by Tyler Arnold Neither right-leaning groups nor left-leaning groups are satisfied with Ohio’s changes to the tax law included in the two-year operating budget that was passed by the state legislature on Wednesday and signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday. The Buckeye Institute, a free-market think…
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — First Energy gave the Ohio Legislature until June 30 to pass House Bill 6, which opponents called a bailout. Failure to pass it by the company’s imposed deadline would result in the shutdown of at least one of Ohio’s two nuclear power plants, the company warned. The…
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Gov. Mike DeWine and some legislators had fun celebrating the 40th Fish Ohio Day on Lake Erie last week. It was a grand celebration of fishing just before the Independence Day holiday, but there was business left unfinished in Columbus. Legislators walked out of the Statehouse on Sunday evening,…
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Ohio’s unemployment rate for May was 4.1 percent, a decrease from the April revised rate of 4.2 percent. This May also showed a decrease from the May 2018 rate of 4.6 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate for May was 3.6 percent. According to figures from the state, the number…
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Greg Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, is taking his message of sustainability to the Ohio Senate Finance Committee, which is currently hearing testimony on its version of the state’s biennial budget. As The Ohio Star previously reported, Lawson has been urging lawmakers all session to avoid…
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Buckeye Institute research fellow Greg Lawson appeared in front of the Ohio House Financial Institutions Committee Tuesday to support a proposed bill that could help Ohioans be able to resolve their unresolved debt easier. “Ohio’s arbitrary fee caps and poorly tailored law makes it harder for some debt settlement firms…
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by Bethany Blankley State government must reduce or hold its spending to match the growth in inflation and population to reverse employment plight and economic stagnation, The Buckeye Institute says in its updated brief, “Sustaining Economic Growth: Tax and Budget Principles for Ohio.” It argues, “Policymakers must be wary about increasing…
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The Ohio Senate Finance Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education was asked to reconsider spending an additional $550 million on public education in the state’s biennial budget, House Bill 166. Testifying before the committee Wednesday, Greg Lawson, a senior research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, pointed out that “Ohio’s…
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A bill making its way through the Ohio House would make it easier for military spouses living in the state to obtain professional licenses, a policy championed by the conservative Buckeye Institute. House Bill 133, sponsored by Rep. Rick Perales (R-Beavercreek), would grant full professional licenses to military spouses…
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A group of custodians at Kent State University are suing their employer and its union representatives, who have continued to illegally deduct dues from their paychecks after they resigned their membership. The custodians, Annamarie Hannay, Adda Gape, and John Kohl, are being assisted in their legal challenge by The Buckeye…
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Governor Mike DeWine’s proposed budget for Ohio includes a provision that will raise taxes and regulations on all tattoo artists and body piercers throughout the state. The new provision would require that all current and future tattoo artists and body piercers register with the state for as long as they…
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Greg Lawson, a research fellow at the free-market think tank The Buckeye Institute, testified Wednesday before an Ohio legislative committee on the importance of a bill that would “codify” a new tool to expand government transparency in the state. In December of 2014, then Republican State Treasurer of Ohio Josh Mandel oversaw…
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The Buckeye Institute released its annual Piglet Booklet Wednesday, which identifies wasteful government spending across state agencies that could save Ohio taxpayers $2.5 billion. “In this year’s Piglet Booklet, The Buckeye Institute identified at least $2.5 billion that policymakers can save Ohioans. And with the increase in the gas tax,…
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Late Tuesday night, a joint legislative committee of the Ohio House and Senate reached a compromise on the controversial and divisive gas-tax hike. The gas tax will increase by 10.5 cents per gallon, and 19 cents per gallon for diesel fuel. While this falls short of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s original…
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A new poll from The Buckeye Institute shows that 65 percent of Ohioans oppose Gov. Mike Dewine’s 18-cent gas-tax hike, consistent with the results of a Tuesday poll from Baldwin Wallace University. As The Ohio Star reported Tuesday, Baldwin Wallace found that just 6.5 percent of Ohioans “strongly support” an…
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Ohio’s monthly jobs report released this week showed that while the state saw a loss of 7,900 private sector jobs, the unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent. According to a press release from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the unemployment rate dropped from 4.7 percent in January…
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The Buckeye Institute’s Greg Lawson is warning state lawmakers against a “blind” gas-tax hike of 18 cents per gallon as proposed by Gov. Mike DeWine. “Before accepting Mr. DeWine’s proposal, the General Assembly must do its due diligence and determine whether raising the gas tax by 18 cents per gallon…
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COLUMBUS, Ohio–In Tuesday’s State of the State Address, Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine made it very clear he would not back down on the 18 cent gas tax, leaving many state Republicans in a complicated position. In his Address, DeWine made it clear that, not only was the gas tax…
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The Buckeye Institute, an established think tank based in Ohio, has released its latest economic report, assessing the current state of economic affairs in Ohio and making recommendations to improve the overall financial health of the state. In the report, The Buckeye Institute discovered that the current state budget surplus could create…
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After two meetings and two hours of public testimony, the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Transportation has, so far, agreed on only one thing to save Ohio’s roads and bridges: raise taxes. As previously reported, the committee was officially launched on January 31st. Hand-picked by Governor Mike DeWine, the bipartisan committee of industry…
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When it comes to infrastructure; all roads lead to Ohio. The Buckeye State’s infrastructure is among the most important in the entire country. According to Jobs Ohio: Ohio is geographically advantageous, sitting within a 600-mile radius of more than half of the U.S. and Canadian populations. Major cities including Chicago,…
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Friday, the Buckeye Institute announced that Daniel J. Dew, a legal fellow with the institute, would lead an Ohio Supreme Court Task Force, focused on reforming the bail system throughout Ohio. Dew has done some of the most extensive research and analysis on the state’s current bail system and his findings are…
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The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual report on union membership for 2018 has been officially released and the results are not good for labor unions. The share of workers participating in unions declined to 10.5 percent, down from 10.7 percent in 2017. This translates to roughly 14.7 million active…
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While 2018 was, overall, steady for job growth, the year ended on a sour note for the Buckeye State. The Ohio jobs report for December 2018 has been released and it appears to have been a disappointing month. While unemployment remained at an unchanged 4.6 percent from November to December,…
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Twenty-one policy groups filed amicus briefs Wednesday and joined the Buckeye Institute’s Supreme Court Case that could affect every public-sector labor union in the country. Included among the 21 policy groups are some of the most influential think tanks, advocacy organizations, and conservative institutes in the country. 18 of the organizations…
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Governor John Kasich signed Senate Bill 255 (SB 255) Friday, reforming Ohio’s occupational licensing laws, some of which are considered to be the most economically crippling in the country. The law will require Ohio’s state legislature to examine every occupational licensing board in the state, assess their value and utility, then…
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The Buckeye Institute’s annual Economic Freedom of North America report conducted in partnership with Canada’s Fraser Institute found that Ohio ranks number 38 among the 50 states in economic freedom. The report measured each state’s government spending, taxation, and labor market restrictions as indicators of economic freedom. “The measure of…
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An Ohio organization is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that could extend the court’s landmark Janus v. AFSCME decision that ruled against compelled financial support of unions. The Buckeye Institute announced Tuesday that it filed the “first significant labor-law challenge” in the U.S. Supreme Court since…
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Multiple bills before the Ohio legislature could cut down on the state’s occupational “over-licensing” problem that some experts argue adversely affects women and minorities. Battleground State News previously reported on Senate Bill 255, which would unshackle workers from the state’s burdensome licensing requirements. A second bill, House Bill 189, focuses…
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Ohio may soon see major reforms to its occupational licensing laws that some believe “make it harder and more expensive to find work” in the state. Senate Bill 255, sponsored by State Sen. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon), cleared the Ohio Senate in July and has now been referred to committee in…
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An Ohio think tank filed an amicus brief Tuesday in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that seeks to rein in the power of the consumer watchdog agency once headed by Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray. In the case, plaintiffs argue that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created by former President Obama and…
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Kathy Uradnik is not unlike thousands of other public employees across the United States. She is a longtime professor at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota. But over her 20-year career at the university she has been treated, she says, like a redheaded stepchild, a second-class employee. She’s…
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Think tank The Buckeye Institute is one of three finalists for a national award in the category of Best Issue Campaign. The Buckeye Institute was nominated for the “Worker Voting Rights” campaign. The Bob Williams Awards for Outstanding Policy Achievement celebrate state think tanks that develop credible research to help states…
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The Buckeye Institute filed its third lawsuit and corresponding preliminary injunction in Maine calling for an immediate end to laws that force public-sector employees who have refused to join a union to accept forced union representation. The think tank said it had previously filed lawsuits in federal district courts in…
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A lack of methodology data from a new report on the expansion of Medicaid in Ohio means it’s impossible to validate the results, one expert says. The Buckeye Institute’s Rea S. Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center and policy vice president, spoke out about the 2018 Medicaid…
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