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Rotunda Rumblings Ball’s in their court: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is spearheading an effort by six major U.S. pro sports leagues to seek a 50-state ban on “microprop” betting, per Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. But as Jeremy Pelzer reports, the governor said he’s “not going to wait much longer” for the leagues to act before moving for state gambling regulators to ban “microprop” bets – which are made on extremely specific game situations, like whether the first pitch of a baseball game is a ball or strike. DeWine previously called for an overall ban on “prop” bets (money placed on an individual player’s game performance), but he says he’s now focused only on eliminating “microprop” wagers -- “at least, to begin with,” he said. False claim: U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno falsely accused Mentor schools of allowing a student charged with pornography offenses to return to campus, Molly Walsh writes. In a Friday letter to school board president Maggie Cook that went viral after it was shared by a popular conservative social media account, the Westlake Republican said he was “revolted” to learn the district “may have allowed” the 15-year-old student back on school grounds. None of it is true, according to a statement from the school district. After Mentor police arrested the teen Oct. 17 on 36 felony counts of pandering sexually oriented material and obscenity involving a minor or impaired person, he has not been allowed to return to school property, the statement said. Transportation chief visits Cleveland: U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy visited Cleveland on Monday, touring facilities including the air traffic control tower at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and NASA Glenn Research Center, even as a federal government shutdown continues to leave thousands of federal workers without pay, Sabrina Eaton reports. During his visit to the Hopkins air traffic control tower, Duffy posted on social media about the financial pressures facing controllers. At Glenn, he and Moreno discussed its work on a nuclear reactor to be built on the Moon. Read more Ohio politics stories Judge extends pause on DeWine’s order blocking sale of intoxicating hemp products in Ohio Success Sequence: Ohio bill mandates anti-poverty curriculum despite racial disparity Sen. Moreno blasts Mentor schools for allowing porn suspect on campus, but his claim is completely untrue Hemp pause extension: A Franklin County judge on Monday extended the pause on Gov. Mike DeWine’s public health emergency order banning the sale of intoxicating hemp products until December, Mary Frances McGowan reports. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Carl Aveni postponed a preliminary injunction hearing until Dec. 2, agreeing to a request by both parties in the case. Aveni first issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 14, blocking an executive order from DeWine that directed all retailers to remove intoxicating hemp products from their shelves and cease sales. Fighting back: Two Planned Parenthood affiliates -- Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region -- are challenging Ohio’s plan to end their Medicaid participation, a move that they say could prevent affordable health care access for more than 27,000 Ohioans, McGowan writes. The organizations received letters in September from the Ohio Department of Medicaid proposing their termination from the program. The Planned Parenthood affiliates are requesting an administrative hearing over the termination letters from state officials. Nonprofit Tax: Ohio lawmakers are opening a debate that’s long been off-limits: whether nonprofits should pay property taxes. A new bill would require large land conservancies, like the Nature Conservancy in Adams County, to make small annual payments to local governments. Anna Staver reports that while this legislation is tailored for land conservancies, bill sponsor Rep Dave Thomas says it’s a test balloon for whether there is appetite in the legislature to begin levying property taxes on other kinds of nonprofits. First comes job, then comes marriage: Laura Hancock looked at the research showing that Black Americans are less likely to follow the prescripts of the three-pronged “Success Sequence,” which states people are less likely to live in poverty if they graduate high school, work full time and marry before having a baby. Researchers noted that incarceration rates are higher among Black people, and they’re less likely to attend the best schools, which creates barriers later in life. Trump suggests Vance-Rubio ticket: President Donald Trump refused to rule out an unconstitutional bid for a third presidential term on Monday but floated a potential ticket of Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Axios reports. In remarks on Air Force One, He said if Rubio and Vance “formed a group” they’d be “unstoppable.” But the president again added, “I would love to do it. I have my best numbers ever.” Third term? Lawyers arguing in the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit Court of Appeals made a reference to President Donald Trump running for a third term, including U.S. Department of Justice attorneys. Bloomberg Law’s Eric Heisig reports that these comments come after Trump mentioned over the weekend he’d love a third term. The case before the court had to do with FBI background checks for gun purchasers. Flip-flops: In the process of defending Trump on numerous platforms and establishing himself as heir apparent to his movement Vance has shifted his positions and defended or promoted views he once opposed, even as recently as the 2024 presidential campaign, The New York Times writes. On issues like foreign entanglements, free speech and the Jeffrey Epstein files, Vance has had to backtrack on or simply ignore a string of flip-flops. Vance knocks Mamdani: Vance criticized New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Saturday, writing on X that according to the Democrat, “the real victim of 9/11” was his aunt, Fox News reports. Vance made the remark as early voting began Saturday in New York City, where Mamdani is the frontrunner. “I want to speak to the memory of my aunt. Who stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab,” Mamdani said in a clip of a Friday campaign event that Vance shared. What We’re Watching 1. The Ohio Senate has scheduled a session at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday; the House plans a session at 2 p.m. the same day. 2. The Senate Workforce Development Committee has scheduled a possible vote on Tuesday on House Bill 246, which would require nonresidential construction contractors, subcontractors or labor brokers to input I-9 information into the federal E-Verify immigration system that can determine whether someone in eligible to work in the U.S., and to potentially penalize those who do not comply with the law. The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee may vote on HB 10, which would allow the state to fine companies that mislabel cultivated protein products and “fabricated egg” products. It would require the state to apply for a waiver if the federal government ever covers these vegetarian products under the Women, Infants and Children Program. 3. On Tuesday, the House Children and Human Services Committee has scheduled a possible vote on HB 359, which would create a statewide alert system for missing children and elderly people who have autism or another developmental disability, called the Joshua Alert. 4. Also Tuesday, the House Transportation Committee has scheduled a possible vote on HB 258, which would require the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to send notices to Ohio drivers 14 days prior to a license expiring, instead of 45 days after they’re expired. The committee may also vote on HB 251, which generally requires police to get a search warrant if they want to surveil a property from above with a drone, and prohibits police from using drones as lethal weapons. 5. On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee may vote out HB 184, a bill that would add additional guardrails for name, image and likeness contracts for intercollegiate athletes, generally prohibiting people from entering contracts with athletes that would allow them to continue to be compensated for the athlete’s performance beyond their college career. 6. On Wednesday in the House Local Government Committee, a possible vote is scheduled on HB 137, which would allow counties, municipalities, townships and school districts to decline to submit a library district levy to voters. The House Development Committee may vote on HB 188, which would create an Ohio-Israel trade and innovation partnership. The Judiciary Committee may vote on HB 386, which would require photo identification upon applying for a marriage license so the county can verify the bride’s and groom’s ages. Birthdays Thomas J. Herbert, Ohio’s 56th governor (1894-1974) Straight From The Source “Ohio could mandate cognitive behavior assessment for judges serving into their seventies. Judges’ test results shall be transmitted to the chief justice and otherwise treated as private medical information. The chief justice will be charged with ensuring that the judiciary takes proper remedial measures regarding judges with negative results.” -Ohio Supreme Court Judge Pat Fischer, in an article in the University of Cincinnati Law Review about doing away with Ohio’s constitutionally mandated judicial age limit of 70. Fischer is 67. He’ll be 71 when his six-year term on the court ends in 2028, and he will be prohibited from serving another term. He could have restarted the clock by challenging Democratic Justice Jennifer Brunner in 2026, although he didn’t get the Ohio GOP’s endorsement for the race, and has abandoned that effort.
