Arizona Republican lawmakers are fighting back against the “disastrous impacts” the proposed changes to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules will have on Arizonans.
Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) and House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) sent two letters to the U.S. EPA in opposition to the EPA’s proposed regulations which would mandate a transition to electric cars and trucks from model year 2027 through model year 2032.
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Ohio Secretary of State and undeclared candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2024, Frank LaRose, told The Ohio Star that Ohioans need to know about two lies the Left is spreading about State Issue 1 before going to the polls.
“People need to know about the outright lies the Left is saying about Issue 1,” LaRose told The Star.
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Republican Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell is calling on Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs to rescind her executive order that strips county attorneys of their authority to prosecute abortion-related crimes.
Last month Hobbs signed a sweeping executive order to protect anyone involved with a “legally obtained” abortion from prosecution.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine requested on Monday that President Joe Biden issue a Major Presidential Disaster Declaration for damage resulting from the catastrophic East Palestine train derailment that occurred earlier this year.
This follows two groups of protestors, Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment and River Valley Organizing, pressuring the Ohio Governor to submit a disaster declaration before the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Monday deadline.
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Ohio’s highest court must reconsider the congressional districting of the state that the Ohio Supreme Court previously ruled unlawful.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a summary judgment, a decision made without listening to oral arguments, reversing the Ohio Supreme Court’s judgment from last July that the congressional districting process unfairly favored the Republican Party.
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A new study indicates that in the general election in 2022 in Arizona, either election officials tallied more ballots than the number of registered voters, or Arizona counties failed to maintain accurate records of who cast a ballot.
The study, conducted by the think tank The America First Policies Institute (AFPI), conducted an analysis counting the total number of ballots in the 2022 Arizona general election compared to the number of registered voters.
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State lawmakers approved the state’s biennial operating budget including tax cuts for individuals and businesses, higher income limits for school vouchers, and 1.8 billion for public schools.
A temporary budget is currently in effect until Ohio Governor Mike DeWine can review and sign the permanent one.
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Following the sentencing of former Ohio Republican Speaker of the House Larry Householder on Thursday, Ohio lawmakers in the Ohio House of Representatives voiced their opinions.
A federal judge sentenced Householder this week to the maximum of 20 years in federal prison for his participation in the largest bribery scandal in state history.
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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is currently holding a narrow lead against his Republican challengers for U.S. Senate in 2024 in a new poll conducted by the East Carolina University (ECU) Center for Survey Research.
The poll details that among the registered voters in Ohio surveyed, Brown holds a slim lead over both the already declared and undeclared candidates.
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Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) says that he is now confident in lawmakers passing the state’s biennial budget before its June 30th deadline.
This follows his previous statement that with the approximately 800 differences between the biennial budgets passed by the Ohio House and Ohio Senate, it is likely that the state legislature may miss its end-of-the-month deadline and need to pass a temporary budget until they can strike a final deal.
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The Ohio House of Representatives passed a Republican-backed Concurrent Resolution to urge the Federal Government to officially name Wright Patterson Air Force Base, in Dayton, Ohio as the permanent location for the U.S. Space Command headquarters.
The Ohio House Passed House Concurrent Resolution 8 by a 90-2 vote advancing the resolution to the Ohio Senate for their review.
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The City of Columbus is trying to implement its gun control laws while a lawsuit filed by The Buckeye Institute to protect the rights of Ohioans to keep and bear arms is being heard.
The city requests that the 10th District Court of Appeals overturns a ruling by a Delaware County judge to temporarily halt a state law that would make it difficult for municipalities to establish specific gun control measures.
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Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is an undeclared candidate for the U.S. Senate, told The Ohio Star that he thinks that the abortion and marijuana legalization efforts in the state will both obtain enough signatures to get on the November 2023 ballot.
“Both efforts are very well funded and it wouldn’t shock me if they are able to get the adequate number they need to get on the November ballot,” LaRose told The Star.
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Six Republican Ohio House veterans wrote a letter opposing a committee adding a seven-day interim budget to a bill that gives military families a tax break.
On Monday, the House Rules and Reference Committee approved an amendment to include this budget to Senate Bill (SB) 43 to expand the situations in which surviving spouses of disabled veterans may receive the “homestead” tax exemption.
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The Ohio House of Representatives passed two Republican-backed pieces of legislation on Tuesday one that modernizes and streamlines the adoption process across the state and another bill that excuses breastfeeding mothers from jury duty.
The Ohio House passed House Bill (HB) 5 by a 93-0 vote and HB 34 by a 94-0 vote advancing both pieces of legislation to the Ohio Senate for review.
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The Ohio House of Representatives advanced a piece of Republican-backed legislation that aims to protect a healthcare provider’s ability to fill off-label prescriptions.
House Bill (HB) 73, known as The Patient and Health Provider Protection Act, sponsored by State Representatives Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester) and Mike Loychik (R- Bazetta) passed 75-17 out of the Ohio House of Representatives advancing it to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted announced that Amazon Web Services is expanding its data center operations in central Ohio making the second-largest single private sector investment in Ohio’s history.
DeWine said that Amazon Web Services will invest an estimated $7.8 billion by the end of 2029 expanding its data center operations in the state and creating hundreds of new jobs. The new data centers will be equipped with networking hardware, computer servers, data storage devices, and other types of technology infrastructure needed to support cloud computing.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is urging the General Assembly to pass the full biennial budget before its June 30th deadline rather than to pass a temporary budget with negotiations continuing into July.
Under the Ohio Constitution, the state’s two-year budget must be passed and signed into law before the fiscal year’s end on June 30th. However, the budget legislation approved by the Ohio House and Ohio Senate differ significantly from one another.
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A chemistry professor testified during a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) fact-finding hearing that the controlled burn of vinyl chloride from the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio earlier this year may not have been necessary.
Norfolk Southern officials says that the unified command made the decision to vent and burn the vinyl chloride, out of concern for polymerization, a molecular chemical reaction that may have caused the tanker cars to rise in temperature resulting in a disastrous explosion.
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Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is an undeclared candidate for the U.S. Senate, told The Ohio Star that he hopes to make an announcement for a run for U.S. Senate against Ohio Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2024 “soon.”
“It is a big logistical undertaking. You don’t undertake an effort this big without figuring out how you can do it successfully. I think it’s vitally important that we beat him (Sherrod Brown) next year. If I can do it right I want to do it. I hope to make an announcement soon,” LaRose told The Star.
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Two Republican Ohio lawmakers have introduced a bill into the Ohio House of Representatives that aims to increase penalties for reckless driving.
House Bill (HB) 56 sponsored by State Representatives Andrea White (R-Kettering) and Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) aims to stop reckless driving also known as “hooning” from creating dangerous conditions on Ohio roads.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is pushing for $13 million of the state’s biennial operating budget to be used for the expansion of the statewide Narcotics Intelligence Center.
The Governor discussed the funding during the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center’s Law Enforcement Drug Summit on Thursday saying that this $13 million increase is pivotal as it better allows them to assist local law enforcement agencies across the state with handling drug-related violent crimes.
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The Ohio House of Representatives advanced a piece of Republican-backed legislation that modernizes the statutes authorizing the Cosmetology and Barber Board.
House Bill (HB) 158, sponsored by State Representatives Melanie Miller (R-City of Ashland) and Bill Roemer (R-Richfield), unanimously passed out of the Ohio House Commerce and Labor Committee advancing it to the house floor for further consideration.
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Another major Ohio business organization has come out in support of Ohio State Issue 1 which aims to alter the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments.
Issue 1, if approved by voters, would mandate a 60 percent approval percentage for any future constitutional amendments, call for signatures from all 88 counties, and do away with the opportunity to “cure” petitions by collecting additional signatures if necessary.
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Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said that he disagrees that the state legislature may miss the deadline to pass the state’s biennial budget.
This follows Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hills) indicating the possibility that the state legislature may miss the deadline with budget negotiations continuing into July.
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The Ohio House of Representatives passed two Republican-backed pieces of legislation on Wednesday one that aims to protect women’s sports and children from exploitation in the state and one that aims to require school systems to have policies in place that allow parents to be more active in their child’s education.
The Ohio House passed House Bill (HB) 68, known as the SAFE Act, with the Save Women’s Sports Act amended into it by a 64-28 vote and HB 8, known as the Parents’ Bill of Rights, by a 65-29 vote advancing both pieces of legislation to the Ohio Senate for their review.
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The two-star commander of the Ohio National Guard who made national headlines for pushing a journalist during an East Palestine news conference earlier this year has been given a leadership award for being “a role model for others.”
Major General John C. Harris Jr. received the Harry S. Hertz Leadership Award from the Baldrige Foundation on Wednesday for his role-model leadership “challenging, encouraging, and empowering others to achieve performance excellence.”
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An Ohio pro-life advocacy organization is calling for the closure of a late-term abortion facility in Cleveland following a patient experiencing a “dangerous hemorrhage” caused by injuries inflicted during a surgical abortion.
Ohio Right to Life says that Preterm Cleveland, a notoriously dangerous late-term abortion facility, “should have its doors permanently closed.”
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Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) indicated that the state legislature may miss the deadline for the state’s biennial budget with negotiations to continue into July.
Under the Ohio constitution, the state’s two-year budget must be passed and signed into law before the fiscal year’s end on June 30th. However, the budget legislation approved by the Ohio House and Senate differ significantly from one another.
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Norfolk Southern Railway announced that it intends to spend over $25 million to upgrade and revitalize East Palestine City Park as part of the railroad’s response to help make things right following the catastrophic train derailment earlier this year.
The announcement follows East Palestine City Council approving the proposed plans for the project on Monday night. Norfolk Southern will now develop a full master plan for the community park in the village’s center.
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The Ohio House unanimously passed Republican-backed legislation that aims to give judges in the state clear guidance in setting bail.
House Bill (HB) 191, sponsored by State Representatives D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron) (pictured above, right) and Bill Seitz (R- Cincinnati) (pictured above, left), looks to codify Criminal Rule 46, a rule that provides all state courts with instructions regarding bail-setting procedures in the Ohio Revised Code.
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Republican State Senator Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) launched a statewide ad campaign on Tuesday in his bid for U.S. Senate against Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2024.
The 60-second digital advertisement is the first statewide ad buy in his bid for the U.S. Senate, targeting Brown and his “blind loyalty” to President Joe Biden.
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The Ohio Republican Party is pushing back against the “radical extremist” group, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio’s (ACLU), opposition to House Bill (HB) 8 which aims to require school systems to have policies in place that allow parents to be more active in their child’s education.
House Bill (HB) 8, known as the “Parents Bill of Rights,” aims to require school systems to alert parents before using materials with explicit sexual content in class, gives parents the option to review curriculum for sexually explicit content and request alternate education, requires school systems to inform parents of any changes to the mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being services given to their kids, and requires school systems to develop a parent-approved health care plan for each student.
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The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the August 8th special election to vote on Ohio State Issue 1 aimed at altering the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments can legally proceed as scheduled.
Ohio State Issue 1 if approved by voters would mandate a 60 percent approval percentage for any future constitutional amendments, call for signatures from all 88 counties, and do away with the opportunity to “cure” petitions by collecting additional signatures if necessary.
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The Ohio House unanimously passed Republican-backed legislation that aims to streamline tax reporting requirements for remote workers.
House Bill (HB) 121 sponsored by State Representatives Monica Robb Blasdel (R-Columbiana County) and Adam Mathews’ (R-Lebanon) looks to modernize the municipal net profits tax filing requirements for remote workers and allow employers to designate qualifying reporting locations to consolidate their filings to a single central business location.
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A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill to address the state’s infant and maternal mortality rates and improve mothers’ and infants’ health, learning, and development outcomes.
House Bill (HB) 7, known as the “Strong Foundations Act,” sponsored by State Representatives Andrea White (R-Kettering) and Latyna Humphrey (D-Columbus), aims to expand access to food, housing, transportation, and healthcare for Ohio mothers and their children.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the appointment of Republican attorney Elizabeth Ellis to the general division of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas serving the community of Montgomery County.
Judge-designee Ellis from Dayton, Ohio, is an assistant prosecutor at the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office. She has held this position since 2021. Ellis previously headed the civil section for the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for 19 years. She has also held positions with the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as the juvenile division’s chief appellate counsel and director.
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The Ohio House of Representatives passed a Republican-backed legislation that attempts to save taxpayers millions of dollars statewide by modernizing the Ohio Revised Code.
The Ohio House passed the legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of 94-1, advancing it to the senate for its consideration.
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Protesters interrupted a session of the Ohio House this week demanding that Governor Mike DeWine declare a state of emergency in East Palestine as a result of the catastrophic train derailment earlier this year.
The group’s Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment and River Valley Organizing gathered to pressure the Ohio governor to submit a disaster declaration before the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) July 3rd deadline. Also, the groups protested in the Rotunda at the Ohio Capitol Building and marched into DeWine’s offices.
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The Ohio House of Representatives advanced a Republican-backed piece of legislation that tries to require school systems to have policies that allow parents to be more active in their child’s education.
The Ohio House Primary and Secondary Education Committee passed the legislation 10-5 advancing it to the house floor for further consideration.
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The Ohio Senate passed its version of the state’s new two-year $85.7 billion budget bill on Thursday highlighting significant reforms for education policy, tax policy, and home ownership programs.
The latest version of House Bill (HB) 33 passed out of the Ohio Senate by a 24-7 party-line vote. Now approved, the legislation will go to a conference committee to work out differences with the House budget.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the appointment of Republican attorney Diana Stevenson to the Barberton Municipal Court serving the Barberton, Green, New Franklin, Norton, Copley, Coventry, and Clinton communities.
Judge-designee Stevenson started her legal career in 1993 as a judicial attorney for several judges in various counties, including a year as a judicial attorney at the Ohio Supreme Court. Stevenson started working for the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office in July 1996 as an assistant prosecutor, a position she held for four years. She then worked as a magistrate for the Summit County Probate Court for 12 years. She was chosen to serve as the Barberton Municipal Court’s clerk of court in 2012. Stevenson won the 2013 election and was returned to office in 2015 and 2021.
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The Ohio Ballot Board approved new ballot language for State Issue 1 following an Ohio Supreme Court ruling that the board rewrites the proposal to address issues in the ballot text of the previously approved version.
The new version approved by the Ballot Board in a 3-2 vote split down party lines summarizes for voters what State Issue 1 would do if passed, updated a section of text that the state Supreme Court said misrepresented the new threshold of voter signatures that amendment campaigns must amass from each Ohio county to be eligible for the ballot and removed the term “any” from the title of the ballot wording.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine submitted a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requesting a second extension on the deadline for Ohio to request a major disaster declaration for damage resulting from the catastrophic East Palestine train derailment which occurred earlier this year.
The FEMA website states that a major disaster declaration provides a wide range of federal assistance programs for individuals and public infrastructure, including funds for both emergency and permanent work.
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The Ohio House of Representatives advanced two Republican-backed pieces of legislation on Wednesday that aim to protect women’s sports and children from exploitation in the state.
House Bill (HB) 68, known as the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, sponsored by State Representative Gary Click (R-Vickery), passed out of the Ohio House Public Health Policy Committee by a 7-6 vote advancing it to the house floor for further consideration.
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The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Ohio Ballot Board must rewrite some of the language that will appear as State Issue 1 before voters on the August special election ballot.
In the decision issued by Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy and Justices Pat Fischer, Pat DeWine, and Joe Deters the Ohio Ballot Board (OBB) is to address issues in the ballot text, including one that they said misrepresented the new threshold of voter signatures that amendment campaigns must amass from each Ohio county to be eligible for the ballot.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, State Senator Michael Rulli (R-Salem), and State Representative Monica Blasdel (R-Columbiana County) announced that the state of Ohio is offering zero-interest, forgivable loans of up to $1 million to businesses affected by the catastrophic East Palestine train derailment earlier this year.
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Lawmakers in the Ohio Senate have reinstated Governor Mike DeWine’s requirement for verified parental consent before children use social media in their version of the state budget.
DeWine included the Social Media Parental Notification Act in the executive budget for 2023-24, which he submitted to the Ohio General Assembly in February. In April, the House Finance Committee removed the proposal from the budget in favor of a potential separate bill.
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The Democratic League of Women Voters have said that they are adamantly against Ohio State Issue 1 which aims to change the percentage needed to amend the constitution by a statewide ballot initiative to a supermajority of 60 percent from the current 50 percent plus one.
Their opposition is inconsistent however as their own organization’s bylaws require a 66 percent vote for amendments.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that he along with 21 other attorneys general have secured final approval of a combined $17.3 billion settlement to hold two drug makers and two pharmacies accountable for their roles in the opioid-addiction crisis and help fund opioid recovery efforts.
Under the settlement, Ohio expects to receive a total of $679.6 million from drug makers Teva and Allergan and pharmacies CVS and Walgreens over the next 15 years.
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