Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a proclamation declaring August 9 as honorary “Dolly Parton Day” to commemorate the success of Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio mails kids one book each month until their fifth birthday, 60 books. All kids in Ohio are eligible, and this program is available at no cost to families.
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Working late into the night this week, the Ohio General Assembly passed its traditional capital budget, spending billions on statewide initiatives, business and industry incentives and pet projects for lawmakers.
House Bill 687 included money for state parks and the incentives for Intel’s planned $20 billion investment in two chip-making plants in central Ohio. Gov. Mike DeWine called the bill an historic investment.
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In a marathon session before its summer recess, the Ohio General Assembly passed a series of bills aimed at school safety, including one that makes it easier for local school boards to arm teachers.
Gov. Mike DeWine said he would sign them all.
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The Ohio General Assembly has given the go-ahead to spend more than $4 billion of federal COVID-19 relief money despite calls from Democrats for Gov. Mike DeWine to veto parts of the plan.
DeWine praised the passage of House Bill 169, calling the funds critical to the state’s ongoing recovery from the pandemic.
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The Ohio General Assembly moved closer to permanently expanding access to telehealth for Ohioans after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the option nearly two years ago.
The Ohio House is expected to concur with House Bill 122, which passed the Senate on Wednesday, creating policies that policy groups and health care associations have pushed for since the beginning of the pandemic.
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Filing municipal income taxes for businesses might get a little easier if a bill passed unanimously by the Ohio General Assembly gets Gov. Mike DeWine’s signature.
State Rep. Bill Roemer, R-Richfield, said House Bill 228 will reduce unnecessary state and municipality paperwork for Ohio businesses and simplify the tax filing process.
“The way we currently file municipal net profits taxes in Ohio places an unneeded burden on business owners,” Roemer said. “The last thing businesses need is another hoop to jump through. This bill streamlines the filing process so business owners can get back to creating jobs and contributing to their communities. I am very pleased that both the House and Senate have unanimously agreed to send this bill to Governor DeWine.”
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School districts, teachers unions, student groups and parents lined up at the Ohio House to testify against two bills that would stop schools from teaching what sponsors called “divisive concepts” in the classroom.
The House State and Local Government Committee heard more than three hours of testimony Wednesday during the third hearing for both House Bill 322 and House Bill 327. Each prohibits teaching concepts that are part of the nationwide critical race theory movement critics say purports the U.S. is a fundamentally racist country.
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he wants to impose a new mask mandate but feared a fight with the General Assembly after legislation that limited his authority to enact public health orders became law.
DeWine spoke Tuesday about the growing number of COVID-19 cases throughout the state at the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association. That group, made up of the six children’s hospitals, has spent the past two weeks pleading for vaccines and masks in schools.
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The Ohio Ballot Board has approved an initiative petition drive seeking to legalize marijuana for adults 21 years old and older, clearing the way for supporters to collect signatures for presentation to the Ohio General Assembly later this year.
The five-member panel certified the proposed “Act to Control and Regulate Adult-Use Cannabis” in a 5-0 votes as meeting the one-law standard for proposed ballot measures.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – About 400 or more protesters lined the Third Street stretch of Capitol Square downtown Tuesday morning as a Ohio House of Representatives committee prepared to hear more testimony on the proposed Vaccine Choice and Anti-Discrimination Act that seeks to ban businesses from mandating workers to get…
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) has stepped up his calls for unvaccinated Ohioans to get a COVID-19 shot amid the rising threat presented by the Delta strain that has quickly spread throughout the state since May.
He said individuals must decide for themselves what precautions to take given what he said is the growing danger Delta presents.
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Legislation in the Ohio General Assembly seeks to change the state’s 60-year-old income tax structure that allows municipalities to tax workers even if they don’t physically work in the city taxing them.
The bill, HB 754 and its companion SB 352, would modify income tax withholding rules for COVID-19-related work-from-home employees, taxing those Ohio workers where they live, rather than where they work.
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Ohio House Democrats called on Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) to publicly condemn the threats of violence made against their leader and provide “additional security measures” for lawmakers.
“As Speaker and in recognition of your leadership role in the Ohio House of Representatives, you are granted additional security while in the statehouse,” House Democrats said in a letter to Householder last week.
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While most voters were asleep, the fate of Ohio’s Tuesday primary election was being decided by the Ohio Supreme Court.
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A recent report found that a dark money group promoting Gov. Mike DeWine’s gun control platform has connections to the governor himself.
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An anti-sanctuary bill is pending in the Ohio House of Representatives.
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The Cleveland City Council held its first meeting Monday night after the summer recess and unanimously approved of a resolution in support of universal background checks statewide.
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Gov. Mike DeWine called for improvements to Ohio’s background check systems during a Wednesday press conference and said that he plans to release a gun-related bill for the General Assembly to consider in the coming weeks.
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Ohio House Democrats have launched a new website to serve as a hub for their efforts to pass numerous gun-control bills in the state.
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The Ohio Liberty Coalition, a grassroots conservative organization, said it will start a petition to have any red flag law that passes the Ohio Legislature placed on the 2020 ballot for voters to decide on.
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Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) told reporters Tuesday that he’s “become less and less supportive” of the death penalty.
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As The Ohio Star reported Tuesday, just one Republican lawmaker explicitly said in a survey conducted by six Ohio news organizations that he opposes Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed red-flag law.
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A new survey released Sunday found that at least 10 Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly support red-flag laws, while only one publicly opposes the legislation – as of now.
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Under Ohio’s newly-passed budget, the legal age to purchase cigarettes and vaping products in the state will jump from 18 to 21. The 3,200-page budget document contains several pages of new tobacco-related provisions, all of which make it “illegal for any person under the age of 21 to purchase…
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Should Dunkleosteus terrelli be Ohio’s official fossil fish? Should the sugar cookie be the official cookie of the state? What about the Monarch Butterfly? Should it become the official butterfly for Ohio? The Ohio Senate believes the answer to the first question is yes. Senate Bill 123 was unanimously passed…
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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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One of the most divisive and talked-about bills in Ohio’s history is officially on its way to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk and is expected to be signed into law at any moment. After months of debate and numerous committee hearings, the heartbeat bill passed the Ohio House Wednesday afternoon in…
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Ohio House Democrats unveiled their plans to close the gender wage gap with an “Ohio Equal Pay Act” Tuesday, which marked the annual “Equal Pay Day” in America. Reps. Stephanie Howse (D-Cleveland) and Randi Clites (D-Ravenna) discussed their bill at a press conference alongside several of their Democratic colleagues. “Ohio’s…
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Two Republican state representatives in Ohio introduced a bill Tuesday to ban sanctuary ordinances after the Dayton Public Schools Board of Education voted to become a “sanctuary school district” last week. House Bill 169 was introduced by Reps. Niraj Antani (R-Miamisburg) and Candice Keller (R-Middletown), who said in a joint…
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After 15 months, a bipartisan workgroup unveiled its Fair School Funding Plan to overhaul Ohio’s school-funding formula, but some still had questions about how it will accomplish what Ohioans need. Reps. Bob Cupp (R-Lima) and John Patterson (D-Jefferson) spearheaded the workgroup along with superintendents and educators from across the state,…
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Ohio House Democrats are raising concerns over the “fiscal stability” of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s $69 billion budget proposal released Friday. House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron) said that while her caucus was “encouraged by the governor’s commitment to supporting Democratic policies of investing in families, maintaining access to…
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A bipartisan bill that would overturn state takeovers of low performing local schools is set to be introduced in the Ohio General Assembly next week. Under House Bill (HB) 70, a 2015 legislation, the state superintendent of public schools is required to intervene via “Academic Distress Commissions” for “each school…
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Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) vetoed the Ohio General Assembly’s gun-rights legislation Wednesday, even though the bill was removed of most of its substantial provisions before passage. As The Ohio Star reported last week, House Bill 228 was stripped of its “stand your ground” measure, which would free gun owners from…
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The Ohio House of Representatives passed a landmark bill Thursday that if signed into law would ban all abortions after the unborn baby’s heartbeat is detected. But if the legislature is unable to override an expected veto of the heartbeat bill by Gov. John Kasich, then there’s another bill waiting…
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The Ohio State Senate is being asked to pass a resolution that would put Ohio on record in support of the nation of Israel and against those seeking to weaken it through the boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. The so-called BDS movement is strong on college campuses across the United…
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Ohio is in “critical need” of reforming its outdated occupational licensing system, says a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute. Greg R. Lawson, an expert on the matter of professional licensing, issued a statement Thursday thanking State Sen. Rob McColley’s (R-Napoleon) for his work pushing a bill that Lawson says…
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The Ohio House of Representatives voted Thursday to pass a bill that would ban almost all abortions upon detection of a heartbeat in the unborn baby. But the bill did not pass by a big enough margin to make it veto-proof, and Gov. John Kasich has staunchly opposed it, arguing…
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The free-market oriented Americans for Prosperity has released its legislative priority list for Ohio’s 132nd General Assembly lame-duck session. AFP’s Ohio chapter is advocating the passage of House Bills 189 and 342, while opposing House Bills 211, 525, 571, and Senate Bill 128. AFP-Ohio supports legislation that breaks down barriers to…
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A pro-family organization has issued an action alert to pro-life Ohioans informing them that the Ohio State House of Representatives has scheduled a floor vote Thursday on a bill that would ban abortions after the point at which an unborn baby develops a detectable heartbeat. House Bill 258, also known as…
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Ohio’s lame-duck session appears primed for a battle over gun legislation with several bills vying for attention on both sides of the gun-rights issue. One bill that has the backing of lame-duck Gov. John Kasich is the so-called Red Flag Bill, or SB 278, which would allow law enforcement or…
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Ohio lawmakers have prioritized a list of bills they’d like to see hurried through the legislature in the lame-duck session that ends in December, and one of the most likely to pass is a ban on child marriage. With a list that includes abortion, gun laws and criminal-sentencing reform, one…
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Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro will testify before the Ohio State House next week in support of a bill that would promote diversity of opinion and open debate on college campuses in the state. Shapiro, an attorney and best-selling author, is scheduled to testify at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 13, in support of…
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Americans for Prosperity (AFP) of Ohio issued a statement Wednesday congratulating its newly elected and re-elected members of the Ohio State Senate and Ohio House of Representatives. The organization applauded its activists for their “tireless efforts to support policy champions seeking to represent Ohioans in Columbus.” AFP State Director Micah…
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Cutting, styling and coloring hair is no small responsibility. An untrained cosmetologist operating out of her basement can wreak havoc on the public health. “We have a responsibility to the public that we’re going to be doing this in a safe manner, so that way they’re not going to contract…
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Far Left Phil Robinson, recently endorsed by former President Barack Obama, hopes that his fourth run for public office will be the charm. Robinson, a former staffer for left coast liberal Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), moved back to Ohio and ran for University Heights City Council in 2009. He lost. He…
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According to her campaign website, Democrat Ohio House District 19 Candidate Mary Lightbody wants to “Light up Ohio with Lightbody.” However, if her far left agenda is enacted, Ohio taxpayers may be left simply too poor to afford a lightbulb. Ohio House District 19 is located in Eastern Franklin County. The…
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