Rotunda Rumblings
Insurance denied: Ohio, which has 152,000 uninsured children, was attempting to get permission from the federal government to keep kids continuously enrolled in Medicaid through age 4, even if the family’s income increased. But the Trump administration in July told states it was no longer allowing waivers for continuous coverage, saying it deviates from Medicaid law and takes resources that should be reserved for the most vulnerable. Laura Hancock reports this comes as the state’s rate of uninsured children is on the rise.
Relief vs. revenue: Ohio Republicans want to cut $1.7 billion in current school property taxes over the next three years, targeting districts where taxes rose dollar for dollar with property values. Anna Staver reports the plan would lower collections in 483 districts, mostly in rural or small-town areas. Democrats warn it could destabilize budgets, since districts build five-year plans around that revenue.
Communications blackout: Starting next Monday, text messages and emails sent between Ohio lawmakers and their staff will be off-limits to public-records requests until the start of the next legislative session. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, proponents of the new restrictions – passed via a last-minute state budget amendment added in the middle of the night last June – say they will allow lawmakers to discuss business frankly without fear that everything they type will end up under a public microscope. Critics fear it will allow lawmakers to keep the inner workings of the lawmaking process secret from the public, including potentially scandalous or embarrassing activity, until well after the fact.
Bumpy road for Husted? During Monday’s cross-endorsement rally in Columbus with Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Republicans in the crowd predicted a landslide win for Ramaswamy but a tough fight for Husted. As Joey Cappelletti of the Associated Press writes, “Husted is betting that his personal story, long history in office and alignment with President Donald Trump will help him continue the Republican Party’s winning streak in Ohio.” But it may be tough to convince GOP voters to turn out in 2026, when Trump isn’t on the ballot — but Democratic ex-U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown is.
New drilling, old rules: State oil and gas regulators have approved three fracking permits, and are considering applications for two other injection wells, without following state rules passed in 2022 to limit the spread of toxic fracking waste. As Dani Kington and Eric Boll of the Athens Independent report, four of those five wells are owned by a company that Ohio Senate Energy Committee Chair Brian Chavez, a Marietta Republican, led until last year. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources – which previously paid $1.3 million to clean up leaking waste from fracking wells owned by the company – says state regulators aren’t evaluating the permit applications under the new rules because the applications were submitted before those rules were put in place.
No applause sign: Husted chided Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr for suggesting that government regulators would punish ABC if the network didn’t take late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air for his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “Jimmy Kimmel, I think, originally got canceled because he wasn’t funny, he said something offensive, and his ratings were low,” Husted said, according to Sarah Donaldson of Ohio Public Media. “However, the FCC chairman also made some intimidating comments on a podcast, that was also inappropriate.” A handful of other GOP senators have also rebuked Carr over his comments about Kimmel, who returned to his show earlier this week.
Full Disclosure
Here are five things we learned from the May 6, 2025 ethics disclosure form filed by state Rep. Adam Matthews, a Warren County Republican, about his 2024 finances:
1. In addition to his 2024 legislative salary of $81,898.92, Mathews earned money doing legal work for three companies/organizations: somewhere between $50,000 and $99,999 from the anti-abortion organization Heartbeat International; somewhere between $25,000 and $49,999 from Berry Global, a plastics packaging manufacturer; and somewhere between $10,000 and $24,999 from the Cincinnati law firm of Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers.
2. He owned a legal services/publishing business, Adam Mathews Publishing House, though he made less than $1,000 from it last year.
3. While many state lawmakers give up their seats on various boards and companies once they’re elected, Mathews remained on the board of several organizations last year. They include the Federalist Society of Cincinnati, the Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce, the Lebanon Kiwanis Club, St. Zachary’s Haven (a nonprofit, faith-based, sober living residential farm), and the Thomas More Society (a conservative Catholic public interest law firm). He was also president of a University of Notre Dame alumni organization in Dayton and treasurer of the Warren County GOP’s central committee.
4. Mathews held more than $1,000 each in mutual funds with Ave Maria Funds, Fidelity, Liberty Mutual, and Northwestern Mutual.
5. Along with some other lawmakers, Mathews accepted gifts to see the 2024 Cincinnati Open tennis tournament twice. On Aug. 14, he accepted two tickets from the city of Mason worth a total of $644, and he accessed Beemok Capital’s suite (a gift valued at $250). He attended the tournament again on Aug. 16 courtesy of JobsOhio (worth a total of $289).
On The Move
Amy Acton, a Democratic candidate for governor, has been endorsed by 14 Democratic local officials from around Ohio, including Athens County Commissioner/ ex-National Association of Counties President Lenny Eliason, Hamilton County Treasurer Jill Schiller, Cincinnati City Council members Meeka Owens and Seth Walsh, Stow City Council member Kyle Herman, and former Akron City Council member/2018 lieutenant governor candidate Tara Mosley.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican candidate for governor, has been endorsed by Affiliated Construction Trades, a labor union representing nearly 100,000 skilled trade workers, according to the Warren Tribune Chronicle.
State Sen. Kristina Roegner, a Hudson Republican running for state treasurer, has been endorsed by 21 of her 23 Ohio Senate Republican colleagues, including Senate President Rob McColley of Northwest Ohio and the rest of the Senate GOP leadership team. The only Republican senators who didn’t endorse Roegner were state Sens. Al Cutrona of Mahoning County and Tom Patton of Strongsville.
Marcell Strbich, a Republican candidate for secretary of state, has been endorsed by Ohio Values Voters, a Cleveland-based socially conservative activist group.
The Ohio Realtors Association has unveiled its 2026 leadership team, including Mic Gordon, operating principal of Keller Williams Greater Columbus Realty, as president; Joanne Zettl, a sales associate with The Agency Cleveland Northcoast, as president-elect, and Tracy Dunne, president/principal broker at Comey & Shepherd Realtors in Cincinnati, as treasurer.
Birthdays
Doug Bitler, Ohio House assistant sergeant-at-arms
Straight From The Source
“Basically, what we’re finding now is that people just aren’t receiving any service when it comes to sexual reproductive health.”
– Nan Whaley, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio Region and a former Dayton mayor, speaking with the Dayton Daily News about the effects of part of the “Big Beautiful Bill” that blocks all Medicaid funds to abortion providers, whether they’re for abortions or other services. The law, upheld by a federal appeals court earlier this month, led Planned Parenthood to close clinics in Hamilton and Springfield, and Whaley said many Ohioans with Medicaid can no longer afford to go to the organization’s remaining clinics in Dayton and Cincinnati.
Read more Ohio politics stories
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Cleveland vs everyone else: Inside Northeast Ohio’s battle for planning power
GOP tax bill would cut $1.7 billion from Ohio schools — but not in Cuyahoga County