House Bill 6, sports gambling legislation intertwined in public corruption scandal: Capitol Letter
I smell a rat: At the murky intersection between nuclear bailout legislation now at the center of a criminal trial and a sports betting bill that was moving at the same time, were three undercover FBI agents and a former Cincinnati Bengals player they were paying to assist them. Jake Zuckerman reports on the crossover between Larry Householder, House Bill 6, sports betting and the FBI.
Study groups: The bill to remove education policy from the Ohio State Board of Education and put it under the governor is back in the Ohio Senate. But lawmakers say they want to meet with teachers’ unions, members of the state school board and other education groups to potentially make changes throughout February. Laura Hancock reports that the first committee hearing on Senate Bill 1 is expected Tuesday.
Adoption changes adopted: A bill signed by Gov. Mike DeWine last week overhauls and significantly expands state adoption incentives, Andrew Tobias writes. Last-minute amendments to House Bill 45 create a $15,000 grant for adoptions by former foster caregivers and a $20,000 grant to families adopting a child with special needs. The bill also creates a $10,000 grant for all other adoptions, replacing a $10,000 tax credit with more strings attached, and a $2,500 college grant for adoptees. Advocates mostly praised the changes, which have particularly significant implications for the foster-care system.
Document chase: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday kicked off an investigation of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents by demanding the Justice Department hand over records on the case, Sabrina Eaton writes. “The American people deserve transparency and accountability from our most-senior executive branch law enforcement officials,” says a letter the Champaign County Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee sent to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Vape for the arts: Another bill DeWine signed last week allows Cuyahoga County, pending voter approval, to retool its tobacco tax to include vape products. Jake Zuckerman reports the revenues go toward funding arts in the community.
Gaslighting: Newly seated U.S. Sen. JD Vance, a Cincinnati Republican, last week responded to worries that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is weighing a ban on gas stoves with a sternly worded letter to the commissioner whose remarks led to questions about the potential ban. The letter notes that its chairman insists CPSC is not looking to ban gas stoves but said Vance doesn’t believe that promise “given the callous indifference of your remarks to the needs of everyday Ohioans and this administration’s reckless campaign against American energy....I urge you to reevaluate the evidence of the alleged harms posed by gas-powered appliances, renounce any potential ban, and foreclose consideration of regulations that would restrict access to natural gas.”
Resignation call: Rep. Max Miller, of Rocky River, joined several Republican colleagues in New York in calling for embattled New York Rep. George Santos to resign from Congress. Per Tobias, Miller issued a statement that particularly called out Santos’s apparently false claim that he descended from Holocaust survivors. Miller is a member of one of Cleveland’s most prominent Jewish families.
Honoring Parks: Democratic U.S. Reps. Shontel Brown of Warrensville Heights, Emilia Strong Sykes of Akron and Joyce Beatty of Columbus have joined more than 20 colleagues in re-introducing legislation that would make Rosa Parks Day a federal holiday. Beatty noted that she led the statehouse push for Ohio to officially recognize the anniversary of the day on Dec. 1, 1955 ,when Parks refusal to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Alabama, sparking the civil rights movement. “Her life and actions on that historic December day more than 50 years ago have inspired people across the country and around the world to stand up against discrimination and work peacefully to create a more just and fair society,” said a statement from Beatty.
FEC penalty: The campaign committee that former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci put together for his 2018 U.S. Senate run agreed last month to pay a $16,500 civil penalty to settle Federal Election Committee dispute over how it reported $4 million in personal loans Renacci made to the campaign. “Even though I disagreed with some of the issues, it was cheaper to settle it and move forward,” the Wadsworth Republican told a reporter. “Nothing should be interpreted to mean that I am running for office or not running in the future.”
No IDs: An analysis from the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland estimates that as many as 1 million people could have suspended driver’s licenses, which could prevent them from voting under Ohio’s new photo ID law for voters. Per Marty Schladen of the Ohio Capital Journal, the advocates behind the report say the “the suspensions by far fall most heavily on impoverished urban communities of color.”
Talk to an attorney: The Dispatch interviewed Westerville defense attorney David Axelrod, who has represented people accused of public corruption, ahead of the trial of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio GOP Chair Matt Borges. Axelrod said that the federal court system encourages plea deals and that dark money at the heart of the government’s case against Householder and Borges can require a lot of explanation, which federal prosecutors generally don’t like.
Five things we learned from the May 11, 2022, financial disclosure of state Sen. George Lang, a Cincinnati-area Republican.
1. Outside the legislature he worked in 2021 at Lang Agency Inc., where he was president; Second Call Defense, where he was president; and Lincoln Investment, where he is a registered representative and supervisor. He reported that each job paid $100,000 or more.
2. He owned stock in Procter & Gamble, Nokia and First Financial Bank in 2021. He also had money invested in the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and Ohio Deferred Compensation.
3. He owned a condo in Columbus and an office building near Cincinnati.
4. In 2021, he owed over $1,000 to Lincoln Motor Co.
5. Lang listed state licenses to sell insurance and securities.
Emma Cardone is the new director of advocacy for the Ohio Hospital Association. She previously was Gov. Mike DeWine’s director of coalitions and stakeholder relations.
“God. Guns. Gas stoves.”
-A post on U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan’s Twitter page. Jordan, a Champaign County Republican, is commenting on the allegation that the Consumer Product Safety Council will ban gas stoves. The agency insists that off-hand comments of a commissioner about the stoves will not result in any bans.
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