Burnouts, doughnuts and stunt driving activities becoming increasingly popular on Ohio roadways could soon carry stiffer penalties.
Also, under legislation recently passed by the Ohio House and Senate, blocking roads or interrupting the regular flow of traffic for street racing would be illegal.
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While waiting for Gov. Mike DeWine’s signature, Jewish leaders in the Ohio Legislature are praising passes of a bill that gives Ohio colleges and universities tools to promote student safety and inclusive environments.
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Americans on Medicaid moved closer to receiving coverage for weight loss treatments nearly a year after an Ohio congressman introduced legislation to expand access.
Rep. Dr. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, has wanted U.S. taxpayers to pay for weight loss drugs through Medicare since he introduced the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act in July.
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Cleveland is one of the next cities asking for public funding for a renovation or new NFL stadium after the city councils of Charlotte and Jacksonville each approved more than $600 million in public funding.
Browns’ ownership, the Haslam Sports Group, has reportedly pitched Cleveland and Ohio state leadership on funding half of a potential $1.2 billion renovation of Cleveland Browns stadium or having state and local governments each pay $600 million of taxpayer funds – a total of $1.2 billion – toward building a new stadium in Brook Park.
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Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance are using the National Transportation and Safety Board’s findings on East Palestine’s train derailment to continue their push for national rail standards.
At a public hearing earlier this week in East Palestine, Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy called Norfolk Southern’s attempts to sway the investigation unprecedented and reprehensible.
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An economic public policy group believes a minimum wage increase would save thousands of lives across the state.
Columbus-based Scioto Analysis recently released a new cost-benefit analysis of the impact of raising the minimum wage. The analysis says raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour would save about 4,100 lives over the next decade.
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A coalition of health insurers and employer groups is using a targeted ad campaign to call attention to private-public hospital expansions it says leads to higher premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.
The campaign comes as the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center continues to move forward with a $1.9 billion, 1.9-million-square-foot inpatient hospital expected to open in 2026.
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The Ohio Department of Transportation says it needs nearly $2 billion to slow the growth of commute times and make a stretch of highway in one of the state’s fastest-growing counties safer.
Delaware County’s population has more than doubled in more than 20 years and increased by more than 15,000 people in the last three years. That growth has pushed a 23-mile area of U.S. Highway 23 north of Columbus to 30% over its capacity.
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A concurrence from the House of Representatives is all that stands in the way of reinforcing Ohio hospital requirements to provide transparency in pricing.
Both the Senate and House passed slightly different versions of House Bill 49, which requires hospitals to comply with the federal price transparency law. This includes maintaining and making a public list of standard charges for services a patient can schedule in advance.
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A Democratic plan before the Ohio Senate would raise business and income taxes to establish universal health care throughout the state.
The legislation would give every Ohioan access to comprehensive health care without a co-payment or deductible and coverage could not be denied for preexisting conditions.
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Bernie Moreno, the Republican nominee in the Ohio U.S. Senate race, condemned the Biden administration’s executive order to allow illegal alien spouses and children to apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the country.
To be eligible under Biden’s Tuesday executive order, “noncitizens” must have resided in the United States for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen while satisfying all applicable legal requirements as of June 17, 2024.
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The Ohio Republican Party launched a new initiative on Monday aimed at turning out the Republican vote for the November 5 general election.
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Ohio schools could get $600 million to build new facilities, and the state fairgrounds is in line for more than $200 million if the Senate’s plan for part of the state’s capital budget is approved.
Senate Bill 292 was introduced Monday ahead of hearings planned for Tuesday.
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Contractors and large employers in Ohio are a step closer to being required to verify the immigration status of employees after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to require the use of E-Verify in hiring.
House Bill 327, which passed 85-6, now heads to the Senate.
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A recently-released policy memo by The Buckeye Institute exploring the rising costs of healthcare in the U.S. found that the largest single driver of costs in the industry is rising hospital costs.
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An Ohio lawmaker is looking for support to return land in western Ohio to formerly enslaved people denied to them during the Civil War.
In a letter to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine and other state agencies and elected officials, Rep. Dontavius Jarrells, D-Columbus, wants the governor to support exploring all options to address what Jarrells calls the historical injustice faced by the Randolph Freedpeople.
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Republican U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance wants all diversity, equity and inclusion programs stopped in the federal government, saying the agenda breeds hatred and racial division.
Vance, R-Ohio, joined several other GOP lawmakers to introduce the Dismantle DEI Act, which would end federal programs and funding for federal agencies and contractors who receive federal money.
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Ohio’s attorney general and Columbus-based policy group are responding to the city of Columbus’ attempt to lift a restraining order and implement a series of gun regulations passed in 2022.
However, the Republican AG and The Buckeye Institute are on different sides.
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A group focused on homelessness and affordable housing in Ohio plans to spend $2 million in federal taxpayer money on youth who age out of the foster care system.
The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio believes those young adults pose a greater risk of being homeless and becoming involved in the criminal justice system.
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Ohio could remove more than 150,000 people from its voter list as it continues to remove inactive voters.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose recently released a list of 158,857 inactive voter registrations as part of what he calls an election integrity initiative being implemented before the November general election.
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Hearings to give $350 million in one-time taxpayer funds to communities around Ohio begin Tuesday in the Ohio Senate.
Lawmakers created the One-Time Strategic Community Investment Fund when they passed the state’s two-year budget last June. This is the beginning process of spending the $350 million the Senate and House expect to allocate over the next month.
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Public school districts in Ohio could soon have access limited to school-issued computers used by students and monitoring students’ web-browsing activity during non-school hours.
A bill that recently unanimously passed the Senate and began hearings in the House would also prohibit technology providers from using educational data to market or advertise to students.
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In the wake of recent protests on college and university campuses in Ohio and nationwide, an Ohio senator wants to make rioters pay for property damages while breaking the law.
Senate Bill 267, which is awaiting a committee assignment, would also stop government officials from interfering with law enforcement officers during a riot.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wants to stop the sale of ancient Jewish texts and books at the nation’s first permanent Jewish institution of higher learning in Cincinnati.
Yost filed for a temporary restraining order to prevent Hebrew Union College from selling copies of the Talmud and other ancient books after the school expressed interest in parting with them to offset growing deficits.
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President Joe Biden will officially be on the Ohio general election ballot without a national virtual roll call vote and foreign nationals cannot fund state ballot issue campaigns.
Gov. Mike DeWine signed the two bills passed in last week’s special legislative session into law Sunday. Both contain emergency provisions that allow them to take effect immediately.
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Milwaukee’s school superintendent is out of a job, but the city’s school board did not fire him.
Superintendent Keith Posley reigned early Tuesday morning after a marathon school board meeting.
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East Palestine, Ohio, residents are a step closer to federal funds that would create a long-term study on the health impacts of the Norfolk Southern train derailment that happened nearly 16 months ago.
The East Palestine Health Impact Monitoring Act recently passed the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions with bipartisan support.
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A shooting that unfolded in Akron early Sunday morning has left 24 injured and one dead, according to the Akron Police Department (APD).
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Nearly $30 million in taxpayer-funded grants are going to 17 Ohio local organizations to grow access to affordable housing across the state.
The money is the first round of the state’s new Welcome Home Ohio program, which is expected to spend $100 million over two years to help landbanks buy, rehabilitate or build residential properties for income-eligible people.
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The Ohio legislature on Friday approved legislation to ensure that President Joe Biden will appear on the state’s general election ballot this November.
“I don’t think anybody on this side of the aisle really feels like they’re going to be voting for President Biden, but at the same time, Ohioans deserve a choice in this election, and that’s what we’re seeking to give them today,” GOP state Sen. Rob McColley said, according to NBC News.
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The Ohio House approved in special session Thursday what it said was a compromise between House and Senate Republicans that would prohibit foreign contributions to any political campaign and create a legislative fix to allow President Joe Biden on the November ballot.
The two bills come despite the Democratic National Committee saying Tuesday it would hold a roll call vote ahead of the planned late-August convention to officially nominate Biden and beat Ohio’s Aug. 7 deadline to make the general election.
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A new federal rule on fossil fuel power plants would hurt Ohio’s energy grid and limit the state’s ability to attract new business, Gov. Mike DeWine said.
The governor and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted each signed a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator Michael Regan opposing the rule, which many think will lead to the quicker decommissioning of operating power plans.
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The Democratic National Committee plans to nominate President Joe Biden virtually before the party convention amid the Ohio state legislature’s deadlock over a bill that would allow him to appear on the November ballot.
The Democratic National Convention, where the party usually chooses its nominee, is scheduled for Aug. 19-22. However, Ohio’s deadline for political parties to certify their nominee is 90 days before the general election, which is Aug. 7 this year.
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Tom Zawistowski, president of the We the People Convention, said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s push to put incumbent Democrat President Joe Biden on the state’s general election ballot by calling a special session of the Ohio General Assembly is a “real serious problem.”
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Two Ohio senators want federal lawmakers to amend the U.S. Constitution to eliminate the idea that money equals free speech.
Senate Democratic Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, and Sen. Kent Smith, D-Euclid, want Senate Resolution 180 to push a federal move to eliminate what they call corporate personhood and end or limit dark political money.
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Ohio lawmakers will return to Columbus on Tuesday, attempting to pass legislation securing President Joe Biden’s name on the November ballot.
Gov. Mike DeWine called for a special session late Thursday. In a brief press conference, the Republican governor was perturbed, saying it was “ridiculous” that legislation hadn’t passed earlier.
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If two Ohio lawmakers get their way, the Cincinnati Bengals will play on real grass rather than turf.
Rep. Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria, and Rep. Terrance Upchurch, D-Cleveland, recently introduced a bill requiring professional sports stadiums in the state to use natural grass fields.
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Thursday that he is calling a special session of the General Assembly to pass legislation next week to ensure President Biden is on the November ballot for the general election.
“Ohio is running out of time to get Joe Biden, the sitting President of the United States, on the ballot this fall. Failing to do so is simply unacceptable. This is ridiculous. This is (an) absurd situation,” DeWine said, according to the Associated Press.
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Republican and Democratic leaders remain confident President Joe Biden will be on the Ohio ballot in November, but none believe it will come through a fix from the Legislature.
Both House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, and Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said lawmakers are unwilling to vote on a change in state law that would allow Biden to appear on the ballot despite the timing of the Democratic National Convention.
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The Ohio Supreme Court released a decision on Wednesday dismissing an emergency motion filed by Attorney General Dave Yost asking the state’s highest court to narrow a temporary restraining order issued by Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook to block the state from enforcing House Bill 68.
On April 16, Judge Holbrook issued a temporary restraining order to prevent House Bill 68 – which includes the SAFE Act and the Save Women’s Sports Act – from taking immediate effect.
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The conservative Sentinel Action Fund (SAF) announced on Wednesday its first seven-figure investment in Ohio to encourage early voting, and endorsed Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, the Daily Caller News Foundation first learned.
SAF’s announcement is the first of multiple seven-figure investments it plans to make in Ohio this cycle, with the super PAC also launching a “Skip The Line Ohio” website urging Republicans to request and return their absentee ballot, according to the group. Moreno secured the GOP Senate nomination in March, beating out two other prominent Republicans to take on longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November.
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An Ohio senator wants state lawmakers to send a message to the U.S. Department of Education to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity from Title IX.
U.S. Rep. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, recently introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 11 that calls on the Biden administration and Congress to remove all references from sexual orientation and gender identity from Title IX.
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Continued hiring and millions in building projects pushed an Ohio public school system to a financial cliff, including a projected $90 million deficit by 2028, state Auditor Keith Faber said.
A new state performance audit says the Mt. Healthy City School District in suburban Cincinnati hired dozens of new teachers and staff and advanced $18 million in building projects without formal plans or funding to sustain operations.
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State money continues to flow into East Palestine, Ohio, to support businesses struggling from a train derailment and toxic chemical release more than 15 months ago.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced three more businesses will receive loans through the East Palestine Emergency Support Program, bringing the total to 23 sharing more than $3.8 million.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 250 on Wednesday, requiring schools to implement official policy governing students’ use of cellphones during school hours.
The bill aims to “minimize student use of cellphones in K-12 schools” by requiring school districts to create a policy that reduces cellphone-related distractions in classroom settings.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is pushing the U.S. Justice Department to restore a nearly 80% cut in victim assistance funds since 2018.
Speaking to nearly 1,000 victims’ advocates at AG’s annual Two Days in May conference, Yost said the continued cuts have made him mad.
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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) ordered the removal of non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls after more than 100 were found registered despite confirming their lack of U.S. citizenship.
On Tuesday, LaRose directed all 88 counties to begin a removal process for non-citizens on Ohio’s voter rolls following a review by his office’s Public Integrity Division and Office of Data Analytics and Archives. The review analyzed data from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) and found 137 voter registrations of non-citizens who had twice confirmed their lack of U.S. citizenship.
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There are nearly twice as many registered Republicans in Ohio as Democrats, but most Ohio voters are not affiliated with any political party.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose released the new numbers based on the March primary election.
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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is joining the investigation of the State Teachers Retirement System.
Shortly after Attorney General Dave Yost launched a wide-sweeping investigation into the $90 billion fund for 500,000 current and former teachers, LaRose said his Public Integrity Unit is stepping up its look into potential campaign finance violations.
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Ohio and Kentucky announced Friday they received federal approval to move the $3.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project forward without tolls.
The environmental approval means the massive project connecting Cincinnati to Northern Kentucky moves ahead the project that transforms an 8-mile stretch of I-71/75 and includes a new companion bridge immediately to the west of the existing bridge.
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