Stephanie Tubbs Jones was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998, becoming the first African-American woman to represent Ohio in the U.S. Congress.
Representative Tubbs Jones’ district encompassed some of Cleveland’s most affluent suburbs and parts of poor, inner-city neighborhoods. In the 106th Congress, Tubbs Jones took her seat on Financial Services Committee helping to secure funding for business and housing development. In the 108th Congress, Tubbs Jones chaired the Congressional Black Caucus Housing Task Force, investigating allegations against subprime lenders and introducing legislation against predatory lenders. Tubbs Jones’ seat on the House Ways and Means Committee enabled her to focus her legislative efforts on shoring up Social Security and Medicare as well as pension law and long-term care.
Representative Tubbs Jones also focused on children’s issues, health and education such as the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act of 1999, the Uterine Fibroids Research and Education Act and the Campus Fire Prevention Act. In 2005, Tubbs Jones introduced the Count Every Vote Act and in the 109th Congress, she chaired the Congressional Black Caucus Retirement Security Task Force.
She represented the 11th District of Ohio and in the 110th Congress, Tubbs Jones was named Chairwoman of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, becoming the first African American to chair a standing House committee. Tubbs Jones also held a seat on the African American influential Ways and Means Committee allowing her to focus on economic issues affecting her district including financial literacy, healthcare access, retirement security and education.
Stephanie Tubbs was born in Cleveland, Ohio on September 10, 1949. She was the youngest of three daughters of Mary Tubbs, a factory worker, and of Andrew Tubbs, an airline skycap. Raised in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood, Stephanie graduated from Collinwood High School earning ten academic and athletic awards. Stephanie Tubbs earned an undergraduate degree in social work in 1971 at Case Western Reserve University where she founded the graduate African-American Student Association. In 1974, Tubbs earned a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Tubbs served as the Assistant General Counsel for the Equal Opportunity Administrator for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and later worked as an Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor and Trial Attorney for the Cleveland Equal Opportunity Commission. In 1979, after working on a successful political campaign Tubbs Jones and several colleagues noticed a lack of minority members on the bench and chose to promote Jones for public office. Tubbs Jones won election as a judge on the Cleveland Municipal Court and Ohio Governor Richard Celeste appointed Tubbs Jones to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas where she served from 1983 to 1991.
Representative Tubbs Jones married Mervyn L. Jones in 1976 and had one son Mervyn L. Jones, II in 1983. Tubbs Jones was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and was actively involved in the National Five Point Programmatic Thrust program of her sorority. Representative Tubbs Jones was also a Golden Life Member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a member of the National Social Action Commission.
Representative Tubbs Jones received numerous honors throughout her lifetime including the National Bible Association Capitol Hill Distinguished Leadership Award, Human Rights Campaign of Cleveland Equality Award, and Backbone Campaign’s Backbone Award.
Representative Tubbs Jones died suddenly of a brain aneurysm on August 20, 2008.