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Rotunda Rumblings Food aid to resume: Ohioans who receive federal food aid under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could start seeing deposits in their accounts as early as Wednesday, Anna Staver reports. State officials say these will be partial benefits, not the full amounts families normally receive. Benefits have been held up by the shutdown of the federal government. About 1.4 million Ohioans rely on SNAP benefits to help feed their families. Taking care of business: Lawmakers from the House and Senate are expected to tackle regulations for intoxicating hemp products as they meet to iron out legislative differences in a conference committee as early as this week, Mary Frances McGowan reports. The key sticking points will likely center on regulations on allowable intoxicating THC levels in beverages and how to license businesses that sell other intoxicating hemp products in the state, legislators said. Debate strategy: Ex-President Joe Biden’s disastrous 2024 presidential debate wouldn’t have happened if his longtime advisor, Westlake native Steve Ricchetti, had his way, Sabrina Eaton reports. His reasoning? Their 2020 campaign debates were brutal, and he didn’t think there was much to gain. But despite Biden’s performance in that debate, Ricchetti rigorously defended the former as fully in command of his faculties when the former advisor appeared before House investigators who put together a 100-page report, which paints a damning picture of the president’s cognitive state. Landmark decision: Jim Obergefell, an Ohioan and man at the center of the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized gay marriage in the United States, said that the Supreme Court “did the right thing” in deciding not to revisit the ruling, the Columbus Dispatch’s Laura Bischoff reports. The court rejected an appeal from former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses despite the 2015 decision due to her religious beliefs. “I hope this is the last we hear from Kim Davis, someone who should have lived up to her oath and duties as a public servant to serve everyone in Rowan County, Ky.,” Obergefell said in a statement. Absentee examination: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether states can continue to count late-arriving mail ballots, which have been a target of President Donald Trump, The Associated Press reported. The justices took up an appeal from Mississippi after a panel of three judges nominated by the Republican president on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the state law allowing ballots that arrive shortly after Election Day to be counted violated federal law. The Ohio Senate last week approved legislation that would end the Buckeye State’s four-day grace period, Anna Staver reported. What We’re Watching The Ohio Senate has session at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The House has session at 2 p.m. that same day. The House Ways and Means committee is holding its first hearing on House Bill 483 Wednesday. It would allow people with homes valued at $750,000 or less to defer a portion of their property taxes. The Senate Local Government committee is scheduled to continue its consideration on Wednesday of four property tax reform bills passed by the House. They are: House Bill 129, House Bill 186, House Bill 309 and House Bill 335. The House Judiciary Committee has a fourth hearing and possible vote scheduled Wednesday for House Bill 102, which would restrict sex offenders from residing and loitering near a victim’s home. The House Public Safety Committee has fourth hearing, possible substitute and possible vote scheduled for Wednesday on House Bill 492, would make it a fourth-degree misdemeanor—punishable by up to 30 days in jail—for a motorist to refuse to provide their name, address, or date of birth during a traffic stop when an officer suspects a traffic or equipment violation. On the Move Rep. Steve Demetriou, who is running for a seat in the Ohio Senate next year, picked up an endorsement Monday from his potential future colleagues. Ohio Senate President Rob McColley and Republican Sens. Bill Reineke, Jerry Cirino and Kristina Roegner endorsed the Geauga County representative. Demetriou is running to replace Roegner, who is term-limited. Birthdays State Sen. Bill Blessing Sam Dillon, deputy chief of communications & marketing at the Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services Dick Celeste, Ohio’s 64th governor Straight from the Source “We negotiated the best deal possible, knowing that we’d have to sign our names to a gerrymandered map in exchange for maintaining the ability to compete and win in every targeted district.” Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, a Cincinnati Democrat, in an opinion piece explaining why he voted to approve a set of congressional maps negotiated between the Republicans and the Democrats on the Redistricting Commission. Read more Ohio politics stories Is your electric bill spiking? The Ohio battle over who pays for data center power demands Ohio will begin paying reduced food assistance amid federal court battle over SNAP funding Ohio lawmakers set to hammer out regulations on intoxicating hemp in conference committee
