Week in Review June 15, 2026

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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.

Please feel free to share it with anyone else you believe may find it of interest, as well. Also, please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions, concerns or if we can be of any assistance.

ABORTION/REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Opponents of a bill requiring Ohio physicians to obtain patients' informed consent about an abortion before the patient opts for the procedure told the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday that HB347 (Odioso-Williams) includes medical misinformation in its text and leaves the door open to interference by state government in rights Ohio voters enshrined in the state's Constitution less than three years ago.

AGING

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) issued a list of ways Ohioans can see signs of elder abuse and how to report it, with ODJFS Director Matt Damschroder saying, "Elder abuse thrives in silence, and that silence costs lives. Anyone can report elder abuse by calling 1-855-OHIO-APS (1-855-644-6277) or visiting aps.jfs.ohio.gov where callers can review a checklist to provide appropriate information. They can also choose to remain anonymous.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

In one of his last official acts, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced his office has launched a new online tool providing "unprecedented" transparency into felony crime and sentencing trends across all 88 counties in the state. The dashboard, available HERE, complies felony arrest and sentencing data for the past 10 years and is the first public-facing dashboard of its kind. "This data has countless applications, whether it's helping families understand community safety or guiding policymakers in improving criminal justice laws," Yost said. "Most importantly, it strengthens accountability and helps ensure that violent offenders get the sentences they deserve. Knowledge is power."

Andy Wilson began serving as Ohio's 52nd attorney general Monday, June 8, pledging to uphold the rule of law, support law enforcement and serve the people of Ohio with integrity and transparency, according to a release from his office. "I am honored by the opportunity to serve the people of Ohio in this role," Wilson said. "Over the next seven months, my commitment is simple: work hard, be proactive and continue the mission of protecting all Ohioans." Wilson was sworn in over the weekend at the Clark County Common Pleas Court, where he previously served as the county prosecutor.

FY26-27 BUDGET

As the governor and Legislature worked toward a budget correction bill, they found out they had nearly $1.5 billion in revenues that have come in over estimates to work with. That is according to the preliminary revenue figures released by the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) last week showing May general fund receipts alone were $308.5 million over estimates bringing the year-to-date total to $1.467 billion over estimates - and that is with one more month in the current fiscal year.

The Senate Finance Committee Tuesday afternoon transformed HB479 (Schmidt) into a budget correction bill. Among its provisions is $875 million to pay nursing homes in line with an Ohio Supreme Court ruling on quality incentive payments, as well as money for property tax relief and coverage of post-traumatic stress injury in first responders, among others. The full Senate approved and the House concurred with changes to HB479 at sessions Wednesday.

FY27-28 CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS

Lawmakers concluded their work on the $3.7 billion capital budget Wednesday. General Assembly leaders chose SB450 (Cirino) as the final vehicle for the capital budget. It passed the Senate unanimously last week and on Wednesday sailed through the House Finance Committee and the full chamber. The legislation includes $600 million for school building construction, $600 million for local public works, $275 million for a new behavioral health hospital in Trotwood and $200 million for community projects, among countless other capital construction proposals.

DATA CENTERS

The House and Senate Select Committees on Data Centers examined how New Albany has handled the data center development which began there in 2010, with the city's Director of Community Development Jennifer Chrysler taking questions for more than an hour after testifying before the committees Monday.

Speaking to reporters during a break in the joint Select Committees on Data Centers meeting Monday, Senate Co-Chair Brian Chavez (R-Marietta) identified HB646 (Click-Deeter) as the vehicle for attempts to pass broader legislation on data centers before the summer break.

Following the House Rules and Reference Committee Tuesday, House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) told reporters that overriding the governor's veto on the data center sales tax exemptions would not be "practical" or "perhaps even possible at this point."

House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) criticized data center bill HB646 (Click-Deeter) while speaking with reporters Tuesday after the House Rules and Reference Committee, saying that while the legislation makes "a few small steps in the right direction," it's still "not great."

The Senate Energy Committee adopted three sub bills across two days for data center legislation HB646 (Click-Deeter), but the full Senate ultimately sent the measure back to committee after the House and Senate failed to reach agreement on how to address the issue. House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said he would still like to see the issue resolved in the near term and is hoping to make use of the if-needed voting session already on the calendar for Wednesday, June 24. The question of continuing to grant tax exemptions to these data center companies became a threshold issue for some members of his caucus, Huffman said. Concern with the signing of non-disclosure agreements by public officials will also be an issue his chamber brings up in continued negotiations with the Senate, he added. "The principal issue for many of our members is granting in law a tax exemption to builders of data centers when there's already this contract that many of them have. I think the assessment is, does that need to come out for many of our caucus to fully support? There of course could be other changes," Huffman said. Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) told reporters that the House indicated it would not be taking up any concurrences on the bill if it passed the Senate on Wednesday, so the Senate decided not to hear the bill. He said he would have to discuss with the House the next steps before determining whether to come back later this month to pass the legislation.

Senate Energy Chair Brian Chavez (R-Marietta), who also leads the chamber's Select Committee on Data Centers, told reporters Thursday the Senate currently has "no plans to come back" in the summer for a vote on data center package HB646 (Click-Deeter), which underwent multiple iterations in Senate Energy before being reported out Wednesday morning. Chavez told reporters HB646 poses a "complex issue" for the 132 individual legislators, and he felt the Senate was prepared to pass it Wednesday night given the benefits to Ohioans in terms of water quality reporting and testing as well as ratepayer protections. However, he said, some people want 100 percent of their desired outcomes and the result was "unfortunate." "It's a missed opportunity for Ohio, in my opinion," Chavez continued. House Energy Chair and Select Committee on Data Centers Co-Chair Adam Holmes (R-Nashport) was asked about when the Senate may return and said it means HB646 might wait for lame duck session in November, but they can continue working on the idea in the meantime. He additionally said they do have more time to address a PJM reliability backstop auction scheduled in September than he'd thought.

The House and Senate Select Committees on Data Centers heard brief testimony from Ohio Department of Development (DOD) Director Lydia Mihalik followed by around 90 minutes of questions Thursday, with legislators and Mihalik focusing on the state's sales and use tax exemptions for data centers. Mihalik opened her remarks by explaining the history of those exemptions and data centers' presence in the state, saying Amazon was an early adopter in 2014 and that brought in the other two largest data center companies, Meta and Google. DOD currently has data center tax exemption agreements with 18 companies around the state, she continued.

JobsOhio's Drew Cooper and Dana Saucier testified Thursday before the House and Senate Select Committees on Data Centers, spelling out what it is JobsOhio does and how that meshes with the burgeoning growth of data centers in Ohio.

EDUCATION

The State Board of Education (SBOE) Monday discussed the possibility of transitioning to a new paraprofessional assessment following recommendations from the Educator Standards Board (ESB) to adopt an assessment developed by Pearson and lower the current cut score. SBOE Director of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness Yenetta Harper presented the board with ESB's recommendations, explaining that the assessment currently used by the board is sunsetting, requiring a new one to be considered. The assessment concerns educational aide permits and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) qualified endorsement required for those looking to provide academic services in school buildings or classes supported by Title 1 funds, Harper said.

ELECTIONS

The House General Government Committee heard a mix of proponent, opponent and interested party testimony in the final testimony on the voter ID constitutional amendment before it was scheduled for a possible committee vote and floor vote on Wednesday. Testimony was given by many of the same witnesses who had testified on SJR10 (Timken-Gavarone) in the Senate, and many made similar points as to why the General Assembly should or should not put the issue on the ballot. The committee had some delays at the beginning of the hearing as House Democrats looked to swap in Rep. Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington), the Democratic nominee for secretary of state, for Rep. Desiree Tims (D-Dayton) on the committee.

The Senate General Government Committee Tuesday adopted a substitute version of HB472 (Cockley-Salvo) that would require voters casting absentee ballots by mail to provide photo identification. Adoption of the amendment was followed by testimony from elections officials in opposition to the measure and voting groups urging lawmakers to slow down and take their time on the issue.

The Ohio House and Senate, mainly along party lines, passed both a resolution Wednesday that would put a constitutional amendment enshrining voter identification requirements before voters in November, SJR10 (Timken-Gavarone) and legislation that would require photo identification when casting an absentee ballot mail that now goes to Gov. Mike DeWine, HB472 (Salvo).

ELECTIONS 2026

Equality Ohio Friday announced it has released its 2026 candidate scorecard, "a comprehensive guide for Ohio voters that evaluates candidates across the state on their records, public comments, and positions on issues central to LGBTQ+ lived and legal equality." The scorecard includes 30 races the group called critical, including the statewide elections for governor, U.S. Senate, attorney general, secretary of state, and the Ohio Supreme Court, as well as a number of congressional and General Assembly contests. The scorecard is HERE.

With polls indicating a tight gubernatorial race between Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy and Democratic nominee Amy Acton, outside groups have begun to put more money in the race. V-Pac: Victors, Not Victims, the super PAC supporting Ramaswamy, began running ads this week attacking Acton as part of a multi-million spend over the summer. According to AdImpact, which tracks spending on advertising, the group has spent a total of $7.5 million in the election so far, which also includes a large spend earlier last year to promote Ramaswamy's candidacy. The latest round of spending is approximately $2.86 million. AdImpact also reported this week that Ohioans for Lower Costs, a PAC aligned with the Democratic Governors Association, has reserved $8.35 million in advertising for the final two months of the election starting in September. All of the reserved time is on broadcast television.

The following endorsements were made over the week:

• The campaign of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton announced the endorsement of the Lima Building and Construction Trades Council.

EMPLOYMENT/UNEMPLOYMENT

The U.S. saw an increase of 172,000 jobs in May while the federal unemployment rate remained at 4.3 percent, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. Gains were reported in leisure and hospitality, local government and health care. Employment in financial activities declined.

ENERGY/UTILITIES

The Senate is weighing bipartisan legislation requiring the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to approve electric company load forecasts -- or competing load analyses by an "independent third party" -- before commissioners submit final forecasts to the 13-state grid monitor PJM Interconnection. For the first time, SB457 (Romanchuk-Hicks-Hudson) also would close the much-disputed "supplemental" transmission loophole by bringing smaller infrastructure projects under the full regulatory power of PUCO. Sen. Mark Romanchuk (R-Ontario) led a Statehouse press conference Tuesday with the Office of Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC), Ohio Manufacturers' Association (OMA), Northeast Ohio Aggregation Coalition (NOAC), Buckeye Institute and office staff for Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), who could not attend.

Households served by Aqua Ohio face a double-digit rate hike after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) approved a revenue increase of 10 percent for water and a whopping 26 percent for sewage Monday. The median residential billing hike of $12 per month follows a $6 monthly increase for Aqua ratepayers three years ago.

The Senate Public Utilities Committee accepted HB173 substitute bill 3230-6 and reported it out late Wednesday evening, clearing the way for the submetering legislation to receive a scheduled floor vote where it passed 24-9 in the Senate; the House concurred on a vote of 56-35, sending it on to the governor.

ENVIRONMENT

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) recently awarded 14 organizations funding through its Environmental Education Fund to promote environmental education programs and initiatives, totaling $215,778.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

Tuesday’s House session included passage of SB273 (Koehler), a safe gun storage bill amended to include $10 million for security to protect major party candidates for governor; SB19 (Brenner), regarding academic intervention services; HB314 (Isaacsohn-Ray), regarding vexatious public records requests; HB645 (Dovilla) and HCR32 (Dovilla), which respectively require state agencies to use zero-based budgeting and encouraging the federal government to do the same; HB564 (Deeter), to enhance penalties for abuse of a corpse; HB647 (Plummer-Young), meant to target waste, fraud and abuse in publicly funded child care; HB319 (Young), regarding clinical teaching subsidies; SB52 (Schaffer), an omnibus road naming and license plate designation bill; SB291 (T. Mathews-Santucci), to create the Ohio International Trade Commission; HB284 (Hiner), to require use of iron or steel produced in the U.S. for projects supported by state funds; HB346 (Kishman-Williams), regarding child abuse mandatory reporting; HB563 (Hiner), a bill regulating event ticket sales; HB603 (Moore), to update laws regarding conservancy districts; HB630 (Dean), regarding police escorts of farm equipment; HB664 (Fischer-Deeter), regarding treatments by veterinary technicians; HB733 (Fowler Arthur-D. Thomas), to include maple syrup and maple products as agricultural products; HB757 (Daniels), regarding short term rentals; HB758 (Manning-Sweeney), regarding sudden unexpected death in epilepsy; HB852 (K. Miller), to require police chiefs to have basic peace officer training; HCR35 (Lear), to urge Congress to enact federal energy permitting reform; HCR40 (Robb Blasdel-Ritter), to urge Congress to enact the Ohio River Restoration Program Act; and concurrence with Senate amendments to HB20 (T. Hall-Plummer), regarding obstructing official business; and HB195 (Isaacsohn), regarding the uniform commercial code.

In addition to votes on voter ID, Medicaid reform, the capital budget and a budget corrections bill, Wednesday’s House session included passage of SB276 (Roegner), an education omnibus measure that also includes language on joining an interstate licensure compact for school psychologists; HB667 (Abrams), regarding GPS monitoring for violent offenders; HB459 (Gross-Williams), which creates an offense of moving human remains; SB162 (Blessing), regarding health insurers’ timeframe for recouping payments; HB585 (Odioso-Lett), regarding community capital assistance funds for housing for people with disabilities; HB661 (Callender-Stewart), regarding marijuana licenses; HB692 (Pizzulli-John), regarding home sewage treatment; and concurred with Senate amendments to HB455 (Bird-Manning), another education omnibus; HB105 (Craig-J. Thomas), regarding non-resource litigation funding; HB210 (Roemer-Plummer), regarding used catalytic converted sales; HB251 (Willis), regarding law enforcement use of drones; HB292 (T. Mathews-Santucci), to establish the Ohio Defense and Space Advisory Commission; HB433 (Klopfenstein), regarding agriculture laws; and HB173 (D. Thomas), regarding submetering.

In addition to votes on budget corrections and Medicaid reform, Wednesday’s Senate session included passage of HB173 (D. Thomas), regarding submetering; HB455 (Manning-Bird), an education omnibus; SB311 (Brenner), another education omnibus; HB3 (Willis-Thomas), regarding school bus safety; SCR19 (Wilkin), urging Congress to enact the Ohio River Restoration Program Act; SCR20 (Wilkin), urging Congress to enact permitting reforms; HB541 (McClain) to designate a portion of U.S. 42 in Morrow County as the "Deputy Daniel 'Weston' Sherrer Memorial Highway”; HB105 (Craig-J. Thomas), revising the supplemental state regulations concerning non-recourse litigation funding agreement; HB210 (Roemer-Plummer), regarding the resale of catalytic converters; HB251 (Willis) to establish requirements related to the use and purchase of an unmanned aerial vehicle by law enforcement and other public entities and to expressly incorporate additional aviation facilities into the Aeronautics Law; HB292 (Mathews-Santucci) to establish the Ohio Defense and Space Advisory Commission and the Defense and Aerospace Industries Expansion Program, under which the Department of Development may make grants; HB297 (Ritter-Newman) to increase the amount a county may provide to military and veterans organizations, and civic organizations, for Memorial Day expenses; HB433 (Klopfenstein) to alter the current amusement ride classification structure for purposes of the annual inspection and reinspection fees; HB492 (Ray-Abrams) to expand the prohibition against interfering with arrest to all motor vehicle-related laws and require drivers and passengers to disclose their name, address, and date of birth to a peace officer on request; HB533 (K. Miller), to add to the list of vehicles that can be used to commit a vehicular homicide or vehicular assault.

In other legislative action, House Arts, Athletics and Tourism Committee reported out HB255 (Jarrells-Miller), to create the Ohio Sports Council; House Children and Human Services Committee reported out HB7 (White-Ray), regarding child care for foster and kinship caregivers; HB484 (Click-Odios), regarding child care for child care staff members; HB865 (T. Mathews-A. White), regarding information on adoptable children; SB218 (Roegner), regarding military child care; and HB635 (Plummer-Young), regarding child protection laws; House Insurance Committee reported out HB405 (Lorenz-Daniels), regarding consumer sales good service contracts; SB306 (Lang), regarding insurance and towing; House Workforce and Higher Education Committee reported out HB530 (Brewer-Salvo), to create the Long-Term Care Workforce Study Commission; House Education Committee reported out HB304 (Young-M. Miler), regarding recess and physical education; House Public Safety Committee reported out HB417 (Plummer-Young); House Technology and Innovation Committee reported out HB392 (Fischer-Demetriou), regarding computer regulation and AI risk management; and HB505 (Odioso-Abrams), regarding crowdfunding; House Transportation Committee reported out HB366 (A. Mathews-Swearingen), regarding self-storage facilities; HB463 (Klopfenstein-Lorenz), regarding driver education; and road naming bills SB364 (Patton) and SB365 (Cutrona); House Ways and Means Committee reported out HB762 (Lear-D. Thomas), regarding sales tax on vending machine purchases; Senate Armed Services, Public Safety and Veterans Affairs Committee reported out HB533 (K. Miller), regarding vehicular homicide; Senate Financial Institutions, Insurance and Technology Committee reported out SB160 (Liston-Johnson), regarding prescription drugs; SB175 (Patton), regarding age verification for software applications; Senate Housing Committee reported out SB250 (Reynolds), regarding tax credits for housing construction; House Health Committee reported out HB750 (Roemer-A. White), regarding PACE site expansion; and HB567 (Deeter), regarding nursing; Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee reported out SB398 (Blackshear-Wilson), to create the Adopt a Trail Program; Senate Judiciary Committee reported out SB178 (Hicks-Hudson), to create the Task Force on Missing Women and Girls who are Black, Indigenous or People of Color; and SB341 (DeMora-Blessing), to repeal the law allowing 17-year-olds to marry.

The Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board (CSRAB) Wednesday announced that due to building improvement work there will be no hot water or heat throughout the Ohio Statehouse between Thursday, June 11 and Saturday, July 27 as crews work to replace the hot water pump.

GOVERNOR

The governor signed the following bills:

• SB223 (Patton) to require the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Chief of the Division of Parks and Watercraft to establish a discount program for veterans and service members for park services and rentals.

• HB31 (Humphrey-Stewart) to require electronic recordings to be made of certain parole board hearings, to make electronic recordings of full parole board hearings public records, and to provide the prosecuting attorney access to Department of Rehabilitation and Correction health care records for certain parole and judicial release cases.

• HB311 (E. White-Hoops) to designate the third full week of May as "EMS Week in Ohio."

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) announced Thursday that Ohioans receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits can use their Ohio Direction Card to buy fresh, locally grown food at 112 farmers' markets around the state. "With farmers' market season now in full swing across Ohio, there's no better time for SNAP recipients to stretch their benefits, support local growers, and put fresh food on the table," said ODJFS Director Matt Damschroder. "We want every Ohioan we serve to know this resource is available to them."

The Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) recently announced a new prevention-focused effort to "strengthen family connectedness, promote healthy child development, and support lifelong mental wellness through literacy and shared reading experiences" in partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Ohio. DBH will implement the community-based reading programming across multiple regions of the state through the Ohio Children's Alliance (OCA). The "Reading for Resiliency" initiative uses reading and storytelling as a prevention strategy to build positive developmental outcomes for Ohio children and families.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Students at Ohio State University (OSU) and Kent State University will see modest tuition increases this upcoming academic year. Ohio State's Board of Trustees approved new rates and fees for the 2026-2027 academic year, with the change set to affect incoming students only, the university said. The new rate is now fixed at $14,050 for Ohio residents, an increase of $409, or 3 percent, from 2025. In a similar fashion, Kent State's Board of Trustees signed off on a 3 percent tuition increase for incoming first-year, in-state undergraduate students beginning in the fall of 2026. Trustees approved the measure in late May.

JUDICIAL

A court of appeals must reexamine the scope of discovery in an Ohio Public Records Act case brought by a government watchdog group, Center for Media and Democracy, against Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost's office regarding his activities with two national organizations, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled recently. David Armiak, the center's research director, sought public records about the attorney general's involvement with the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) and the Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF) and Yost's attendance at RAGA's 2020 winter meeting. In discovery, the Tenth District Court of Appeals ordered Yost to produce various documents, respond to interrogatories, and sit for a two-hour deposition. In a 6-1 decision, the Supreme Court found the Tenth District Court of Appeals misapplied the law and abused its discretion when it directed Yost and his office to respond and produce documents that were not relevant nor proportional to the needs of the public records action presented by the center. The Court vacated the Tenth District's discovery order and ruled the appeals court did not adequately justify why Yost should be questioned in a deposition.

The Ohio Supreme Court is announcing its first chief compliance officer to ensure continued "best-in-class" operations as the state's top tribunal and judicial administrator. Hilary Burgess-Jackson has been appointed to the newly created office and will develop its operations standards and partner with the Court's legal, finance, technology, communications and human resource sections for "consistent cross-functional alignment on all compliance initiatives," the high court said.

MEDICAID/MEDICAID REFORM

Less than a week after proposing to ban family caregiving under Medicaid waivers, the House Medicaid Committee reversed course Monday in a new bill draft that also made numerous other changes to HB795 (Williams).

Ohio would punish high-value fraud as a first-degree felony, and managed care organizations (MCOs) and the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) would be empowered to interrupt payment when fraud is suspected, under the final version of Medicaid reforms wrapped into another bill and passed by both chambers Wednesday. After a lengthy recess, the House Finance Committee adopted a substitute bill for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) card security legislation, SB315 (Craig-Schaffer), to encompass many ideas that had been debated in the House Medicaid Committee during hearings on HB795 (Williams). The final version leaves out the provision that drew the most outrage in bill hearings - a ban on family members being paid to provide personal care services to their own relatives on Medicaid waivers. The final version also exempts live-in family caregivers from electronic visit verification (EVV) GPS tracking requirements. The committee backed the latest draft unanimously, and the bill won broad support on the House floor with a vote of 85-10. The Senate concurred unanimously on the House amendments.

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

The nonprofit organization previously known as the Ohio Humanities Council (OHC) announced on Thursday they are evolving into a membership organization that will champion cultural and humanities organizations across Ohio, while bearing a new moniker. Following what Executive Director Rebecca Asmo called a "tumultuous year and a half," Ohio Humanities announced on Thursday that it is assuming a new name, Ohio Humanities Alliance (OHA), reflecting its new model of supporting and connecting humanities work happening on the local level throughout the state.

PENSIONS

The Ohio Retirement Study Council voted Thursday to endorse the latest in a series of recommendations allowing state pension systems to select their own custodial banks rather than have the state treasurer do so for them. The council voted to accept a staff recommendation to endorse draft amendment AM2046-1 for SB300 (Roegner), an overhaul of laws governing the state treasury. It is pending in the Senate Finance Committee but has not been heard since March. A recommendation report from council senior researcher Jeff Bernard said Ohio is among a handful of outlier states where pension systems cannot select their own custodial banks. In the report and in remarks to council members, Bernard said numerous consultants' reports over the years have recommended such a change, as has the council itself.

PEOPLE

The Ohio State Bar Association recently announced a series of awards, including the Ohio Bar Lawyer Legislator Distinguished Service Award for Senate President Rob McColley and the Ohio Bar Medal for Judge Todd McKennedy, a former member of the General Assembly.

PUBLIC SAFETY

The Ohio Department of Public Safety's (DPS) Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS) issued a request for proposal (RFP) Monday for the 2026 federal grants to combat and prevent crime. The Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) helps victim service providers, law enforcement, prosecutors, courts and correction agencies across Ohio prevent and control crime based on jurisdictional needs. Projects include drug task forces; school resource officers; drug, veteran and mental health courts; inmate rehabilitation; and justice technology. The RFP is HERE.

The DeWine administration asks all motorists to do their part in promoting secure roads during what safety officials describe as the "100 Deadliest Days of Summer." The goal is to correct that reputation during the vacation period running Memorial Day to Labor Day -- historically high in fatal and serious-injury accidents. The Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) attributes increased summer traffic risks to increased drive time during summer break and road trips, greater distractions and driver inexperience.

SECRETARY OF STATE

Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced this week that his office has deployed another cyber defense program. According to the secretary of state's office, the initiative strengthens the human firewall and is aimed at preventing cyberattacks on the board of elections internal networks. The initiative, deployed by the Ohio Secretary of State's Cyber Defense Team (CDT), offers phishing simulation training to boards of elections as an expansion of their cyber awareness training. The no-cost phishing training will send fake, suspicious emails to election staff to test their ability to identify and report fraudulent and dangerous emails.

TAXATION

The Committee to Abolish Ohio Property Taxes, the group collecting signatures for a proposed constitutional amendment that would abolish property taxes in Ohio, said Friday that they will not submit the amendment for the Nov. 3, 2026, General Election ballot, and will instead focus their efforts for the November 2027 ballot.

TRANSPORTATION/INFRASTRUCTURE

The Controlling Board on Monday again deferred a request from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) in the amount of $1.5 million for a contract to provide analyses of user-fee funded improvement opportunities throughout the state for price-managed "choice lanes." Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) noted that ODOT's request to fund a study on choice lanes had already been denied by the Controlling Board three times. Stewart said several of the Controlling Board's members have concerns that with six months remaining in the administration of Gov. Mike DeWine, ODOT's request is trying to tell the next administration to put tolls on roads.

WORKFORCE

The DeWine administration and Ohio Department of Development (DOD) recently announced the state will provide $5.07 million to 22 workforce partnerships under the Industry Sector Partnership (ISP) Grant Program. The funds are focused on high-demand industries including manufacturing, construction and skilled trades, insurance, information technology, transportation, and health care.

The DeWine administration and JobsOhio announced Tuesday the economic development organization is investing $300 million over 10 years in its new "Experiential Learning Initiative" to train skilled workers for critical industries such as advanced manufacturing; advanced aerospace and defense; automotive; energy and chemicals; financial services; food and agribusiness; health care; logistics and distribution; and other technology fields. Under the first phase, employers will receive financial incentives for enrolling current employees in eligible associate's degree programs, technical certificate training, or registered apprenticeships to upskill their knowledge in critical industries; or hiring individuals already enrolled in those qualifying programs so they receive on-the-job training in critical industries while earning their credentials.

[Story originally published in The Hannah Report. Copyright 2026 Hannah News Service, Inc.]