A new vote record analysis of the Ohio Legislature by the Institute for Legislative Analysis (ILA) found that lawmakers from the Buckeye State have the most “conservative voting records when it comes to cutting regulations, but very liberal records on tax, fiscal and healthcare policy.”
The report, based on nearly 8,000 votes cast by Ohio lawmakers last year at both the federal and state level, also found that Governor Mike DeWine’s record is “significantly” less conservative than most Republicans within the state legislature.
Just Released: Ratings of Ohio Legislature and Governor
See full report at https://t.co/l0AJyJ7bcm pic.twitter.com/5DopnGOJYO
— Institute for Legislative Analysis (@leganalysis) November 2, 2023
DeWine, according to the report, earned a Limited Government Rating of 68.63 percent compared to the Republican average of 79.59 percent.
ILA calculated DeWine’s score through its new governor rating system, which is the first system in the nation that evaluates the Executive Branch based on bill signage and veto actions.
“While DeWine has an excellent track record on fighting crime and reducing regulations (earning perfect ratings in those categories), he earned very low scores within the Tax and Fiscal (36%) and Healthcare (0%) categories,” the ILA’s report explains.
DeWine is not alone in his low scores relating to tax, fiscal, and healthcare policies.
The report found that Ohio Republicans have only voted in line with the limited government position on tax and fiscal issues 42 percent of the time and 25 percent of the time on healthcare policies.
Ohio Democrats averaged 27 percent when it came to voting on healthcare policies aligning with the limited government position.
“Unfortunately, Ohio lawmakers have still not learned their lesson from the disastrous consequences of Obamacare. Additional government mandates within the healthcare industry merely lead to higher costs and less consumer options,” ILA CEO Ryan McGowan said in a statement. “And as workarounds to Obamacare such as healthcare sharing has proven, the elimination of unnecessary coverages results in drastically lower healthcare premiums.”
Ohio U.S. Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) earned the highest limited government rating (97 percent) out of every Ohio lawmaker at both the federal and state levels.
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Mike DeWine” by Mike DeWine.
