Category: Ohio

Ohio Legislation Would Close State Primaries in ‘Great Step Forward’ for Election Integrity

Tom Pappert
Ohio State Rep. Beth Lear

Ohio State Representatives Beth Lear (R-Galena) and Brian Lorenz (R-Powell) are championing legislation that would close primary elections in the Buckeye State, requiring voters to cast ballots to nominate candidates corresponding to their registered political party.

Lear and Lorenz filed HB 437 in early March to require voters be registered as a member of a political party for 90 days in order to cast primary election ballots to select that party’s candidates. The legislation would prevent voters registered to the Democratic and Republican parties from casting primary election ballots in the other party’s contests.

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Just Four of 17 Ohio’s Congressional Delegation Say ‘No’ to $1.2 Trillion Spending Plan

The Center Square
Rep. Jim Jordan, Sen. JD Vance; Rep. Troy Balderson, and Rep. Warren Davidson, US Capitol

Just four of 17 members in Congress from Ohio opposed the $1.2 trillion spending bill given to taxpayers as law early Saturday.

Republican Sen. J.D. Vance and Republican Reps. Troy Balderson, Warren Davidson and Jim Jordan all said no in votes cast over Friday and early Saturday morning. Six House Republicans from Ohio cast a vote for the legislation.

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New Ohio Law Enforcement Certifications Established

The Center Square
Mike DeWine

Law enforcement agencies in Ohio can now be certified in the state’s new standards for professional excellence by meeting nearly three dozen standards established to entrust public confidence, accountability and integrity.

Gov. Mike DeWine recently signed an executive order for the new Law Enforcement Accreditation Program established by the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board.

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CHIPS Act Sends $8.5 Billion to Intel for Production in Ohio and Other States

The Center Square
Joe Biden Intel

The U.S. Department of Commerce and Intel Corporation reached a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms to offer up to $8.5 billion in direct funding via the CHIPS and Science Act to the company in hopes of creating jobs and logic chips in four states.

Intel plans to invest over $100 billion in the United States over the next five years. It also plans to expand its operations in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon, which it estimates will create over 10,000 manufacturing jobs and nearly 20,000 construction jobs, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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Kroger Employee Files Charges to Labor Board over Union Membership, Dues

The Center Square

An Ohio Kroger employee says union officials threatened his job if he didn’t sign a union membership form, and the company illegally took union dues from his paycheck.

James Carroll, who works for Kroger in Fairfield, submitted charges against the union and Kroger to the National Labor Relations Board in Cincinnati with help from the National Right to Work Foundation, according to the foundation.

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Intel Issues First Ohio Progress Report on $1.5 Billion Facilities

The Center Square

Intel’s first required progress report shows a $1.5 billion expenditure and another $3 billion committed to what Ohio officials call the largest single private-sector investment in state history.

The report, submitted to the Ohio Department of Development, is part of $2 billion in incentives for the two planned microchip manufacturing facilities in Licking County, including taxpayer-funded grants and tax incentives.

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Bryan Quigley: Ohio U.S. Senate GOP Primary Is a ‘Flip the Coin Election’ Where ‘Every Vote is Going to Count’

Kaitlin Housler

Political pundit Bryan Quigley said Tuesday’s GOP U.S. Senate primary in Ohio will be a toss-up race where “every vote is going to count.”

Three Republican candidates – businessman Bernie Moreno, Ohio State Senator Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls), and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose – are competing for the GOP nomination on Tuesday to face off with incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown in the November general election.

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Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee Sue SEC to Stop New Climate Rule

The Center Square
Dave Yost

Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee sued the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission to stop a rule that requires publicly traded companies to report climate-related information.

The suit, filed by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on behalf of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati to stop the SEC from “overstepping its authority by meddling in environmental policy,” according to a news release.

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Matt Dolan Maintains Lead in Ohio U.S. Senate GOP Primary Race, New Poll Shows

Kaitlin Housler
Matt Dolan, Frank LaRose, Bernie Moreno

A poll conducted by East Carolina University’s Center for Survey Research published on Friday reveals how likely voters in Ohio would vote in the 2024 U.S. Senate race.

In the Republican primary election, the poll shows Ohio State Senator Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) with a 2-point lead over businessman Bernie Moreno and a 10-point lead over Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

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Jim Jordan to Hold Fani Willis in Contempt of Congress Unless She Complies with Subpoena by March 28

Tom Pappert
Jim Jordan Fani Willis

Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) revealed on Thursday he sent a letter expressing his intention to hold Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in contempt of Congress if she does not comply with a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee by the end of March.

A press release detailed Thursday the U.S. House Judiciary Committee has threatened to hold Willis in contempt over her alleged refusal to comply with a subpoena issued more than a month ago.

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Nearly 40 Percent of Ohio’s Refugee Arrivals Are from Congo

Peter D'Abrosca
Congo People

Nearly 40 percent of the refugees resettled in the state of Ohio by the federal government since October 2023 come from one of the poorest, most war-torn nations on earth.

According to a report on refugee resettlement by state, 645 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo have been resettled in Ohio over the past five months, dwarfing the number of refugees from any other country.

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Two Ohio Women Arrested for Using Dead Man’s Corpse to Withdraw Money from Bank

Kaitlin Housler
Feralo Casbohm

Two women in Ashtabula, Ohio, have been arrested and charged for their alleged transport of an elderly man’s corpse to a bank for the illegal withdrawal of cash.

On Thursday, the Ashtabula Police Department (APD) announced that it received a call from the Ashtabula County Medical Center (ACMC) on Monday concerning a deceased elderly man who was dropped off at their facility by two unidentified females.

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Ohio Commits $120 Million for Transportation Projects

The Center Square
Road Construction

Ohio plans to spread more than $120 million of taxpayer money over 13 counties for road projects, with $15 million spent to expand bus rapid transit in Columbus.

The new construction funding list from the Transportation Review Advisory Council includes $21 million for new construction, $35.5 million in additional construction, $33.4 million in new money for preliminary engineering, and another $28.4 million for more funding for development projects.

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Lawmaker: E-Verify Could Help Stop Human Trafficking in Ohio

The Center Square
Scott Wiggam

An Ohio lawmaker calls an employer hiring someone living in or having entered the country illegally human trafficking and wants it to stop.

Rep. Scott Wiggam, R-Wayne County, recently testified on behalf of House Bill 327, which would require certain employees to verify the legal status of employees by using the federal I-9 form and getting confirmation of employment eligibility.

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Lawsuit Says Ohio City Failed to Refund Taxes within 90 Days

The Center Square
Cleveland Money

Two northeast Ohio residents are lead plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit filed Wednesday against the city of Cleveland, saying the city owes taxpayers interest for not issuing tax refunds within 90 days.

The Buckeye Institute, a Columbus-based policy group, filed on behalf of Kate Wos of Strongsville and David Steffes of North Royalton, as well as all nonresidents of Cleveland who filed a city income tax return and received their refund more than 90 days after filing.

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Sen. JD Vance Says East Palestine Ohio ‘May Have Been Poisoned to Facilitate the Rapid Movement of Freight’ After NTSB Chair Confirms 2023 Controlled Chemical Explosion Was ‘Unnecessary’

Kaitlin Housler
JD Vance

U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) questioned National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy on the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine last year during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing entitled, “National Transportation Safety Board Investigations Report” on Wednesday.

On February 3, 2023, 50 train carriages, 10 of which were carrying hazardous materials, derailed in East Palestine. Hundreds of residents evacuated as a result of a controlled burn of noxious vinyl chloride that Norfolk Southern carried out on February 6 to stop an explosion.

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Ohio Bill Aimed to Block Tracking Gun, Ammunition Sales Moves on to the State House

The Center Square
Gun Store

A credit card rule that has been on hold for more than a year that would track gun and ammunition buys could legally be banned in Ohio.

Following passage in its originating chamber, Senate Bill 148 now heads to the House of Representatives. Bill sponsor Sen. Terry Johnson, R-McDermott, says the rule is an invasion of privacy and an attack on Second Amendment rights.

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Electric Vehicle Parts Maker Gets Tax Break to Open New Plant in Ohio

The Center Square
Electric Car

Ohio plans to give a 15-year tax credit to a company planning a new manufacturing facility to build parts for electric vehicles.

Schaeffler, owner of two plants in the state, plans a third in Dover that is expected to employ 650 people after a $230 million investment. The tax credits are tied to job creation.

The new jobs are expected to be split between the company’s plant in Wooster and the new Dover plant. The company employs more than 1,600 people.

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Report: Ohio School Spending Rising; Teacher Pay, Enrollment Declining

The Center Square
Grade School Students In Class

Ohio schools spent nearly 15% more per student in 2020 than in 2002, while enrollment, the number of teachers and teacher pay dropped.

According to a new report from the Reason Foundation released Thursday morning, the bulk of the inflation-adjusted increase covered employee benefits, specifically teacher pension debt.

The Reason Foundation’s Education Spending Across 50 States showed Ohio’s inflation-adjusted education revenue grew from $14,008 per student in 2002 to $16,064 per student in 2020. That increase keeps it well below the national average, ranking 38th in the country.

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Bill Would Expand Ohio Student Access to College Courses

The Center Square

Ohio high school and junior high students could get more opportunities to earn college credits at little to no cost, and more high school teachers could teach those classes under a proposal in the Legislature.

A new bill that passed the Senate and hasn’t had any committee hearings in the House would enact several recommendations State Auditor Keith Faber made in a 2021 report, including allowing students to sign up for the program semester by semester.

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Ohio Supreme Court Helped Coordinate Event Featuring ‘Gender Identity’ Training from Trans Activists

Admin

The Ohio Supreme Court coordinated a conference where an activist group held a training for judges that claimed children have a “stable sense” of their gender identity by the age of four.

The presentation, titled “The Judicial System & LGBTQ+ Families: A Cultural Humility Approach,” was given by a local activist group, Equality Ohio, during the Ohio Association of Magistrates (OAM) Fall 2023 conference. The presentation featured the “gender unicorn” — a graphic portraying gender identity and expression as spectrums — and encouraged “affirming” youth transgender identities by “respecting their pronouns and allowing them to change legal documents,” according to the slideshow obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation via a public records request.

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Democrats Want Investigation into DeWine, Husted

The Center Square

Ohio Democratic lawmakers want the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Republican Gov. Mike DeWine and Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted after news reports questioned the administration’s actions after the House Bill 6 scandal came to light.

At a Thursday news conference, State House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said the suggestion is that the administration did nothing when possibly criminal activity came to light.

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Ohio Businesses to Save $67 Million After Worker’s Comp Rate Cut

The Center Square
Office Meeting

Private employers across the state will pay $67 million less in workers’ compensation premiums after the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation board voted Friday morning to lower rates for the sixth straight year.

The 7% rate cut follows a 3.9% reduction for public employers that went into effect Jan. 1. The new private employer rate takes effect July 1.

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Teacher’s Assistant Sues Union, Ohio School District for Illegally Withholding Dues from Her Paycheck

Admin
Perry High School

An Ohio teacher’s assistant who helps special needs students is suing her school district and former union because the district withheld union dues from her paycheck even after she left the union and formally asked it to cease taking her money.

“Using the coercion of government to take money from a government employee and give it to a union without the employee’s consent is not only egregious, but the Supreme Court has held that it’s unconstitutional,” Jeffrey Schwab, a senior counsel at Liberty Justice Center who represents the Ohio teacher’s assistant, told The Daily Signal in a written statement Monday.

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