History
Reintroduced bill would give Statehouse the option to fly Honor and Remember flag on Memorial Day
Jim and Leslie Groves fly their Honor and Remember flag everyday to commemorate their son James Groves III who was killed in combat in Afghanistan. “We know the true cost of freedom and that cost is a tremendous debt, and that’s a national debt that most Americans can not afford to pay,” said Jim, of […]
Restaurant association won’t comment on its allies in fight to lock down Ohio Constitution
Ohio’s restaurants have some strange bedfellows that their industry representative would rather not talk about — including a billionaire out-of-state election denier. The Ohio Restaurant Association’s members depend on patronage from a broad swath of Ohioans. But in joining the battle to make it a lot harder to amend the Ohio Constitution, it’s taking a […]
Just as dissidents achieve majority on pension fund board, DeWine removes one
Gov. Mike DeWine is being accused of pulling “a switcheroo” on Ohio’s retired teachers by terminating a change-minded member of the pension board just as that faction was achieving a majority. But the governor’s spokesman said all the governor wants is a member of the State Teachers Retirement System Board who will faithfully attend its […]
Ohio Sec. of State LaRose won’t comment on election-denying financier of constitutional effort
Secretary of State Frank LaRose said it's important to make it a lot harder for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution because we need to keep powerful out-of-state special interests from meddling with the state's foundational document. But his office wouldn't respond when asked if the state's top elections official embraced or condemned the support of an Illinois billionaire who helped fund the Jan. 6, 2021 rally in Washington, D.C., and who has lavished millions on candidates who have falsely claimed that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election.
Just after bonus controversy, Ohio teachers pension system to increase them again
Ohio’s retired teachers might have gotten only one 3% cost-of-living increase since 2017, but the staff that’s managing their pension funds is requesting a 31% increase in its already big annual bonuses. The same staff last year was awarded $10 million in bonuses and then reported $5.3 billion in losses — 77% higher than the […]
Manufacturers, consumers blast plan to make ratepayers subsidize charging stations
The number of electric vehicles on U.S. roadways is expected to ramp up dramatically in the coming years, and with it the number of charging stations will have to grow as well. Now groups representing Ohio utility consumers and manufacturers are trying to kill a plan that would force ratepayers to finance the electricity infrastructure […]
Oil and gas drilling in state parks set to expand, while some say taxes on it are too low
Energy companies, lawmakers, and environmental groups are again arguing over the companies’ ability to drill for oil and gas in Ohio state parks. And as they battle over the firms’ ability to drill for profits on taxpayer-owned land intended for recreation and conservation, it raises another question that isn’t exactly new: Are the companies paying […]
Poll: majority of GOP lawmakers want to cut voter access to Ohio Constitution
A majority of Ohio’s Republican lawmakers want to make it harder for voters to amend the state Constitution. But significantly fewer think it’s something Ohioans would support at the polls, according to a Gongwer-Werth poll published on Friday. Some Ohio House Republicans — and Secretary of State Frank LaRose — are reviving a measure that […]
Ohio SOS gives yet another reason to make it a lot harder for voters to amend Constitution
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Wednesday offered another rationale for making it much more difficult for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution. Now he’s saying it’s needed to fight a possible power grab like one that grew out of a massive bribery and money-laundering scandal. But LaRose didn’t mention in his op-ed that […]
After the end of COVID-era benefits, 70k older Ohioans struggle to fight hunger
After Congress ended pandemic food assistance in February, 70,000 older Ohioans have seen food benefits slashed to $23 a month, in some cases down from $280. That has many making excruciating choices between food, medicine and utilities like electricity and gas, Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said Wednesday. And while […]
Feds propose $2M fine against Cincinnati meat processor after severe injury
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed a $1.9 million fine against the Cincinnati-based subsidiary of a meat-processing firm headquartered in the Netherlands. The proposed fines come after a severe accident in October, less than two weeks after OSHA warned officials at the Cincinnati plant that sanitation workers didn’t have the proper training, […]
Think tank blasts Ohio flat tax proposal
It sounds fair. If everybody paid taxes at the same rate, the rich would pay more because of their higher incomes and the poor would pay less because they make less in the first place. But an Ohio proposal to enact such a "flat" state income tax ignores a host of other taxes, said a progressive public policy think tank. And the way that the law is written would only complicate the state's school-funding woes, take money from libraries and increase property taxes for farmers and homeowners, it added.