Act, which aims to "support shoreline communities by adjusting U.S. Army Corps of Engineers programs and ensuring targeted federal funding can be directed to resilience projects in vulnerable areas."

Joyce also introduced the Stop Pills That Kill Act to increase criminal penalties for those producing lethal counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl.

He also cosponsored six bills that would address "the border crisis by resuming border wall construction, deploying effective drug detection technology, and placing more boots on the ground, including the Border Security for America Act."