Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine has occupied political office for the better part of 50 years starting his political career as a county prosecutor and moving up to become an Ohio state legislator, congressman, lieutenant governor, senator, and now state governor.
DeWine prepares to be sworn in for his second and final four-year term as governor of Ohio on January 9th.
DeWine has provided some information about his priorities for his second term since Ohioans re-elected him in a resounding victory against Democratic challenger Nan Whaley last November garnering 62.8 percent of the votes.
DeWine ran on a platform of expanding job-training programs for employees during his re-election campaign. As his administration seeks to persuade businesses like Intel to locate operations in Ohio he continues to advocate for the need for such programs in the state.
“By providing Ohioans with opportunities to upskill or be trained in cutting-edge careers, we will grow Ohio’s workforce, especially in the manufacturing, broadband, and electric vehicle sectors. We want to continue to help provide Ohio employers with qualified workers in order to grow their businesses,” DeWine said.
DeWine has also said that his administration would focus on improving education in Ohio. He said that his goals for Ohio’s children are the same as for his children and grandchildren: to ensure they all have access to the education and training they need to reach their full potential.
“Education is the key to equality and the key to opportunity. Everyone—everyone—deserves a chance to succeed, to get a good-paying job, to raise a family comfortably,” DeWine said.
Last September, DeWine announced an initiative to help Ohio children by increasing the availability of publicly supported child care and Medicaid coverage for low-income Ohioans, providing postpartum moms with additional mental health services, and increasing spending on foster care.
Following the governor’s successful campaign in his first term for hundreds of millions of dollars for new “wrap-around” support services for at-risk Ohio public-school students, including after-school programs, tutoring, and counseling, the initiative, the majority of which still needs legislative approval, is a continuation of that effort.
DeWine declined to comment last month on whether he and state legislators will decide to maintain full funding of the Cupp-Patterson (State Representatives Bob Cupp‘s (R-Lima) and John Patterson‘s (D-Ashtabula)) school funding plan, which he enacted as a provision of the most recent budget package to correct the state’s long-standing unlawful system of supporting public schools.
In late November, DeWine laid out an all-encompassing plan with three approaches to strengthen the mental health system in Ohio. The plan consists of the expansion of mental health services, the expansion of mental health in the state, and reducing obstacles to youth employment and mental health training.
DeWine has emphasized the necessity of carrying out President John F. Kennedy’s plan to stop institutionalizing persons with mental health concerns and start caring for them in the community. Kennedy signed legislation that allowed for the discharge of thousands of patients from mental hospitals, but DeWine claimed that no one carried out the second part of the plan, which called for establishing and funding neighborhood mental-health services. The governor claimed that his proposal would help Ohio address this.
DeWine has not provided a cost estimate for his mental health ideas, but he expects to include them in his two-year state budget plan, which lawmakers anticipate he will release in the coming weeks.
In many circumstances, the governor will need to persuade state legislators to approve his ideas and appropriate the funds required to carry them out.
According to DeWine, he has unfinished business he wants to take care of in his second term.
“We have unfinished business, and my promise to you is that I will not stop. We will continue to fight every single day to overcome the challenges we face and create greater opportunities for all Ohioans,” DeWine said.
We have unfinished business, and my promise to you tonight is that I will not stop. We will continue to fight every single day to overcome the challenges we face and create greater opportunities for all Ohioans. https://t.co/8rKW3xkxoJ
— Mike DeWine (@MikeDeWine) November 9, 2022
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Mike DeWine” by Governor Mike DeWine. Background Photo “Job Training” by Kampus Production.
