The heartland of America stands as a testament to the nation’s industrious spirit. It’s rich history of agriculture, manufacturing, and innovation have propelled industries and created goods essential to the country’s growth, exemplifying the American spirit of creativity and ingenuity.
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Ohio State Representative Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) renewed calls for the Ohio Senate to pass his Higher Education Return on Investment Act this week.
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A New York-based green energy company plans to appeal a Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ruling that ended its ability to do business in the state.
A PUCO investigation said RPA Energy, also know as Green Choice Energy, forged Ohio customer signatures and altered recorded sales calls. The commission ruled Wednesday the company can no longer do business in the state and faces a $1.44 million fine for 159 violations.
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Less than three weeks before Election Day a new poll shows Ohio voters favor constitutional amendments on enshrining abortion rights and legalizing recreational marijuana.
The Baldwin Wallace University poll of 850 registered voters, with 750 identified as likely voters, showed 58% favor Issue 1, which says every individual has a right to make and carry out their reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility, treatment, continuing one’s pregnancy, miscarriage care and abortion.
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Ohio lawmakers pushing to increase penalties for fentanyl trafficking point to a recent drug seizure as proof new laws are needed.
House Bill 230, which has had three committee meetings since being introduced earlier this month, would increase trafficking charges for cocaine, fentanyl-related compounds, heroin and methamphetamine. It would also raise the charges for human trafficking to a first-degree felony and expand the definition of human trafficking.
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A new tool aimed at helping applicants locate openings for state government positions in Ohio based on their specific experiences, skills, and training was rolled out this week.
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Ohio U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) introduced a bill this week focusing on protecting new parents from “being exposed to undue healthcare costs.”
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A nearly $1 billion federal investment of taxpayer dollars in the Appalachian region has business leaders in Ohio excited about the potential for clean energy.
The Appalachian Hydrogen Hub, part of a larger $7 billion announcement late last week from the Biden administration, plans Ohio nodes in Ashtabula, Canton and Hopedale, all linked to nodes in West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
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The Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill this week focused on providing property tax relief to Ohioans.
If enacted, the Ohio Homeowners Relief Act would modify the procedures used by the tax commissioner to conduct property tax sales assessment ratio studies. Specifically, the bill would require the commissioner to work alongside local elected officials and weigh the past three years of a county’s property values in order to determine property taxes instead of just one.
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Senator JD Vance (R-OH) renewed calls for the passage of his Railway Safety Act on Thursday after a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine on February 3.
“Two hundred and fifty days have passed since the disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Yet Congress has still not passed commonsense railway safety legislation to prevent something like this from happening again,” Vance said in a statement. “Enough is enough – it’s time for the Senate to pass the Railway Safety Act.”
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The Ohio Ballot Board on Thursday approved a citizen-led effort to once again change how the state draws legislative districts.
Now, the group pushing for a constitutional amendment that would create a 15-member citizen redistricting commission to draw district lines must collect enough signatures to get on the 2024 ballot.
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Disregarding age restrictions for pornography and creating sexual “deepfakes” may soon trigger criminal charges in Ohio.
A proposal offered in the state legislature makes distributing sexually explicit material without verifying a customer’s age a third-degree felony. Likewise, minors caught lying about their identity to access porn would face a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
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An Emerson College Polling survey of 438 registered Ohio voters found former President Donald Trump leading President Joe Biden in a 2024 hypothetical presidential election matchup.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine appeared in a 30-second advertisement video released on Wednesday urging voters to vote against Issue 1 on the general election ballot next month.
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Business owners continued to believe inflation is their biggest problem, according to a new survey released Tuesday by the National Federal of Independent Business Ohio.
The NFIB’s monthly business optimism index also fell by half a point in September, marking the 21st consecutive month the index fell below the 49-year average of 98. It stands at 90.8.
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Voter registration ends Tuesday, and voting begins Wednesday for Ohioans who will decide reproductive rights and recreational marijuana use in the November general election.
While no statewide races are on the ballot in November, local tax issues and local government elections join the two constitutional amendments that have gained attention since mid-summer.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine ordered all U.S. and State of Ohio flags to be flown at half staff this week to honor the lives lost in Israel amid Hamas’ attack on the country.
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More than 300 striking auto workers at Ford’s Brook Park plant are preparing today for layoffs as the United Auto Workers strike against the nation’s Big Three automakers continues.
The UAW Local 1250 on its website told laid-off workers to register for strike assistance pay and Ohio unemployment benefits. About 370 total workers are expected to be impacted by the lay-off.
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A trip to the Arizona southern border earlier this year prompted an Ohio lawmaker to push for tougher drug and human trafficking laws in the state.
Rep. Cindy Abrams, R-Harrison, told fellow representatives miles and miles of open border allow illegal drugs and cartel criminals to enter the country.
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Thousands of pro-life activists marched in downtown Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, calling for protections for the unborn and urging their fellow Ohioans to vote against an upcoming pro-abortion ballot measure.
Ohio Issue 1, the Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including Abortion Initiative, would ban the state from interfering with “reproductive decisions,” including abortion — effectively enshrining the “right” to abortion into Ohio’s constitution.
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Ohio Senator JD Vance (R-OH) released a statement Saturday denouncing Hamas’ “brutal” terrorist attack on Israel, saying it is vital that the U.S. “stand with our allies in Israel.”
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Drivers should see more Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers throughout the state this weekend with an eye on cellphone usage as strict enforcement of the state’s distracted driving law began this week.
As the warning period ends and law enforcement can begin stopping drivers for cellphone use and issuing fines of at least $150, Gov. Mike DeWine calls the new state law a lifesaver.
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Senator JD Vance (R-OH) confronted Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on diversity mandates in the workforce during a Senate Committee on Commerce on Wednesday.
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Ohio could soon enact state legislation that would preempt electric vehicle (EV) mandates in the state.
Ohio HB 201 would prohibit any state agency, county or township from restricting the sale or use of a motor vehicle based on the type of energy used to power a vehicle, as well as prevent any state agency from adopting California’s stringent vehicle emissions standards, according to its text. The bill has progressed out of the committee process and now awaits a vote on the state House floor.
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We the People Convention (WTPC), an Ohio-based nonprofit that advocates for limited constitutional governance, endorsed Ohio U.S. Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
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The Ohio Department of Public Safety and Governor Mike DeWine recently announced the availability of $4 million in grant funds to expand driver education resources throughout the Buckeye State.
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The Ohio Republican Party released a statement Wednesday offering its support for U.S. Representative Jim Jordan’s (R-OH-04) bid for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
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A plan to change who draws legislative districts for the second time in five years waits on word from the Ohio Ballot Board before moving forward.
The Ballot Board has yet to schedule a meeting to address a proposed constitutional amendment that would create a 15-member citizen commission to draw district lines.
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A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill last week into the Ohio House of Representatives to address critical staffing issues in Ohio’s nursing workforce.
The Safe Patient Care Act, introduced by State Representatives Haraz Ghanbari (R-Perrysburg) and Elgin Rogers (D-Toledo), would ensure that patients in the state of Ohio receive the highest quality care and that nurses receive reasonable workplace protections.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Monday that 160 individuals have been arrested as a result of a week-long human trafficking crackdown across the state.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is urging Ohioans to take caution as Carfentanil, a lethal synthetic opioid, has reemerged in several drug cases across the state.
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Low-enrollment degrees at Miami University need to adapt or die, according to a memo from school officials.
Majors in “social justice, “critical race and ethnic studies” and “art history” are among those that must adapt their offerings in order to survive. The Oxford, Ohio university is facing a $36 million budget deficit.
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The Ohio House of Representatives’ Health Provider Services Committee recently held a hearing for the Never Alone Act, which, if enacted, would “ensure every patient has access to an advocate to be with them in a hospital, nursing home, or other congregate care setting.”
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The union that represents school bus drivers agreed to return the money it deducted from the paycheck of a northeast Ohio driver to settle a lawsuit.
The Ohio Association of Public School Employees agreed David Krizon acknowledged quitting the union and would give the money back it collected after he quit in a settlement, according to The Buckeye Institute.
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A piece of legislation introduced into the Ohio House of Representatives to authorize a tax credit for landlords who allow companion animals to reside in their rental units has been assigned to a committee for review.
Assistant Majority Whip Sharon Ray (R-Wadsworth) and State Representative Juanita Brent (D-Cleveland) introduced House Bill (HB) 277, known as the Pet Friendly Rental Act on September 18th.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced Wednesday details of a new program to help victim service agencies supply the needs of survivors of human trafficking.
DeWine and the Ohio General Assembly established the new Direct Services for Victims of Human Trafficking Grant Program as a component of the state’s new operating budget. As part of this program, nonprofit groups now have access to $4 million in financing to effectively support the rising number of sex and labor trafficking victims needing assistance.
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The Ohio Senate GOP on Tuesday pushed back against the media’s “left-wing bias” by launching its own weekly podcast with State Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima).
According to Ohio Senate GOP director of communications John Fortney, Ohio’s main newspapers have an extreme left-wing bias, and their editorials attack Republicans in the General Assembly and read like Democratic Party press releases.
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Ohio Democratic lawmakers want zero legal restrictions on abortion in the state, according to a new poll conducted by the Ohio Republican Party.
The Ohio Republican Party straw X poll last week detailed that 71.4 percent of individuals surveyed said that Ohio Democratic officials and abortion lobbyists want to remove all legal restrictions to abortion in Ohio.
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On Monday, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) along with U.S. Congressmen Chip Roy (R-TX-21) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) sent a letter to the National Security Advisor to President Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan requesting clarification regarding “major discrepancies” between claims made by administration officials regarding American aid given to Ukraine.
This follows Sullivan stating at a White House press briefing on September 21st, 2023 that the Biden Administration had sent approximately $79.9 billion in aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted announced that the Ohio Board of Building Standards recently adopted the 2024 Ohio Building (OBC), Mechanical (OMC), and Plumbing Codes (OPC) rules, an approach that cut redundant and pointless bureaucratic language from these codes and reduced the Ohio Administrative Code’s word count by nearly 610,000 words ultimately making it simpler for businesses to comply.
As previously reported by The Ohio Star, in January, DeWine and Husted unveiled a plan to eliminate one-third of the Ohio Administrative Code and the Ohio Common Sense Initiative (CSI) began identifying duplicative, unnecessary, and no longer used portions of the Ohio Administrative Code. The Ohio Board of Building Standards adopting these rules is part of this initiative.
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The March for Life, in partnership with the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), announced on Thursday the speakers for the second official Ohio March for Life next month.
As previously reported by The Ohio Star these organizations decided to team up once again to organize another march in Columbus following the tremendous success of the first Ohio March for Life last year.
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U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) addressed the Ukrainian plight for aid on Friday as lawmakers get increasingly closer to the end-of-the-month deadline to pass a government spending bill to keep the U.S. government from a shutdown.
This follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s arrival in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to make his renewed case for $24 billion of American aid to Ukraine.
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An Ohio judge issued a temporary restraining order Thursday to block a proposed law that would change who gets to write statewide education standards, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Republican Ohio Sen. Andrew Brenner and other Republicans want powers transferred from the state school board to a single cabinet appointee because of ideological fights over culture war issues and bureaucratic gridlock in the Ohio school board, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The Ohio school board filed a lawsuit Tuesday arguing the proposed plan to give control over statewide school standards to the governor’s office is unconstitutional, which prompted Democratic Judge Karen Held Phipps to block the proposed law as it moves through the courts.
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NEW ALBANY, Ohio – Ohio native entrepreneur and Republican candidate for President of the United States Vivek Ramaswamy spoke to a passionate group of campaign supporters Thursday about how the nation can declare economic independence from communist China.
People packed into the one-hour event at the Axium Plastics facility to hear Ramaswamy’s strategy for “a clear and pragmatic vision for how Americans can actually and finally declare economic freedom from China while advancing American prosperity at home.”
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The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the term “unborn child” could remain in an abortion amendment set to go on the ballot in November after activists filed a lawsuit over the language.
The state’s ballot board, which includes Secretary of State Frank LaRose, voted 3-2 in August that the term “fetus” should be changed to “unborn child” in order to give voters a clearer understanding of the ramifications of the amendment, which would make abortion a constitutional right in the state. In response, Ohioans for Reproductive Rights (ORR) filed a lawsuit days later, arguing the board was ignoring rules that required the language to “not ‘mislead, deceive, or defraud’ voters, but the state Supreme Court determined that the use of the term “unborn child” could stay in, noting that even the plaintiffs did not argue it was “factually inaccurate.”
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) joined state, local, and federal leaders in Columbus on Tuesday to unveil the new Central Ohio Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC).
According to the press release, the center is located within the Ohio Department of Public Safety and operates in partnership with the Columbus Division of Police, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center, Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
This new centralized law enforcement
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U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) said on Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s forced transition to electric vehicles (EV) threatens the bargaining power of the U.S. auto industry.
This follows the United Auto Workers (UAW), an American labor union, calling for a strike at the Big 3 U.S. automakers, General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, in Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio last week. The UAW is demanding shorter work weeks, restoration of defined benefit pensions, and stronger job security as automakers transition to electric vehicles.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik, and JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef announced on Monday that Joby Aviation Inc. plans to build an electric air taxi manufacturing facility in the state.
According to the press release, the company will build the facility at the Dayton International Airport and anticipates the project to create 2,000 new jobs in the area.
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On Monday, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) said that rail giant Norfolk Southern’s property value reimbursement program for the residents of East Palestine has so far been a “complete and total disaster.”
This follows Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw announcing in May that Norfolk Southern Railroad would set up a fund to compensate East Palestine homeowners for losses in property value due to the catastrophic February 3rd train derailment that spilled hazardous chemicals into the community.
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A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill to the Ohio House of Representatives to freeze property taxes for eligible seniors.
The legislation, known as the 70 Under 70 Plan, sponsored by State Representatives Thomas Hall (R-Madison Township) and Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati), would freeze property taxes for Ohioans 70 years or older who make less than $70,000 a year and have owned their home for 10 years or more.
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