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Rotunda Rumblings No SNAP answers: More than a million Ohioans could lose access to food assistance this weekend if the federal government shutdown continues — and state lawmakers are clashing over what to do about it. In a letter sent Tuesday night, Ohio House Democrats urged Gov. Mike DeWine to declare a state of emergency and work with lawmakers to release $100 million for food banks, Staver reports. A spokesman for the governor said the best solution is for Congress to approve new funding. Foiled again: Members of the Ohio Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to reject concurrence on Senate Bill 56 and the changes which cleared the Ohio House of Representatives last week, Mary Frances McGowan reports. The bill first cleared the Senate earlier this year. The version the House passed last week included intoxicating hemp regulations on the heels of Gov. Mike DeWine’s declaration of a public health emergency. The legislation is now likely headed to a conference committee, as was signaled by Senate leadership least week. Senate President Robert McColley emphasized again on Wednesday that that details still need to be ironed out. Read more Ohio politics stories Ohio divided over response as federal shutdown threatens to leave 1.4 million hungry Ohio Redistricting Commission sets second meeting, but chances of bipartisan deal remain iffy Senate rejects hemp regulations House inserted into legislation, setting up conference panel Robot rights: Ohio lawmakers are drawing the line between people and machines. House Bill 469 would ban artificial intelligence systems from being treated as legal persons, forbidding things like AI marriages or granting power of attorney to a chatbot. Anna Staver reports that the bill sponsor says the goal isn’t to mock science fiction but ensure humans — not algorithms— are held responsible when AI causes harm. Holy help desk: Hearings have begun on an Ohio House bill that would allow religious chaplains to volunteer in traditional public and charter schools, helping students with mental health challenges. House Bill 531 would allow school districts and charter school leaders to decide whether to allow them in buildings. Despite the permissive nature of the bill, school districts would have to make a decision on the record about chaplains by Dec. 1, 2026, Laura Hancock reports. Public secrets: A Summit County judge overseeing the corruption trial of FirstEnergy execs Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling is set to decide Friday whether to keep giving them unusual and wide-ranging power to keep potential evidence and exhibits off-limits to the public. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, attorneys for the defendants have made ample use of an agreement that prosecutors and defense attorneys signed last year allowing either side to keep pretrial discovery materials secret until after the trial just by writing “confidential” on them. While Summit County Common Pleas Judge Susan Baker Ross has -- at least for now -- agreed with the defense’s attempt to keep secret several exhibits the prosecution has tried to introduce, Attorney General Dave Yost’s office is now asking Ross to roll that back. Deadline action: The Ohio Redistricting Commission is set to hold its second meeting at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Ohio Statehouse, the day before the Ohio Constitution turns control over redrawing the state’s 15 U.S. House districts to Republican lawmakers. As Pelzer reports, some legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle said Wednesday they’re closer to reaching some sort of behind-the-scenes deal, though they said no such agreement is guaranteed. Haitian claims: Vice President JD Vance offered a detailed defense of the Trump administration’s immigration policies during a Wednesday podcast appearance, using Haitian immigration to Springfield, Ohio, as an example of the problems immigration creates, Sabrina Eaton writes. The Cincinnati Republican told the Pod Force One podcast that during his days representing Ohio in the U.S. Senate, his constituents in Springfield said the influx of 20,000 Haitian migrants to a town of 40,000 people created severe housing problems for existing residents. Crunch time: The state put Ohio’s only public historically Black university, Central State University in Greene County, on fiscal watch over a year ago, as the school continues to weather problems with fiscal oversight, academic operations and building maintenance, the Dispatch’s Sheridan Hendrix report and Laura Bischoff report. Current President Morakinyo A.O. Kuti found financial irregularities and reached out to the state last year. Pension proceedings: A Franklin County judge is holding a weeklong bench trial this week over whether State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio Board Chair Rudy Fichtenbaum, as well as ex-board member Wade Steen, violated their fiduciary duty to protect the pension fund by trying to steer nearly two-thirds of the fund’s portfolio -- $65 billion – into QED Technologies, a startup investment firm with no clients or track record. As Morgan Trau of WEWS-TV reports, Fichtenbaum and Steen argue they were only trying to improve on disappointing investment returns and reduce costs. But Yost says the two had backdoor ties to QED’s leaders, former Ohio Deputy Treasurer Seth Metcalf and Jonathan Tremmel. Capitol Costume Party With Halloween around the corner, we asked people involved in Ohio politics and government what they’re dressing up as this year. Here’s what they told us: - Sarah Donaldson, Ohio Public Media Statehouse reporter/producer: “Harry Styles running the Berlin Marathon” - David Grager, Youngstown-based political consultant and substitute teacher: “My wife and I may dress up as OH-6 and OH-7 districts. (The teachers know what I mean)” - Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican: “I’m masquerading as a grumpy old man handing out candy. ...The people who used to live in my house years ago, he was a dentist, and for some reason, in his office, he had a skeleton -- a real skeleton, apparently, from medical school or whatever. So that’s my one Halloween decoration. I put out a skeleton and I hand out candy, tell kids to stay off the grass.” - Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, a Cincinnati Democrat: “You ever seen the movie Bedazzled? My girlfriend likes the movie. Elizabeth Hurley is like the devil woman, and then Brendan Fraser is like the -- I would be Brendan Fraser in this scenario.” - State Rep. Adam Mathews, a Lebanon Republican: “I was the Tick-Tock Crocodile with (my family going as the rest of) the Peter Pan crew.” - Senate President Rob McColley, a Napoleon Republican: “My children’s escort. That’s it. I’m just looking forward to getting home, spending time with my kids. To be honest with you, so many times in this job, you miss Halloween because it’s on a Tuesday or Wednesday (when legislative committees and sessions are usually held) and you can’t get home. So, I actually have a chance, maybe, to be home.” - Scott Pullins, Republican lawyer and consultant: “I am dressing in mostly full Scottish regalia. Black utility kilt, kilt hose/socks, green cable knit sweater and a messenger cap.” - Jacob Sargent, legislative liaison for Attorney General Dave Yost’s office: “My wife and I are throwing a Halloween party 2020 style. We asked all our guests to wear just t-shirts and jeans because all the Halloween stores were shut down by Amy Acton. And before you ask -- yes, the party will be via Zoom!” - State Sen. Kent Smith, a Euclid Democrat: “Clark Kent Smith” - State Sen. Casey Weinstein, a Hudson Democrat: “I’m going to dress up as (“Parks and Recreation” character) Ron Swanson. He values privacy and personal liberties – and we need to see more of each of those in policy coming out of the Statehouse.” - Ohio Young Democrats, posting on X: “We would go as the Ohio Redistricting Commission’s maps but…. we don’t know what they look like.” Birthdays Kimberly McConville, executive director of the Ohio Beverage Association Bria Meisse, legislative aide to state Rep. Scott Oelslager Jen Miller, president of the Ohio League of Women Voters Straight From The Source “I certainly have never said that I’m running a campaign for governor to eliminate teachers’ unions, but I’m certainly not running a campaign not to eliminate teachers’ unions either. Let me put it that way.” - Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican frontrunner for governor, quoted in the Mansfield News Journal while speaking at a recent campaign stop in Bucyrus. The Columbus-area entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate also called teachers’ unions an “obstacle” and suggested school principals, not unions, should have control over which teachers are hired and promoted.
