Rotunda Rumblings
Smoke break: Gov. MIke DeWine sharply criticized President Joe Biden administration’s decision to postpone an expected federal ban on menthol tobacco. Per Andrew Tobias, DeWine issued a statement that said he was “deeply disappointed” in the decision while calling for a federal ban of all tobacco flavors. The statement put Ohio’s Republican governor in political company with Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who reiterated his support in January for the menthol tobacco ban. The White House didn’t specify the reason for the decision, but it came as some prominent Black leaders have lobbied against it and as Biden hopes to maintain Black voter support in the November election.
Money talks: Republicans running for the Ohio Supreme Court continue to trounce their Democratic opponents in terms of campaign financing. As Jake Zuckerman reports, the cash-on-hand advantages for Republicans are as lopsided as a 6-to-1 split.
Last-minute spending: Ahead of last month’s state legislative primary election, Senate President Matt Huffman’s campaign gave maxed-out contributions to several Republicans challenging allies of House Speaker Jason Stephens. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, three recipients of Huffman’s contributions ended up winning their primary races, helping his chances of unseating Stephens as speaker next year. But the House GOP’s campaign arm – which Stephens controls – spent more than $500,000 on ads to help Stephens’ favored candidates in the final days of the primary campaign.
No before you go: The latest version of the Parents Bill of Rights bill in the General Assembly would require school districts to develop a policy allowing parents to deny their children receive physical or mental health care at the beginning of the school year, before any problems arise. The amendment to House Bill 8 also would prohibit discussing “sexuality content,” including “gender ideology” in grades kindergarten through three, Laura Hancock reports.
Space junk: Ohio’s Mike DeWine isn’t the only U.S. governor who objects to a U.S. Air Force plan to switch Air National guardsmen to the U.S. Space Force, Sabrina Eaton reports. On Monday, a bipartisan group of 52 governors from U.S. states, commonwealths and territories joined DeWine in a letter that asks Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin to oppose a legislative proposal that would transfer several hundred Air National Guard personnel in seven states, including Ohio, who perform space-related functions to the Space Force.
Canceled: Former HHS secretary Marcia Fudge canceled a planned appearance last week as a graduation speaker for Shaker Heights High School. Thomas Jewel writes that Fudge faced student backlash over a letter she wrote in 2015 asking for leniency for former Cuyahoga County judge Lance Mason after he was convicted of feloniously assaulting his wife, Aisha Fraser, who had been a Shaker Heights middle school teacher. In 2018, Mason went on to murder Fraser, whose students were among this year’s graduating class.
Deregul-AI-tion: Years before AI became the modern buzzword, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, via the consulting firm Deloitte, built an AI tool to cull 2.2 million words of “unnecessary and outdated” regulations from the administrative code, Axios’ Ned Oliver reports. That includes rules for lottery games that haven’t been played in decades, duplicative building and fire codes, and more.
Getting the boot: U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, a Bowling Green Republican, was wheeled into a recent House of Representatives vote with his foot in a boot, courtesy of a pickleball mishap, The Wall Street Journal reports in a piece about how the razor-thin partisan margin in the U.S. House of Representatives “means every member sidelined by a weekend-warrior mishap is a possible legislative crisis.” A Latta spokesman told the publication the injury “will not impede his ability to dutifully serve and represent his constituents.”
Nowhere man: Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo pressed House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan on Sunday about the lack of headway in House Republicans’ investigations into President Biden and other political figures, The Hill reports. “With all due respect, people are sick and tired of congressional investigations that go nowhere, people are sick and tired of letters being written and sent to the people who we know are bad in the first place,” Bartiromo said. The Champaign County Republican told her his committee has approved legislation to make fixes, saying “We’re a legislative branch. We can’t put anyone in jail. And I don’t think the Biden administration, their [Department of Justice] is going to go after the people who — need to go after. You’re just not going to get that from [U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland], that would help remedy this situation.”
A little help from his friends: Friendship with Donald Trump Jr., is among the reasons that U.S. Sen. JD Vance, a Cincinnati Republican, has ended up on the ex-President Donald Trump’s vice-presidential short list, The New York Times reports. Vance and Trump Jr. “talk or text nearly daily,” meet up regularly, and act as a “social-media tag team, often reposting each other’s messages,” the publication says. When asked about the article on Fox News over the weekend, Vance said he frequently talks to ex-President Trump, but has never been approached about the vice presidency. “Of course, if he asked me, I’d have to think seriously about it, because I think it’s really important that he win,” he continued. “The world is on fire, and I sort of see Donald Trump as a bit of a fireman.”
What we’re watching this week
The Senate is out this week. The House is in, with many committees holding many votes.
1. The House Ways and Means Committee is set to amend and vote on legislation to eliminate “replacement” property tax levies. Zuckerman has written in the past about the confusing verbiage at play
2. Other votes are scheduled on more niche policy items focused on real estate agreements, towing, and the taxation of agricultural-related vehicles
3. The House Rules committee meets Tuesday, which often (but not always) means House Speaker Jason Stephens will take questions from reporters
4. Ohio Rep. Sara Carruthers is hosting a news conference Wednesday on legislation to create a study committee on small business retirement options
On the Move
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik got engaged while cruising on the Seine river in Paris, per photos he posted Monday on X.
Straight From The Source
“I think this is a good bill. It’s about energy efficiency. It’s about saving consumers money. But there seems to be one particular group that I think had a lot of influence in these primaries that seems to be leaning in here and I’m not even sure that it is as much about the policy as it is about the politics.”
-House Minority Leader Allison Russo, quoted in Gongwer news, on legislation to allow utility companies to offer voluntary energy efficiency programs. The scandal tainted House Bill 6 of 2019 effectively ended Ohio’s efficiency programming.
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