Judge Blocks Ohio’s Social Media Parental Notification Act from Being Enforced

Kids on Phone

Chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Algenon L. Marbley granted NetChoice’s request for a preliminary injunction that stops the state’s Social Media Parental Notification Act from being enforced on Monday.

Last month, NetChoice sued Ohio to block the Social Media Parental Notification Act from taking effect.

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Former Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate Renacci Says Governor DeWine is ‘Not a Republican’ Following Veto of House Bill 68

Former Ohio gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Representative Jim Renacci has denounced Governor Mike DeWine’s decision to veto House Bill 68, saying such legislation is “the easiest bill for a Republican Governor to sign.”

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Tech-Focused Credential Program Extended to All Ohioans

Anyone in Ohio can now get up to $3,000 in taxpayer funds to pay for a workforce training or tech-focused credential.

The grants, which reimburse training providers like two-year and four-year colleges and universities, began for only low-income, partially employed or unemployed people in the state and has been expanded to everyone today.

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Former Ohio Congressman Jim Renacci Advocates for Securing Primary Election System

A former Republican lawmaker is advocating for the state of Ohio to secure the primary election system and stop party raiding.

Currently, Ohio voters do not need to specify a party when registering. By requesting the ballot of the party primary they want at the time of voting, they can cast a ballot in either the Republican or Democratic primaries. Additionally, voters have the option of switching between parties during various elections throughout the year.

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Cygnal Ohio Poll Shows Vance and DeWine Getting Bigger Leads

A poll released this weekend by the data company Cygnal shows Ohio Republican candidates for governor and U.S. Senate widening their leads against their Democratic opponents. 

The survey of 1,776 likely voters shows J.D. Vance, the author, attorney and venture capitalist running to succeed retiring Republican Senator Rob Portman, with a 4.6-percent lead over Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH-13). Among those polled, 9.2 percent said they were undecided. 

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Republicans Poised to Run the Table in Ohio as Vance, DeWine, Yost, and LaRose All Lead in New Poll

by Debra Heine   Republican author and lawyer J.D. Vance leads Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan 46 percent to 44 percent in the U.S. Senate race in Ohio, according to GOP polling firm Cygnal. The survey of likely general election voters in Ohio also gave Republican Governor Mike DeWine a strong…

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Candidate for Cuyahoga County Executive Backs Noncitizen Voting

Chris Ronayne, the Democratic candidate for Cuyahoga County executive, said in a public forum this week that he would support Ohio’s municipalities allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections.

The former Cleveland city administrator and former president of University Circle, Inc., a community-development corporation, explained to attendees at the Global Cleveland panel discussion at Jukebox that he believed cities can use their home-rule powers to adopt that election policy.

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Buckeye Institute Cautiously Lauds Ohio’s Credit Rating Rise, Warns Ongoing Discipline Will Be Crucial

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s announcement last week that Fitch Ratings upgraded the state’s credit rating from AA+ to AAA elicited both praise and caution from the Columbus-based Buckeye Institute.

Greg Lawson, research fellow at the center-right think tank, called the budgetary management to which state officials ascribed Fitch’s decision on Ohio’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) “a mixed bag.” (The state has also seen its general-obligation bond rating rise from AA+ to AAA, its appropriation-backed bonds move to AA+ from AA, the Ohio School District Credit Enhancement Program Rating go to AA+ from AA and the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Portsmouth Bypass project obligations rating move to A+ from AA-.) 

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Ohio Democrats Want to Stop State Officeholders from Holding Paid Positions

Ohio Democrats plan to announce legislation Thursday that would ban any statewide office holder from holding private employment, performing private work or serving in any private position that they get paid to do.

State Reps. Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson, and Mary Lightbody, D-Westerville, have called a press conference for 11:45 a.m. on Thursday to announce what they are calling the State Official Integrity Act.

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Ohio Restaurant Association to Laud Husted for COVID Work at Virtual Awards Ceremony

Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted

The trade association representing Ohio’s restaurant industry will recognize Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted as its Outstanding Public Official in fashioning COVID-19 policy at the onslaught of the pandemic 16 months ago.

Ohio Restaurant Association President and CEO John Barker credited Husted for working with an industry group formed to create an effective response to the  crisis with state  health advisers and others that maximized the flow of food to the public in the initial weeks and formulating a policy allowing further opening two months later.

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Governor DeWine’s Tuesday Press Briefing Addresses Labor Day Weekend Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, High-Speed Internet Grants for Students

Governor Mike DeWine’s recent press conference touched on a number of issues facing Ohio and possible fixes. 

In the Tuesday briefing, DeWine reminded citizens to take the proper safety precautions for Labor Day weekend. DeWine reported that Ohio had the “highest number of new cases since the end of July,” which he called a “stark reminder that this virus has not gone away and it continues to spread in our communities.”

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State Orders Public Colleges and Universities to Create COVID-19 Quarantine Shelters

Ohio will now mandate public colleges and universities to create non-congregate sheltering space for quarantining coronavirus patients.

Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Interim Director Lance Himes issued the order Sunday “to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” alongside Governor Mike DeWine and Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted.

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Ohio COVID Case Measures – Questionable Overall, Punitive for Small Counties

On July 2, Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine introduced the Ohio Public Health Advisory System (OPHAS). The color-coded map assigns a color to each of Ohio’s 88 counties that is supposed to be indicative of each county’s COVID spread.

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Dozen Members of DeWine, Husted’s Economic Advisory Board Are Campaign Donors

Up until now, you mostly had to be connected to big business — and to Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov Jon Husted — to have a say in how businesses of all sizes are considered in Ohio’s snails-pace reopening.

On Friday, DeWine said the state would begin a phased reopening from the Chinese coronavirus shutdown, The Ohio Star reported. The governor said he is forming a pair of advisory groups tasked with developing best practices for reopening dine-in restaurants, barbershops and salons.

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DeWine Thanks President Trump for Approving Plan for Battelle to Sterilize Hundreds of Thousands of Protective Masks

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted on Sunday thanked President Trump and Dr. Stephen Hahn of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approving a plan to sterilize N95 masks to fight the coronavirus.

Earlier Sunday, DeWine called an emergency press conference to express his “deep disappointment” with the FDA for limiting the use of the new technology, The Ohio Star reported.

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Jon Husted Wants Taxpayer-Funded Resources to Expand Internet, But Free-Market Solutions Could Be Coming

  Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted wants to use taxpayer-funded resources to expand broadband access to rural parts of the state. But free-market forces will reportedly offer the service to rural areas in coming years, thanks to new technologies. According to the Kent-based WKSU, Husted is “tired of waiting for…

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Ohio Republican Elite Lean Left and Act Vindictive, Tea Party Members Say

  Ohio Tea Party members say an elite political class of Republicans-In-Name-Only controls the state’s GOP. Any conservatives not among the establishment class Republicans are kept at a distance. Once in office, these powerful RINOs use their power and influence to penalize people who speak up against them — and…

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Tea Party and GOP Members Believe Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted Cut a Secret Deal in 2018 Election

  There’s no hard evidence to back it up, but sources believe Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, both Republicans, allegedly made a secret pact during the 2018 election season to assist one another’s political fortunes. Initially, Husted ran for governor, but he later dropped out of…

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Lt. Gov. Husted Named as Director of Another Top State Office

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted was named director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, a role he will take on in addition to his capacity as director of InnovateOhio. Gov. Mike DeWine announced the appointment during a Thursday Cabinet meeting, saying he was “pleased” to have Husted “serve as…

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A DeWine Campaign Promise Turned Into a $176K Salary for Lt. Gov. Husted

“InnovateOhio” was a central campaign promise of the Mike DeWine/Jon Husted gubernatorial ticket that ended up securing Husted a $176,426 salary. DeWine and Husted, now governor and lieutenant governor, announced the initiative in September 2018 and said it would “bring the best and brightest technology minds” to Ohio to help…

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Economist Cautions Against ‘Spending Increases’ After Ohio Jobs Report Shows ‘Conflicting Trends’

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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Ohio’s Jon Husted Wants to Transfer $10 Million from Secretary of State Office to General Fund

Ohio Lt. Gov.-elect Jon Husted, who will serve as secretary of state until January, offered to transfer $10 million from the office he currently oversees to the state’s general fund in order to “improve the lives of all Ohioans.” In a November 5 letter, which was released this week, Husted…

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Ohio Gov.-Elect Mike DeWine Says Inauguration Will be Celebration of ‘Faith, Family, and Friends’

Gov.-elect Mike DeWine (R-OH) announced key leaders of his Inaugural Committee and staff this week who will oversee a week-long celebration of “faith, family, and friends” after the Ohio’s next governor is sworn in. According to a Thursday press release, Suzanne and Michael Kiggin were named chairs of the committee…

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Richard Cordray Not Saying If $7,831 He Received from Federal Taxpayers in 2017 Was to Reimburse Him for Commuting from Ohio to Washington, D.C.

During a Politico Live presentation on Thursday, September 20, 2018, Democrat Governor’s nominee Richard Cordray stated that he commuted every week between his home in Central Ohio and Washington, D.C. during his tenure at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  Cordray specifically noted that he made the 500 mile commute…

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If You Like Your Charter School, You Can Keep Your Charter School – Richard Cordray Plan Would Destroy School Choice

Ohio Democrat Governor’s candidate Rich Cordray released his education plan this week and it was really, really bad. In fact, the only way to make the plan any worse would be if Rich Cordray stood up and announced that “if you like your charter school, you can keep your charter…

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As Former President Obama Visits Ohio, Jon Husted Blasts Richard Cordray’s CFPB Tenure

Richard Cordray and Barack Obama

On a conference call with reporters Thursday morning prior to a Barack Obama Ohio campaign stop later in the day, Ohio Secretary of State and Republican Lt. Governor Candidate Jon Husted blasted the troubled tenure of Richard Cordray at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Ohio Republican Chairwoman Jane Timken…

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