matt huffman
How the bid to make it harder to amend Ohio’s constitution fell apart
Just before lawmakers took off for Thanksgiving last year, Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, held a press conference. Details ahead of time were scant, but the advisory promised “reforms which will better protect Ohio’s constitution.” What they unveiled would dominate the chaotic final weeks of the lame duck legislative […]
Ohio Republicans hellbent on turning state’s public education system into political rubber stamp
Dishonest and dangerous. No other way to describe Matt Huffman’s fever dream to wrest control of educational policymaking from educators at the Ohio Department of Education and the state school board. The Ohio Senate president is hellbent on turning the state’s independent public education system into a political entity that he and other Republican lawmakers […]
Ohio budget primer: Here’s Gov. DeWine’s spending plan for the next two years
Last week, Ohioans got their first look at the governor’s budget proposal. Lawmakers got their first chance to ask questions about his plans. Gov. Mike DeWine outlined the broad strokes of his spending plan in his state of the state address, late last month. He put heavy emphasis on supporting families through tax incentives, education […]
Déjà vu? Advocates worry proposed GOP bill could cause next Ohio corruption scandal
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. Ohio is in the middle of the largest corruption trial in state history, […]
As some lawmakers debate Nazi home schooling scandal, others propose expanding vouchers
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. A bill to expand the school voucher system and provide more money to […]
Ohio public schools under attack as lack of accountability allows Nazi homeschooling scandal
Public education is in the crosshairs of book-banning, speech-censoring bullies, and private school zealots draining public school dollars. Missing in the DeSantis shuffle and campaigns to privatize education is any correlating interest in how the vast majority of publicly educated students in this country learn, develop, grow, and achieve. Some 90% of Ohio kids attend […]
Education officials worry Ohio voucher expansion will come at expense of full public school funding
The education community in Ohio is encouraged by the governor’s support of public school funding, but see red flags when it comes to increased private school vouchers, warning that they hinder Ohio’s Full School Funding Plan. Gov. Mike DeWine’s announced his planned budget asks on Wednesday during his State of the State address, including boosts […]
House, Senate Republicans applaud governor’s plans but eager for details
Republican leadership in the Ohio House and Senate praised Gov. Mike DeWine’s ideas in their responses to his state of the state address. They cautioned, however, that they still need to see the details. DeWine’s pitch leaned heavily into education, putting particular emphasis on literacy. “It opens the door to good jobs,” DeWine argued, “but […]
Checks on Ohio GOP’s gerrymandering to be tested in U.S. Supreme Court case being heard Wednesday
Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman is on pins and needles. The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments this week on an elections law case that could make his life as Ohio’s premier despot a lot easier — or not. The highly anticipated Moore v. Harper is brought by Huffman’s kindred spirits in the Republican-controlled North […]
Newly elected state school board member calls GOP plan to gut powers ‘Tornado from hell’
Former state Sen. Teresa Fedor got out of the Statehouse before the last vestiges of democratic governance were flattened by a power-hungry party on steroids. She knew a cyclone of destructive GOP legislation, super-charged by an unstoppable Republican juggernaut in the General Assembly, would be devastating. It is already bearing down fast on voting rights, […]
Ohio Senate GOP to clarify women’s health exemptions on six-week abortion ban
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. Ohio Senate Republicans are working to clarify language on the six-week abortion […]
Democracy has been mortally wounded in Ohio, but Ohioans must keep fighting for it
Wisconsin dodged the democracy bullet. Not Ohio. We’ll get to that. But before last week’s election, Wisconsin GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels was caught on tape saying the quiet part out loud. “Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I’m elected,” he promised. Translation: His victory would seal one-party “voter-proof” control in the […]