Ohio House committee approves budget plan: Capitol Letter

Final touches: The House Finance Committee voted 24-9, with two Democrats joining Republicans in voting ‘yes’, to refer House Bill 110, the state budget bill, to the floor for a full vote. As Andrew Tobias reports, the last-minute changes included boosting education funding in the bill by $115 million over two years to ensure poorer districts didn’t lose money in the short term as the bill’s school-funding overhaul is phased in. The House is expected to approve the budget bill as soon as today.

It’s broken, they’re not fixing it: As Jeremy Pelzer details, Gov. Mike DeWine and state lawmakers have taken no meaningful steps to come up with a new execution method, or alternatively, abolish the death penalty altogether. As it stands, Ohio’s 130 death-row inmates are in sort of legal purgatory, with executions delayed indefinitely after state officials were unable to obtain drugs used in lethal injections.

Nine is fine: DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted on Tuesday added their names to the list of Republicans endorsing a constitutional amendment mandating that the U.S. Supreme Court be composed of nine justices – rather than 13, as many Democratic lawmakers have proposed. “To pack the Court is to politicize the Court with the consequence of further undermining trust in our institutions and hardening, rather than healing, our divisions,” the two said in a release, which (as Jessie Balmert of the Cincinnati Enquirer noted) was issued a day after Democratic Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley announced her bid for governor next year. Attorney General Dave Yost, a Columbus Republican, has also backed the “Keep Nine” constitutional amendment.

On the sidelines: A panel of three retired judges appointed by Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor has suspended Cleveland City Councilman Ken Johnson, who is under indictment on 15 federal charges accusing him of abusing his office. As Robert Higgs writes, the judges “held that the charges against Johnson related directly to his position in public office and that the rights and interests of the public would be adversely affected if he were allowed to continue to serve.” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost had sought the suspension.

Fish story: Great Lakes Task Force co-chair Marcy Kaptur of Toledo and Rep. Dave Joyce of Bainbridge Township on Wednesday released a letter seeking more than $20 million from the Biden administration for design and operation of a barrier to keep Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes, $10 million for Great Lakes fishery and ecosystem restoration,M full funding for a coastal resiliency study and more than $100 million for rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of Michigan’s Soo Locks. “Every dollar spent on these projects will have a profoundly positive impact on our region,” said a statement from the 32 Congress members who signed the letter.

The old college try: After falling short of his goal last year, U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez is reintroducing a bipartisan bill that would let college athletes across the country be compensated for their names, images and likenesses without being banned from competition, Sabrina Eaton writes. “I think it’s the right approach,” the Rocky River Republican said of his bill, which he hopes will become law by the end of 2021. “The sooner we get a federal response, the better.”

More Jordan jousting: Less than a week after clashing with Dr. Anthony Fauci at a House of Representatives hearing, Champaign County GOP Rep Jim Jordan got into a shouting match with Florida Democratic Rep. Val Demings during a Tuesday House Judiciary Committee discussion of a bill to address recent hate crimes against Asian Americans, Mediaite reports. Demings responded after Jordan attacked Democrats for rhetoric about police. “Law enforcement officers deserve better than to be utilized as pawns!” Demings yelled at Jordan. “And you and your colleagues should be ashamed of yourselves!”

The 3 Ds: University of Virginia political prognosticator Kyle Kondik, who is managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, on Tuesday told the Cleveland Club of Washington that he believes that Ohio will likely have just three reliably Democratic districts when the state’s congressional districts are remapped before the 2022 elections. “A possible map would be that you’d have, essentially, a safe Democratic seat in Cleveland, a safe Democratic seat in Columbus and maybe a safe Democratic seat in Cincinnati and then you’d have the rest of the districts,” said Kondik, an Independence, Ohio native who served as research director for Richard Cordray when he was Ohio Attorney General.

19,000 lives lost: On Tuesday, the federal government sent new coronavirus fatality numbers, which showed 19,033 Ohio residents have died with the virus, Laura Hancock reports. The 21-day rolling average is 20 deaths a day.

Wading in: A new business advocacy group has formed focused on water quality issues. The Ohio Water Partnership, funded by grants from the Gund Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation and Joyce Foundation, says it has 50 members, including large companies like the Eaton Corporation. The group for now is supporting funding for H2Ohio as it recruits additional members and develops consensus around future policy goals.

Mayor player? Athens Mayor Steve Patterson says he’s considering a run for outgoing Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers’ 15th Congressional District seat. “Part of your calculus should always be: ‘Who else is running in the southeastern portion of this district?’” Patterson, a Democrat, told Cole Behrens of the Athens Messenger. “At this point there isn’t anybody who’s thrown their hat in the ring.”

Keeping a secret: Yu Zhou, a former researcher at Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s research institute, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for conspiring to steal trade secrets to sell in China, the Associated Press reports. Yu, along with his wife, Li Chen, admitted to taking exosome-related materials, used in the research, identification and treatment of multiple conditions including liver fibrosis and liver cancer.

Five things we learned from the Feb. 12, 2020 financial disclosure of state Rep. Scott Oelslager, a Canton Republican who is chair of the Ohio House Finance Committee:

1. Scott is his middle name. His first name starts with a “W,” although his disclosure sheet doesn’t say what it is.

2. In addition to his state representative salary, he also made less than $1,000 from two sources: interest on a bank account with PB Investment, and interest on a bank account with Key Bank.

3. He serves on two community boards: The Malone University President’s Advisory Council and the Stark County Transportation Improvement District Board.

4. He received gifts from the Canton Rotary Club, the Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. And Mrs. Keith Gartner and David Ewing.

5. He has an active law license.

Jessica Warner, who has been Ohio Right to Life’s legislative affairs director, has accepted a new position at Heartbeat International. Her last day at Ohio Right to Life is Friday.

Sarah Spence has been named executive director of the Conservative Energy Network. Spence previously worked for the Ohio Environmental Council and for the DeWine and Kasich administrations. She has also served on the executive boards of the Ohio Young Republicans and Young Republican National Federation.

State Rep. Brigid Kelly

State Rep. Tom Young

“Tell me you’re from Ohio without telling me you’re from Ohio. I’ll go first: I really need to mow the grass today before it snows tomorrow.”

-Political consultant Ryan Stubenrauch, on Twitter, with a timely quip

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