The morning newsletter of the Ohio Capital Journal
Reporting for the People
Make a tax-deductible donation supporting our work.
By David DeWitt | Editor in Chief
Good morning Ohio!
Ohio senators got their first chance Tuesday to discuss a gas tax holiday Republican leaders announced last week. They’re aiming to pass it with an emergency clause so the measure can take effect immediately. They’ll need Democratic votes in the House to do so.
The Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. (Photo by David DeWitt, Ohio Capital Journal.)
By Nick Evans
Democratic candidate for governor Amy Acton first floated the idea of suspending the gas tax. Her Republican opponent Vivek Ramaswamy quickly took up the call and announced he had a plan to pay for it and the backing of statehouse leaders, one of whom is his running mate.
By Marty Schladen
Unemployment rates in Ohio remained low in August but Ohio's job growth has also slowed, a recent analysis by Policy Matters Ohio said.
By Morgan Trau, WEWS
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is promising to hold prediction market platform Kalshi accountable for skirting state gambling regulations for years. A federal court ruled that Ohio can require the company to follow sports betting laws.
COMMENTARY
File photo by Hugh Jackson, States Newsroom.
By Marilou Johanek
The Ohio gas tax holiday is a last-ditch effort by Republicans to get Ohioans to forget why they face an affordability crisis, why gas prices are so high, and who got us here with policies showering the rich with windfalls while bringing pain to working families.
The big challenges and policy issues that cross state lines.
STATELINE
By Kevin Hardy
Democratic and Republican governors say they will more aggressively push back on federal overreach regardless of which party controls Washington.
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris
In the early months of 2022, Democrats in Congress came close to passing an appropriations bill that did not include a provision barring federal funding for abortions — maybe the closest it had ever come in more than 40 years.
THE RUNDOWN
News from other states
By Katherine Dailey, Michigan Advance
Across Michigan, school districts, food pantries, legal aid groups and nonprofits are preparing for another change in the distribution of SNAP benefits.
NATIONAL NEWS
By Jonathan Shorman
President Donald Trump is tapping $20 million in Homeland Security funding to pay for TV ads that heavily feature him ahead of the midterm elections, Democrats said Tuesday as the promos critics call propaganda come under bipartisan attack.
By Ariana Figueroa
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted, for now, the Trump administration’s request to continue rapid third-country deportation of immigrants to countries not their own.
By Jonathan Shorman
Five weeks before Election Day, President Donald Trump’s sprawling effort to identify and remove noncitizen voters hasn’t produced the kind of large purges that could meaningfully affect the midterm elections.
By David Lightman
The challenges and dire threats surrounding the unchecked growth of artificial intelligence appear unlikely to move Congress or President Donald Trump to act as the U.S. Senate enters its last week before the midterms.
By Ashley Murray
Small businesses will once again challenge President Donald Trump’s tariffs in federal court this week as they continue to feel the squeeze of the administration’s roller coaster policy on import taxes.
By Shauneen Miranda
A bipartisan measure to overhaul the college sports landscape got a step closer to becoming law Monday after passing the U.S. Senate.
WEDNESDAY WISDOM
“Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”
-Maya Angelou
CATCHING OUR EYE
Ohio farmers. WOSU’s Allie Vugrincic reports, “Ohio farmers feel the squeeze of diesel, fertilizer prices. Will that affect how they vote?”
Diesel fuel prices have been climbing since February, when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, and hit a record high this month. Chemical fertilizer that comes from the Middle East has faced supply chain disruptions, leading to higher prices.
Meanwhile, the costs of many other products needed for farming have gone up because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs…
A national Associated Press–KFF poll released last week found rural voters are "deeply unhappy" about the economy. However, while Trump’s standing among those voters has slipped a little, he still has a 48% approval rating — noticeably higher than Trump’s 33% approval rating among all U.S. adults.Paying for the gas tax holiday? Cleveland.com’s Jeremy Pelzer reports, “Ohio lawmakers overhaul Ramaswamy’s plan to pay for a state gas-tax holiday.”
Ohio lawmakers introduced legislation Monday to suspend the state’s gas tax for 90 days, using $726 million from the state’s anticipated general revenue surplus to cover what would otherwise be a massive financial hit to state and local transportation projects.
Senate Bill 475, which Republican legislative leaders intend to pass Wednesday at the behest of GOP gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, abandons parts of Ramaswamy’s original plan that Gov. Mike DeWine criticized, including potentially paying for the gas-tax holiday by tapping the Ohio Department of Transportation’s cash reserves and, if needed, the state’s $4 billion rainy-day fund.Dwindling international students in Ohio. Signal Ohio’s Amy Morona reports, “Ohio colleges enroll fewer international students — again.”
Ohio’s universities are experiencing double-digit drops in international enrollment as these students – and the campuses enrolling them – continue to comply with changing policies from the Trump administration.
Case Western Reserve University, the University of Cincinnati, Cleveland State University, Kent State University and Ohio State University report drops in international student enrollment ranging from 11% to 32.5% this fall, according to publicly available data and information provided to Signal Statewide.Censoring criticism of anti-trans ads? The Buckeye Flame’s Ken Schneck reports, “Insiders say the Ohio Democratic Party is censoring criticism of anti-trans ads.”
Ohio Democrats are accusing their own party leadership of removing social media posts that pushed back on anti-trans ads released by Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who is running for re-election in the 9th Congressional District in Northwest Ohio.
THE POD
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS.
Mahalo!
Thanks for reading The Eye-Opener. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.