This report reflects the latest happenings in government relations, in and around the Ohio statehouse. You’ll notice that it’s broad in nature and on an array of topics, from A-Z. This will be updated on a weekly basis.
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ADDICTION/SUBSTANCE ABUSE
OneOhio Recovery Foundation approached total awards of $51 million for the 2024 funding cycle with its latest Grant Award Wednesday, announcing nearly $800,000 to six of its 19 project regions. Six funded programs including the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) will use Big Pharma settlement dollars for substance misuse prevention, treatment and recovery in all areas of the state except southern Ohio.
ARTS, SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
Gov. Mike DeWine pronounced Sunday, Jan. 26 as "THE Celebration of Champions Day," in recognition of Ohio State University's intercollegiate athletic success. In addition to its football victory over the University of Notre Dame, OSU also prevailed as spirit team Division 1A national champion for the second consecutive year, and the dance team won the Division 1A jazz national championship for the fourth time in five years.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Attorney General Dave Yost joined representatives of Ohio-based TravelCenters of America (TA) and Colorado-based Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) at TA's Westlake location Thursday to announce a public-private partnership to broaden the front against human trafficking in Ohio by urging Ohioans to report potential human trafficking to the new state-specific hotline, 844-END-OHHT. "If you see something, say something," he said in a statement. Under this new partnership, truck drivers and other motorists will be educated and reminded to report human trafficking to law enforcement. Their awareness on the road can save a life." Under its partnership with Yost's Human Trafficking Initiative (HTI) and TravelCenters, the 19,000-member TAT will distribute bumper stickers with the hotline to truckers in order to increase its visibility and use. "Suspect human trafficking?" it states, followed by 844-END-OHHT in oversized type.
CHILDREN/FAMILIES
Ohioans are finding it more difficult to strike a balance between child care needs and remaining in the workforce, according to poll results released Tuesday by Groundwork Ohio and Public Opinion Strategies.
Poll results reflect answers to a survey conducted in December 2024 of 800 registered Ohio voters, divided evenly between Republicans, Democrats and independents -- the third such annual survey conducted by Groundwork Ohio and the first since February 2023. Of those 800 respondents, the majority (484) were parents of one or more children ages 5 or younger. The number of survey respondents reporting problems accessing high quality child care grew from 56 percent to 66 percent. In the most recent survey, a majority (51 percent) of parents with children under 5 reported that they believe the availability of high quality and affordable child care has gotten worse over the past few years. One-third of parents surveyed also report staying home from work to provide child care, and one-fourth of parents in the survey report doing part-time child care. The rising costs of child care and the perceived negative economy further resulted in other issues for households, including buying fewer groceries and skipping medical care, and one third of survey respondents report having problems paying their mortgage or rent due to the rising proportion of child care in their budget.
CITIES
Two Ohio cities are among the 109 recipients of federal grants aimed at modernizing and repairing infrastructure and increasing transportation access across the nation. Columbus is set to receive $12 million, and Lancaster is set to receive $800,000, from the FFY25 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program. Outgoing U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently announced $1.32 billion in the first round of awards.
DEATH PENALTY
A bipartisan group of legislators including Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland), Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon), Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood), Sen. Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus and Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) on Tuesday announced a forthcoming bill to prohibit "state-funded death." The legislation would abolish the death penalty and replace it with life in prison without the possibility of parole; ban state funding for abortion services; and prohibit the use of state funding for "assisted suicide," also known as "medical aid in dying." Schmidt told reporters that she felt it was important to include the language prohibiting state funding of abortion because of the passage of Ohio's constitutional amendment guaranteeing reproductive rights across the state. Antonio said the inclusion of language regarding abortion and medical aid in dying was a "compromise" to achieve the goal of abolishing the death penalty.
EAST PALESTINE DERAILMENT
Norfolk Southern Corporation has reached an agreement with the village of East Palestine that will settle all claims by the village arising out of the Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment. Under the settlement, Norfolk Southern will pay a total of $22 million to East Palestine "for priorities identified by the village in connection with the train derailment," village officials said. The funds come on top of $13.5 million in prior payments made by the rail company since the derailment. Additionally, Norfolk Southern reaffirmed in its settlement that it will commit $25 million to the ongoing improvements to the East Palestine City Park. However, both parties decided not to move forward with construction of a proposed regional safety training center, saying in a release that it was determined that the center was not feasible. Norfolk Southern agreed to transfer ownership of 15 acres of land it had acquired to build the center to the village for another use. The village said the rail company "remains committed to providing training for East Palestine's first responders at other facilities in the region."
ECONOMIC/WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT/URBAN REVITALIZATION
Anduril Industries' planned "Arsenal-1" manufacturing facility, touted by the DeWine administration as the largest single job creation and payroll project in Ohio history, received a 2.594 percent, 30-year Job Creation Tax Credit with an estimated value of $452.3 million. The approval came at the Ohio Tax Credit Authority's meeting Monday. Arsenal-1 is expected to employ 4,000 production and service workers alongside an additional 4,500 new indirect jobs by 2035, producing more than $2 billion in annual economic output, $1 billion in state labor income and $800 million in projected tax revenues. Anduril produces a range of military technology including unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles, and the target date for initial project manufacturing is July 2026. The company will be investing over $900 million in the area surrounding the plant, which will be located near Rickenbacker International Airport in Pickaway County.
Monday the Ohio Tax Credit Authority (TCA) also approved a 1.605 percent, nine-year Job Creation Tax Credit for a BJ's Wholesale Club logistics and distribution facility at Rickenbacker Exchange in Commercial Point (Pickaway County). The project is expected to employ 250 people full-time, generating more than $13 million in new annual payroll. BJ's Wholesale Club is a membership-based warehouse retailer offering groceries, household items, electronics and more at discounted prices. The estimated value of the tax credit is $1.94 million.
Gov. Mike DeWine's administration announced Monday the approval of $100 million in tax credits through the fourth round of the Transformational Mixed-Used Development Program. The nine projects receiving credits are expected to collectively create over $1.1 billion in new payroll and $2 billion in investments.
The projects will support construction or redevelopment of over 7.4 million square feet to create housing, retail, dining, office, lodging and entertainment opportunities.
EDUCATION
The chair of the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware) told Hannah News Wednesday he has questions about whether Ohio's school rating system is properly evaluating performance, and he plans to look into the matter. "I think I want to take a look again at the school evaluation system ... we have way too many schools that are getting two and three stars where, if you look at their academic performance, I don't know why they're getting two or three stars. … I think it's not dinging districts that should be dinged," he said. "There's way too many districts that are in the upper end of it." Also returning this session will be Brenner's school turnaround proposal, previously 135-SB295, which would have required the closing or overhaul of persistently poor performing schools.
Results for Ohio students in fourth and eighth grade reading and math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) administered in 2024 generally did not change much from the 2022 results.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) said nationwide figures show students are not making the progress needed to recover from pandemic-era learning losses. A two-point increase in average fourth grade math scores from 2022 to 2024 followed a five-point drop seen from 2019-2022, while eighth grade did not show significant change. In reading, scores dropped in both grades.
In advance of National School Choice Week, which runs through Saturday, Feb. 1, the National School Choice Awareness Foundation released survey results showing the majority of families considered sending at least one of their children to a different school last year. Among other findings, the survey showed Black and Hispanic parent respondents more likely to consider other schools for their children, while younger parents up to age 29 were substantially more likely to consider different schools than older cohorts of parents.
In a policy memo issued by Buckeye Institute, Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow, presented six recommendations to lawmakers as they work on school choice matters. Given that EdChoice recipients have more than doubled recent annual totals after scholarship program eligibility was expanded, Lawson urged lawmakers to "commit to retaining universal eligibility" and resist efforts to reduce scholarship amounts under the "false premise of saving funds for public district schools." He said that because district schools are funded based on "actual enrollment" and local funding does not decrease even if a student leaves the district, the EdChoice scholarship program does not cost districts extra in state funds. Lawson also suggested lawmakers include disadvantage pupil impact aid (DPIA) in the EdChoice scholarship program, since many district students receive DPIA resources that are not conveyed to EdChoice recipients, which can then prevent some families from seeking assistance from alternative education providers.
ELECTIONS
The Senate General Government Committee Wednesday held the first hearing on Sen. Theresa Gavarone's (R-Bowling Green) "election integrity" bill, SB4. The legislation is a reintroduction of 135-SB51 (Gavarone) from the last General Assembly. It would codify the election-related portion of the Public Integrity Unit within the secretary of state's office. Secretary of State Frank LaRose created the Public Integrity Unit in 2022 as part of an ongoing effort "to build on Ohio's record as a national leader in election administration." The division consolidated many of the office's long-standing investigative functions, including campaign finance reporting, voting system certification, voter registration integrity, the investigation of election law violations, data retention and transparency, and cybersecurity protocols. SB4, however, only makes the election portion of the division permanent.
The saga of former House candidate Allen Freeman's failed bid for the Ohio House in 2020 re-commenced before the Ohio Elections Commission Thursday, which continued a preliminary review of allegations that he took corporate funds against Ohio law and that he didn't properly report certain campaign expenses. Freeman lost a three-way Republican primary after he was backed by former House Speaker Larry Householder. Republican Christopher Hicks was before the commission again Thursday on another complaint against Freeman, which he argued had never been properly ruled on by the commission. He said that while the first complaint dealt with a failure to report spending on television and radio ads in favor of Freeman, the commission never addressed campaign mailers sent on Freeman's behalf. Hicks also argued that the commission also never addressed the corporate spending on Freeman's behalf. He said he would be willing to dismiss the complaints over the mailers and focus on the corporate spending.
ELECTIONS 2026
Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber Monday announced he is running for attorney general in 2026, pledging in a campaign video to protect Ohio families and defend the Constitution. Faber's announcement moves another piece for the 2026 race into place, with current Attorney General Dave Yost unable to run for another term and seeking the governor's office. The former Senate president said in a statement that he sees the attorney general's office as playing a vitally important role in the lives of Ohioans.
After praising Vivek Ramaswamy and his potential gubernatorial run recently, Republican former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci wrote on social media Friday that he's yet to decide whether to make his own run for governor. Renacci ran against Gov. Mike DeWine in the 2022 Republican primary for governor. He'd been part of the 2018 field as well before switching to the U.S. Senate contest.
EMPLOYMENT/UNEMPLOYMENT
Ohio's unemployment rate increased from 4.3 percent in November to 4.4 percent in December, though 6,800 jobs were added, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS). ODJFS said Ohio's nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased from a revised 5,684,700 in November to 5,691,500 in December. There were 258,000 unemployed people in Ohio in December, up from 255,000 in November. That measure has increased by 48,000 in the past year from 210,000, and the unemployment rate in December 2023 was 3.6 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate for December 2024 was 4.2 percent, down from 4.2 percent in November 2024 and up from 3.8 percent in December 2023.
ENERGY/UTILITIES
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) Nominating Council held executive session interviews with four candidates for a PUCO commissioner seat Thursday, with only two receiving unanimous approval from the council and the others getting unanimous opposition. All four were sent on to Gov. Mike DeWine along with the vote records, as Chair Greg Lashutka said they needed to send DeWine four names. Those receiving 12-0 votes in favor were Lawrence Friedeman, a Democrat who currently holds the seat in question and would remain until April 10, 2030 if reappointed, and Joseph Roman, an independent applicant who previously worked as CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership and has been on three other state policy bodies. The council voted unanimously against Dana Sillman, who has applied for PUCO positions seven times and worked in road construction, and Bob Gedert, who has worked in public service, environmental science and recycling in Ohio and other states.
FEDERAL
Ohio has not experienced any issues related to the funding freeze memo issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) earlier this week, according to Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) spokesperson Pete LuPiba. "We asked our state agencies to alert us if they experience any actual disruptions to ongoing standard federal funding protocols -- and we continue to monitor operations at this hour. We have had no interruptions," LuPiba told Hannah News in an email. "We are not aware of any items to be addressed at this time. The federal memorandum was quite limited in scope. Our work to prepare the executive budget is on schedule. The governor's budget will be released as planned on Monday, Feb. 3."
In a statement, Policy Matters Ohio (PMO) said while the Trump administration rescinded the memo ordering the funding freeze, the administration has "continued to assert on social media that the president's initial executive orders on federal funding, which directed agencies to review spending against a vaguely defined and arbitrary applied ideology test, 'remain in full force.'" "This rollout is a debacle for the administration. The initial memo was so broad in scope and unclear in direction it potentially swept in programs ranging from opioid recovery, unemployment compensation, and supports for cancer patients and survivors," PMO Executive Director Hannah Halbert said. “Thankfully, a federal court judge has blocked the freeze until a full court decision can be rendered in February."
GAMING/GAMBLING
Ohio State University (OSU) athletes can now anonymously report abuse from angry sports bettors directly to the state, according to Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) Executive Director Matt Schuler. The Ohio Athlete Wellness App has been deployed at OSU for a couple months as part of a pilot program, Schuler told Hannah News outside the 2025 Ohio Problem Gambling Conference at the Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center in Lewis Center. According to Origo Branding Company Account Strategy Director Nick Fraunfelter, the Ohio Athlete Wellness App is a project from the state of Ohio, Kindbridge Research Institute and Sportradar.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) has seized 88 slot machines as part of an investigation into allegations of illegal gambling, the agency announced this week. An "undetermined amount of U.S. currency" was also seized during the operation, OCCC said. The Bucyrus Police Department assisted in carrying out the search warrant at Golden Genie Gaming in Bucyrus. No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing, according to OCCC.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE
Former Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken is officially a state senator. During Wednesday's session, Timken was unanimously elected by Senate Republicans to serve out the unexpired term of the late Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton). "It is an honor and a privilege to serve with all of you in this body," Timken said during her floor speech, noting she was sworn in using Schuring's Bible. "I thought it was important for me to do so because I'm going to be filling big shoes." Timken called Schuring a "force of nature," and praised his long career of public service.
The Senate also unanimously approved the following items during Wednesday's session:
SCR4 (Reineke), the legislative code of ethics for the 136th General Assembly.
SR16 (Reineke), which deals with mileage reimbursement.
SR17 (Reineke), the rules of the Senate for the 136th General Assembly.
SR18 (Reineke), which allows the Western Ohio National Speech and Debate Association to use the Senate chamber.
SR19 (Reineke), which allows the Ohio-West Virginia Youth Leadership Association to use the Senate chamber.
SR20 (Reineke), which allows the Ohio YMCA Youth and Government to use the Senate chamber.
HCR3 (Huffman), which deals with the authority to prepare arguments for and against proposed ballot initiatives.
Sen. Louis Blessing (R-Cincinnati), who is returning as chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee this term, said Wednesday he would like to take a run at reining in tax expenditures as lawmakers juggle proposals to otherwise cut taxes and face the spending demands of completing the phase-in of a new K-12 formula. After a hearing on the latest proposal to cut income taxes, SB3 (Lang-Huffman), Blessing talked with reporters about his near-term priorities. Blessing pointed to his introduction late last session of 135-SB342, which addressed everything from a property tax circuit breaker to free school meals. He said the legislation was revenue neutral because of the aim to trim foregone revenue from tax expenditures, and he hopes to explore some of those tax expenditure proposals this General Assembly.
Property tax reform and compliance costs for municipal income taxes are topics Rep. Bill Roemer (R-Richfield) hopes to dig into as he returns this session as House Ways and Means Committee chair.
Roemer convened the committee's first hearing of the 136th General Assembly on Tuesday and spoke with reporters afterward about his plans. Roemer said as part of Speaker Matt Huffman's (R-Lima) plan to use standing committees for budget work rather than finance subcommittees, the House Ways and Means Committee will be assigned to review the budget proposals for several state agencies. As far as general tax reform topics that may be addressed in the budget, Roemer said he hopes to vet a variety of tax reform bills to help identify whether they're candidates for inclusion in the budget.
The chairman of the House Energy Committee launched the new biennium Tuesday by emphasizing the need for "aggressive" action on energy production, generation, transmission and distribution focused in Oho on the "citizens" and constituents who rely on and pay for the state's energy infrastructure. Chairman Adam Holmes (R-Nashport) laid out a five-point mission to the "136th Energy Committee" that he said would require bipartisan input from all Ohio lawmakers, taxpayers and stakeholders to meet the "critical" challenge -- like "aggressive," a word he used repeatedly -- in economic development opportunities requiring new generation facilities and overall energy security. Citing the energy emergency announced by the president on Monday, Holmes said the House would join the administration in addressing the threatened shortfall of kilowatts to drive the state and nation's institutions, homes and businesses, including burgeoning data centers, artificial intelligence and crypto currency.
Pharmacy and behavioral health spending is likely to continue to increase in the coming years, Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC) Executive Director Jada Brady told the House Medicaid Committee on Tuesday. Brady and Ivy Chen of the Legislative Service Commission (LSC) provided members with an overview of Medicaid during the committee's first meeting. "While the pandemic is over, there are wide new unknowns around the economy and drug spending," Brady said.
Both the House and Senate this week released the regular meeting times and locations for their standing committees, although those are subject to change.
Rep. Munira Abdullahi (D-Columbus) will serve as the chair of the Ohio Democratic Women's Legislative
Caucus (ODWLC) for the 136th General Assembly, the caucus announced. Rounding out the rest of the ODWLC executive committee are Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D-Gahanna) as vice chair; Rep. Rachel Baker (D-Cincinnati) as policy chair; Rep. Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown) as secretary; and Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) as treasurer.
Members of JCARR for the 136th General Assembly include the following:
Co-Chair Rep. Jamie Callender (R-Concord)
Co-Chair Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green)
Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon)
Rep. Bernard Willis (R-Springfield)
Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma)
Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D-Gahanna)
Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware)
Sen. George Lang (R-West Chester)
Sen. Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus)
Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus)
HANNAH NEWS MEET THE FRESHMEN OF 136TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Rep. Christine Cockley (D-Columbus) told Hannah News that experience working for former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown led her to put a premium on establishing good constituent services when she started her term in the General Assembly. "I was an intern in his Columbus office for three semesters because I loved constituent services so much," Cockley said in an interview. Cockley spent a college internship and a graduate fellowship with Brown's office and worked for his campaign as well. In addition to constituent services, Cockley hopes to be known for bringing funding back to her district and working in a bipartisan fashion to pass legislation.
Rep. Mark Hiner (R-Howard) has never served in an elected office before but now fills the House seat formerly held by term-limited Rep. Darrell Kick (R-Loudonville). Hiner describes the 98th District -- Coshocton and Holmes counties and the eastern two-thirds of Knox County -- that he now represents in the House as "pretty quiet." His goal is to help local governments in the district get the legislation and funding they need from the state. Hiner says his committee assignments -- agriculture, natural resources, and small business -- are nice fits for his largely rural district. He was also named vice-chair of the Arts, Athletics and Tourism Committee for the session.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Higher education reform bill SB1 (Cirino) received sponsor and proponent testimony at its first hearing in the Senate Higher Education Committee Wednesday, with committee Vice Chair Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) testifying on the motivation for it and predecessor bill 135-SB83, which died in the House last session.
Cirino told the committee he is "committed to improving higher education in our 14 public universities and 22 community colleges" because "students, parents, taxpayers and businesses need us to put our very best foot forward when it comes to post-secondary education." The academic environment is changing in terms of the declining amount of high school graduates, he continued, and higher ed institutions' costs are rising due to inflation, "often unnecessary" administrative growth and burdens of "a large and sometimes unnecessary infrastructure requiring millions in deferred maintenance." Cirino also said there is a "lack of connection" between academic programs and in-demand workforce needs.
Higher education may be approaching a tipping point, not only in Ohio, but across the nation. Research from the Chronicle of Higher Education anticipates the number of U.S. high school graduates to decline up to 15 percent in the next four years. In Ohio, students graduating high school matriculated to college at a rate of 72 percent in 2010. That rate fell to 66 percent by 2023. As institutions in Ohio and beyond approach a possible enrollment decline, leaders in higher education met at the Columbus Metropolitan Club this week to discuss how higher education in the state can innovate for a new era. "We need to ... reward institutions and think of institutions of having quality for who they reach out and serve and make our society better, and not serving those who already have," said John Comerford, president of Otterbein University. While universities face what panel moderator and Columbus Dispatch education reporter Sheridan Hendrix called a "demographic cliff," leaders are rethinking the role higher education does and ought to play in the lives of students and even the communities where universities are located.
JUDICIAL
The Ohio Supreme Court opened the application process Monday for 2025 Technology Grants to the state's regional and local court system. The new grant cycle will support e-filing implementation and new or upgraded case management systems, but not security-related, maintenance or personnel costs. No funding of any kind may go to so-called mayors' courts. "The Court has instituted a funding limitation by applying a limit of $150,000 for each technology project request," the Court adds. "To the extent requests exceed funding, the Court reserves the right to limit award amounts by category or application to maximize the impact of the limited funds available." The request for application, instructions, sample grant agreement and examples may be found HERE. Technology grant for 2025 will be accepted until 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28.
MARIJUANA/HEMP
The Senate General Government Committee Wednesday held the first hearing on new legislation that would rework Ohio's marijuana laws, but one of the Democrats on the committee said the bill as currently constituted will not get the caucus' vote. Sen. Stephen Huffman (R-Tipp City) told the committee that SB56 (S. Huffman) is largely a reintroduction of the Senate-passed version of 135-HB86 (LaRe) from the last General Assembly. The bill changes much of Issue 2, the marijuana legalization initiated statute that voters approved in November 2023. Huffman's bill would merge the state's medical and adult-use marijuana programs under the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC), ban public smoking of marijuana, reduce the maximum number of home grown marijuana plants that may be cultivated at a single residence from 12 to six, prohibit driving while the driver or any passenger is using marijuana, and prohibit homegrown marijuana at residences that operate in-home child care programs. The bill repeals the law protecting adult-use consumers from certain adverse actions by employers, courts, health care providers and regulatory authorities, and it expands local government authority to prohibit or limit the number of marijuana cultivators, processors, dispensaries or testing laboratories.
NATURAL RESOURCES
A nine-person fire management team from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) was dispatched last week to southern California to assist in that state's battle against major wildfires, Gov. Mike DeWine's office said. California officials asked for additional assistance Thursday, Jan. 23. The Division of Forestry crew left Columbus for Beaumont, CA, where they were expected to receive details of their assignment. The crew traveled with protective equipment, hand tools, chainsaws and other supplies, the administration said.
The ODNR Division of Wildlife will accept submissions in February for artists to have their image featured on the 2026 Ohio Wetlands Habitat Stamp. Since 1982, Ohio's duck stamp program has produced more than $11 million for wetland habitat protection and conservation, making Ohio's program one of the nation's longest and most successful. Design entries may not exceed 18 inches wide by 13 inches high, should be displayed on a single white mat of 2.5 inches width and be protected by a removable acetate or cellophane cover. All two-dimensional art mediums, other than digital art and photographs, will be accepted. Full contest rules, including a list of qualifying species, can be found HERE. Entrants must be ages 18 and older and reside in the U.S. Submissions will be accepted between Saturday, Feb. 1-Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025.
NEWS MEDIA
Jay Leeson "Lee" Leonard, a long-time reporter who covered the Ohio Statehouse for 36 years, first for United Press International and then the Columbus Dispatch, died on Tuesday at the age of 85. Born in Summit, NJ, he graduated from Cornell University in 1963 and went on to become a political reporter until his retirement in 2005. He wrote two books -- "A Columnist's View of Capitol Square" and "James Rhodes: Ohio Colossus." He is survived by his wife, Ruth, two children and a grandson.
PEOPLE
Kathayoon Khalil is the new vice president and director of conservation programs at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the organization announced Monday. Khalil, a conservation leader with more than 20 years of experience in environmental education, conservation strategy and program evaluation, will spearhead wildlife conservation initiatives at the zoo and the Wilds, the Columbus Zoo said. Khalil officially started in this role on Wednesday, Jan. 22,
SECRETARY OF STATE
Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Ben Kindel has rejoined his office as press secretary, while Dan Lusheck has been promoted to communications director. Kindel, who is returning from military leave, will also take on responsibilities as deputy director of communications for media, helping to manage the office's engagement across digital and traditional media platforms. Lusheck will serve as the office's director of communications, overseeing the planning, organizing, and management of all internal and external communications, including media relations, public information, digital engagement and marketing strategies.
TAXATION
Sens. George Lang (R-West Chester) and Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) made their pitch Wednesday for lawmakers to take the final step in the multi-year journey of flattening Ohio's income tax structure, arguing that it would improve economic competitiveness but facing questions about whether everyday Ohioans would see much benefit. Under SB3, which was up for sponsor and proponent testimony in the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, income above roughly $26,000 would be taxed at 2.75 percent for everyone. Those earning in excess of roughly $100,000 now pay 3.5 percent. Lang tied Ohio's historical loss of economic competitiveness and congressional representation in the past five decades to the institution of the state income tax in the early 1970s, saying that trend has started to reverse in the past several years as lawmakers have reduced income tax rates and eliminated brackets.
TECHNOLOGY/AEROSPACE
The Ohio Department of Development (DOD) announced the opening of a new round of grant funding that advances technology commercialization across the state. The Ohio Third Frontier is seeking request for proposals (RFP) for phase 1 and phase 2 projects through the Technology Validation and Start-up Fund (TVSF). The program aims to boost the state's economy through commercializing technologies invented by and developed at higher education institutions, nonprofit research institutions, and federal labs, as well as supporting startups with the licensing of their products.
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
More than two dozen stage agencies, universities and university hospitals face a state insurance price increase in the new fiscal year as nearly that number enjoy a larger net decrease, yielding an average cost savings of 8.6 percent in public employer premiums to match last year's decrease. The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors approved the change Friday and proposed a separate, private employer rate cut of 6 percent for FY26 -- the smallest decline since 2013. The board voted to approve Actuarial Committee recommendations for an 8.6 percent rate cut among 53 public employers based on a projected program surplus of $8.6 billion for year-end FY25. They include 39 executive departments, independent statewide agencies, and boards and commissions, along with 14 post-secondary institutions and hospitals.
[Story originally published in The Hannah Report. Copyright 2025 Hannah News Service, Inc.]