Rotunda Rumblings
Power play: With demand for electricity about to surge, Ohio lawmakers are asking a big question: Should the state leave the PJM power grid and join a new one? Anna Staver reports that House Speaker Matt Huffman is floating the idea of severing ties with our regional energy partners.
Not on board: Ohio State Board of Education member Teresa Fedor, during a monthly meeting Monday, criticized a provision in the Ohio House’s version of the budget that would reduce the number of board members from 19 to five. Currently, eight members are appointed and 11 are elected. But the House wants them to be all appointed by the governor. Laura Hancock writes that this is the latest blow to the school board, which has lost almost all of its responsibilities in recent years.
Leaky roof: In testimony before the Ohio Senate Education Committee last week, State Librarian Mandy Knapp alerted committee members that the state library’s facilities are deteriorating, Mary Frances McGowan reports. The crumbling building isn’t merely an inconvenience for the librarians—who caught four live birds that got into the building last year—but also jeopardizes historic documents cataloging the history of Ohio. The State Library of Ohio is home to personal letters and manuscripts from Ohio political leaders, including those from President George Washington, as well as early publications from regional cultural institutions like the Western Reserve Historical Society.
Unblocked barrier: President Donald Trump on Friday signed a presidential memorandum to resolve a standoff stalling construction of a barrier to keep invasive Asian carp from penetrating the Great Lakes, Sabrina Eaton reports. At issue is the Brandon Road Interbasin Project near Joliet, Illinois, where a $1.15 billion project is being constructed to keep the voracious carp from entering the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River system and endangering its commercial and recreational fisheries. Concerned that the Trump administration wouldn’t release previously allotted funds for the project, the state of Illinois delayed transferring a parcel needed for the project to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers until it received word that the project’s federal money was secure.
Last Dem standing: Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner, the state’s only remaining Democratic statewide officeholder, is running for reelection next year. But as Jeremy Pelzer reports, there are already four Republicans trying to take her seat, including one from Cuyahoga County.
Reversing course: Trump on Monday praised Vice President JD Vance’s role in calming tensions between India and Pakistan, telling a White House press conference that he believes the Cincinnati Republican and Secretary of State Marco Rubio helped avert a nuclear war. Vance on Thursday told Fox News that the conflict between India and Pakistan was “fundamentally none of our business,” but was subsequently drafted to contact India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi – whom he recently visited in India – to discuss ways to end hostilities, The New York Times reports.
Vance vs. Leo: Vance brushed off apparent criticism from Pope Leo XIV — formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost — downplaying any entanglement between the Catholic Church’s leader and modern American politics, Politico reports. In response to posts on a social media account with Prevost’s name that blasted the Trump administration’s immigration policy and directly called out Vance, the Vice President on Friday told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt :“I try not to play the politicization of the Pope game. I’m sure he’s going to say a lot of things that I love. I’m sure he’ll say some things that I disagree with, but I’ll continue to pray for him and the Church despite it all and through it all.”
Save the OEC: Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has come out against a measure in the House’s state budget plan that would abolish the Ohio Elections Commission and instead have his office and county boards of elections handle election-related complaints. As Nick Evans of the Ohio Capital Journal reports, the Columbus-area Republican wrote legislative leaders that while the commission has become “an increasingly toothless and inconsistent shell of what it was intended to be,” delegating authority to county election boards would create “chaos,” and his office would need an additional $800,000 to handle elections cases if the measure passes. Instead, LaRose proposed a new Ohio Election Integrity Commission that would hear not just campaign-finance cases, but ballot harvesting and other difficult-to-prosecute election crimes.
A school of thought: Ohio State University President Ted Carter told Columbus Business First’s Carrie Ghose that now is one of the toughest times for colleges, considering attacks from Washington. He spoke with Vice President J.D. Vance, an OSU alum, about working with the administration on redefining higher education, when the Buckeyes football team visited the White House to celebrate its national championship. Trump’s proposed budget would cut National Science Foundation funding by about half and National Institutes of Health by 40%.
Full Disclosure
1. Informal budget discussions continue this week in Ohio Senate committees, including a couple that don’t start until the evening. Ohio Senate Higher Education Chair Kristina Roegner invited budget testimony from associations representing community colleges, private colleges and career colleges at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
2. Senators must submit their proposed budget amendments by Friday. Senate leaders will spend the next several days reviewing them and choosing which ones end up in the chamber’s version of the budget.
3. House committees have several possible votes scheduled, including a bill that would end confusion over kindergarten cutoff dates (House Bill 114) and legislation that would provide female inmates access to free feminine hygiene products (HB 29.)
4. The state House and Senate each have sessions scheduled for Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively.
5. Gov. Jim Tressel is scheduled to visit Sinclair Community College in Dayton at 2 p.m. Tuesday to promote a new program in which the state is waiving requirements to allow high schoolers to take college courses in high-demand fields. He’ll also tour Sinclair’s Robotics Lab.
On the Move
The Ohio Education Association local association delegates elected last weekend Parma City Schools math teacher Jeff Wensing to a three-year term as OEA president, and Sylvania English teacher Dan Greenberg to a three-year term as vice president. They will take office on July 15, 2025. Both teachers are active in their local unions.
Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, a Celina Republican, has endorsed Kevin Coughlin, a Republican candidate for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District.
State Rep. Rodney Creech, a Preble County Republican, announced Wednesday he will run next year for term-limited state Sen. Steve Huffman’s seat in Senate District 5. The Western Ohio district includes Miami and Preble counties, as well as parts of Butler, Darke, and Montgomery counties.
Birthdays
Ex-Gov. John Kasich
Kevin Coughlin, ex-state senator and Republican congressional nominee
Ryan Stubenrauch, attorney, communications consultant and Republican strategist, as well as Mike DeWine’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign spokesman
Straight from the Source
“If you can survive the Hill, you can survive in prison. The Hill can be a treacherous place, no question about it.”
-Former U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, a St. Clairsville Republican who did prison time for his role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, in a Politico article providing advice to prison-bound former U.S. Rep. George Santos, a New York Republican.
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