Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited Toledo to tout a new $2 billion framework to improve the U.S. food supply chain, as the coronavirus pandemic has sent ripples through the economy.
According to the USDA, Vilsack’s framework will “transform the food system to benefit consumers, producers and rural communities by providing more options, increasing access, and creating new, more, and better markets for small and mid-size producers.”
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In a marathon session before its summer recess, the Ohio General Assembly passed a series of bills aimed at school safety, including one that makes it easier for local school boards to arm teachers.
Gov. Mike DeWine said he would sign them all.
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Ohio sports betting will begin early in 2023, as the Ohio Casino Control Commission detailed in their latest meeting.
January 1, 2023 will be the official launch date, as the Commission will begin accepting applications later this month.
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Beth Lear, a small business owner and military veteran, officially launched her campaign for State Representative for House District 61.
Lear made the announcement following a decision from a federal judge to allow state House and Senate maps to be implemented, after they were previously ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court.
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Apoll released Wednesday shows the Ohio Senate race between GOP nominee J.D. Vance and Democrat rival Rep. Tim Ryan is deadlocked – roughly four weeks after their respective primary wins and roughly five months before general election day.
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Susan B. Anthony (SBA) List, one of the country’s top pro-life organizations, offered its endorsement to Republican J.D. Vance in the U.S. Senate race in Ohio.
Vance, who edged out his Republican opponents in a crowded GOP primary, will face Democrat Tim Ryan in the November midterm election.
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Penalties for fleeing police officers and making false 911 calls would increase if a pair of bills aimed at first-responder safety introduced in the Ohio House become law.
House Bill 580, which has had one hearing in the House Criminal Justice Committee, increases penalities for fleeing from a law enforcement officer in a motor vehicle from a first-degree misdemeanor to a fourth-degree felony at a minimum in all cases.
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Federal judges made good on a promise at midnight Saturday by implementing Ohio state legislative district maps that were previously ruled unconstitutional twice by the Ohio Supreme Court.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, by a vote of 2-1, also ordered the state to hold its second primary Aug. 2.
“Given the factual record before us, two reasons justified our approach. First, no map had wo the approval of both the Commission and the Ohio Supreme Court. And second, Map 3 gave the state the most time to fix its own problem. That broke the tie,” the order, signed by judges Amul Thapar and Benjamin Beaton, read.
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Ohio voters will decide in November on a bail reform measure that could move the state toward cash bail and requires judges to consider public safety when setting bail provisions.
Attorney General Dave Yost praised the passage of House Joint Resolution 2 and Senate Joint Resolution 5 as issues that came in response to an Ohio Supreme Court decision upholding an appeals court ruling that public safety cannot be considered when determining bail.
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Calling the actions of Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission a “stunning rebuke of the rule of law,” the Ohio Supreme Court rejected for a fifth time a set of Ohio House and Senate district maps.
The decision came three days before a deadline set by federal judges, who said they would implement maps ruled unconstitutional if no new legal maps were created.
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Ohio voters moved a step closer to deciding if noncitizens can vote in local elections after the House on Wednesday approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would put the issue on the November ballot.
Supporters said House Joint Resolution 4 would close a loophole that could allow noncitizens to vote on local candidates and tax issues in cities and villages. If it passes the Senate, it could appear before voters in November.
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Confusion for some Ohio boards of election forced a new bill that walks back at least part of a law stopping election officials from working with nongovernmental entities.
The Ohio General Assembly tacked the legislation onto its budget last year. Despite assurances from lawmakers and Secretary of State Frank LaRose the ban would not create an issue for local election officials, Attorney General Dave Yost issued an opinion in January that said the new law criminalizes partnerships with private groups, but most routine work is OK.
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Former businessman, congressman and gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci blasted Ohio’s Lieutenant Governor in a press release after it was reported Monday that Lt. Gov. John Husted took a paid position on the board of Heartland BancCorp.
“Ohio taxpayers are struggling everyday to make ends meet. With rising food prices and costs increasing at the gasoline pumps this move by a public official is unacceptable, a conflict of interest, but even worse unethical,” Renacci said. “No legal opinion can make any Ohioan believe that there are not conflicts between the sitting Lt. Governor and him being paid to be on a community bank board in Ohio. As a Board Member on several public companies and once on a bank board this should never be allowed to occur. Maybe the Lt. Governor can also fill one of the positions on the First Energy board? This is why Republicans have lost faith in their Republican leadership. We deserve better.”
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Professors at Ohio colleges and universities could be required to accommodate students’ religious beliefs and practices if a bill recently passed by the House becomes law.
The “Testing Your Faith Act,” according to co-sponsor Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, would eliminate the potential of having to choose between academic standing and religion for students at colleges and universities.
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Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips for residents of the state.
The legislation, House Bill 456, would remove the strips that change color if fentanyl is detected from the list of drug paraphernalia that is prohibited.
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Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called on President Biden to work for a bipartisan solution to the border crisis.
The lawmaker pointed to new April numbers released from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), showing an increase in encounters from the previous month.
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called Ohio State University’s decision to raise tuition unwise as inflation continues to rise around the country.
OSU’s board voted earlier this week to impose a 4.6% increase for incoming in-state freshmen and to guarantee that rate for the next four years. It amounts to a $549 annual jump from the current tuition rate.
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Ohio’s record run of business startups ended in April, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose blamed rising inflation for discouraging entrepreneurs from creating new business.
LaRose on Thursday also called on leaders in Washington to put politics aside and work to bring rising costs under control.
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Ohio landlords moved a step closer to staying off the hook for tenants’ large unpaid utility bills after the House passed a bill Wednesday over objections from municipalities and utility organizations.
The bipartisan bill, House Bill 422, came as a way to change a longtime process in the state that holds people who have not contracted for service liable for unpaid debts.
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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose called on the federal government to address record inflation that is impacting small businesses across the state.
According to LaRose, his office received only 15,488 new business filings in April 2022—a dramatic decline from previous months. In March, he got 20 percent more applications.
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Governor Mike DeWine on Wednesday announced a new round of funding for development projects throughout the state of Ohio.
$100 million will be awarded to the Transformational Mixed-Used Development Program, which gives tax credits for the cost of construction during major mixed-use developments.
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Students at an Ohio high school Wednesday walked out of class in protest of the local school board’s cancellation of “Diversity Day.”
Students at Turpin and Anderson High Schools, part of the Forest Hills School District, participated in the protest, according to footage from multiple news outlets.
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One lawmaker is continuing his push to allow Ohio voters to decide in November to legalize the recreational use of marijuana after a lawsuit settlement pushed a potential ballot initiative to 2023.
A citizens group working for a vote this year reached a settlement with state officials recently that will put the measure on the ballot next year. Also, the state agreed to accept more than 140,000 signatures the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has already collected.
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Transportation officials in Kentucky and Ohio continue to work in concert on a new Ohio River bridge connecting Cincinnati with Northern Kentucky, and they hope construction on the more than $2 billion megaproject could start by the end of next year.
Besides building a companion bridge to the existing Brent Spence Bridge, officials in both states want to widen the interstate highways connected by the bridges. A 5-mile stretch in Kentucky and a 1-mile stretch in Ohio each would get one new lane in each direction across a 6-mile stretch.
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A congressman running for U.S. Senate in Ohio is facing friendly fire from his own party over an April ad that Democrats say is fueling anti-Asian hatred.
“Tim Ryan should know better. His ‘us versus China’ ad promotes hatred of Asian Americans,” says a headline in Monday’s Akron Beacon Journal.
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Ohio homeowners who want to get into the Arbnb business got a boost recently when a bill that would limit local restrictions moved out of a house committee.
Committee approval came over objections from several local government entities, the Ohio Hotel & Lodging Association and the Ohio Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus.
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A push to have Ohio judges consider public safety when setting bail took a step forward when the House Criminal Justice Committee advanced legislation supported by prosecutor and business groups across the state.
House Bill 607 adds the risk of public safety into bail consideration in direct response to an Ohio Supreme Court decision in Debuse v. McGuffey, a ruling that upheld an appellate court’s decision permitting the reduction of a murder suspect’s bail without considering community safety.
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Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senate nominee Thursday raised against a bill that will send $40 billion to Ukraine, citing problems that the United States has domestically.
“I don’t think we should be spending any more money, unless it’s on America’s problems here at home,” J.D. Vance said Thursday. “I would make any additional aid for the Ukrainians conditional on sending money to the American southern border, on actually trying to fix this terrible shortage of baby formula and hospital supplies.”
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J.D. Vance, the Republican nominee to represent Ohio in the U.S. Senate, blasted his Democratic counterpart over his silence on the harassment of members of the Supreme Court by pro-abortion groups.
Since the leak of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court that signaled the group supports overturning Roe v. Wade, protesters have flocked the homes of the Justices.
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Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission want the state’s Supreme Court to put legal challenges to proposed district maps on hold until after the November general election.
The commission majority wants to use state legislative district maps already ruled unconstitutional to hold an Aug. 2 primary and the general election. It wants the court not to order the commission to draw new maps until after November.
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Gas prices in Tennessee have once again hit all-time highs, as the Biden administration struggles to control rising prices at the pump and elsewhere.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average price per gallon of gas in Tennessee reached $4.12, the highest ever recorded Tuesday. A year ago, a gallon of gas in the state averaged $2.71.
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A U.S. Senator from Ohio Tuesday slammed President Joe Biden for record gas prices and sky-high inflation after Biden blamed Republicans, despite the fact that Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House.
“The Biden admin & its policies are responsible for the soaring inflation we see today. Inflation has risen every single month since [Biden] took office. The admin’s reckless spending policies combined with increased regulation have caused the worst inflation in 40 years,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said.
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Ohioans would no longer pay state income tax and the state would become the 10th without it if a bill recently filed in the Senate becomes law.
Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, introduced a plan to lower the tax rate in each bracket by 10% a year over the next 10 years, eventually eliminating the state income tax completely.
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The pope has named a new auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Cleveland.
“Pope Francis has appointed the Rev. Michael G. Woost as auxiliary bishop of Cleveland,” according to the Diocese. “Bishop-elect Woost is a priest of the Diocese of Cleveland and currently serves as a member of the faculty of Saint Mary Seminary. In addition, he was recently appointed as the interim director of the diocesan Office for Worship. Bishop-elect Woost will be ordained to the episcopate during Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Thursday, August 4, 2022.”
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Gas prices in Ohio are inching toward record highs, dramatically impacting residents of the state.
According to the latest numbers from the American Automobile Association, the average price of gas in the state is $4.092 per gallon. The current record in the state is $4.159, which was achieved in 2011.
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Various Ohio law enforcement agencies are donating roughly 2,000 pieces of personal protective equipment to forces in Ukraine.
According to a release from Governor Mike DeWine, more than two dozen state and local law enforcement agencies supplied donations to the effort.
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Groups that successfully challenged the constitutionality of the third set of Ohio state legislative redistricting maps will likely challenge again after the Ohio Redistricting Commission resubmitted the previously thrown out maps.
The commission voted 4-3 late Thursday to send back its third attempt at Senate and House districts, even though the court had already ruled they unfairly favored Republicans. The Ohio Supreme Court had set a 9 a.m. Friday deadline for maps to be submitted.
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Two of the most high-profile politicians in Ohio were absent for President Joe Biden’s Friday visit to United Performance Metals in the Cincinnati area.
According to WHIO’s John Bedell, both Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) and former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley (D) were absent from the event.
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After the top attorneys in Texas, Montana and Missouri announced that they would be leaving the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), Ohio appears poised to remain part of the group.
“The attorneys general of Texas, Missouri and Montana have decided to withdraw our states’ membership from NAAG,” said a letter penned by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).
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Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance will speak at a rally hosted by former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, according to a release from Trump’s Save America PAC.
The rally, which will take place on Friday, is located in Western Pennsylvania and will include multiple candidates that Trump endorsed, like Dr. Mehmet Oz and Rep. Alex Mooney.
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An Ohio lawmaker believes drivers convicted in a DUI crash should have to pay child support to minor children who have a parent killed in the accident.
Rep. Diane Grendell, R-Chesterland, said she plans to introduce a bill that requires DUI drivers convicted of either vehicular homicide or aggravated vehicular homicide to pay support to any minor children who lose a parent until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school.
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An Ohio bill that would penalize doctors who perform abortions and came under fire after its sponsor’s comments regarding rape drew more attention Tuesday following the leak of a draft of a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision.
House Bill 598 would ban doctors from performing medication or surgical abortions in Ohio, making it a fourth-degree felony. There is no exception for rape or incest. Doctors could, however, defend charges if an abortion was performed to save the life of the mother and specific steps were followed.
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Ohio Right to Life Tuesday reacted after a leaked draft of an opinion that could overturn Roe v. Wade, the infamous Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal at the federal level, was published in German-owned Politico.
Mary Parker, the Director of Legislative Affairs at Ohio Right to Life, emphasized that if the leaked opinion holds, abortion will not be made illegal, but decisions about whether abortion should be legal will be left up to individual states.
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Communities throughout Ohio’s Appalachian region could receive millions of dollars earmarked to revitalize downtowns and help rebuild economies if funding comes through for a $500 million plan from Gov. Mike DeWine.
The three-part proposal is expected to focus on revitalizing historic downtown districts, improving community health and rebuilding the local work force, according to a news release from the governor.
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In what was called the first big test of former President Donald Trump’s political influence, J.D. Vance rode his late endorsement to a U.S. Senate primary win in Ohio on Tuesday.
Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy, received the former president’s endorsement in late April and was the projected winner by The Associated Press over a large field that included businessman Mike Gibbons, State Sen. Matt Dolan, former State Treasurer Josh Mandel and former head of the state GOP Jane Timken.
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With the deadline to vote in Ohio’s primary races approaching Tuesday night, the top candidates in the hotly-contested Republican U.S. Senate battle have varying views on what the outcome of the race will be.
“We’re spending the day before the election with voters at town halls all across Ohio, leaving no stone unturned. JD is in a strong position, and we are confident JD will be the Republican nominee,” said Taylor Van Kirk, a spokesperson for candidate J.D. Vance.
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Ohio could lose as much as $130 million a week if it continues to hold to a Jan. 1 launch date for legalized sports betting and miss the majority of the NFL season, an industry-leading group said.
PlayOhio, part of the PlayUSA Network, estimates the state’s handle could reach between $8-10 billion over the first 12 months and almost $1 billion in gross gaming revenue. It also estimates, partly because of the state’s two NFL teams, gambling operations could bring in as much as $130 million per week in NFL-specific betting volume.
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The leading candidates in the race for the Republican nomination to represent Ohio in the U.S. Senate are making their final pitch to voters as the election draws close.
J.D. Vance, Josh Mandel, Mike Gibbons, and Matt Dolan are attempting to sell voters on their message to face Democrat Tim Ryan after Tuesday’s election.
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A recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling focusing on considerations a judge weighs when setting bail has led to activity in the Ohio Statehouse.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost expressed so much concern about the court’s 4-3 decision in DuBose vs. McGuffey, a ruling that upheld an appellate court’s decision permitting the reduction of a murder suspect’s bail without considering community safety, that he recently announced his support for a proposed constitutional amendment regarding bail reform.
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More than two weeks after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a fourth attempt at establishing Ohio legislative districts, the Ohio Redistricting Commission scheduled a meeting.
That meeting will come two days before the court’s deadline to submit a new set of maps.
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