The morning newsletter of the Ohio Capital Journal
Reporting for the People
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By David DeWitt | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning Ohio!
An Ohio House committee eliminated funding for a program intended to increase childcare accessibility in a bill meant to address potential childcare fraud.
(Photo by Sue Barr/Getty Images)
By Susan Tebben
The House Children and Human Services Committee brought Ohio House Bill 647 up for a hearing recently for the sole purpose of making changes to the bill. The committee’s chair, Republican state Rep. Andrea White, said she hopes to see the committee approve the bill soon.
By Morgan Trau, WEWS
Ohio leaders acknowledge that artificial intelligence should be regulated as both explicit and political content grows, but bills have remained stagnant. Now, they say they aren’t sure what they are able to enforce.
By Megan Henry
Ohio lawmakers are launching a joint data center committee where they will invite data center workers, citizens, and companies like Google and Meta to come in and testify.
COMMENTARY
The Ohio Statehouse. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal).
By Maddie Beans
Ohio’s Safe Haven law allows parents in crisis to legally and anonymously surrender a newborn without fear of prosecution. The more difficult question is whether Ohio is doing enough to reduce the likelihood that a parent would ever need to use it.
STATELINE
The big challenges and policy issues that cross state lines.
By Anna Claire Vollers
In the past two years, a dozen states have either approved new U.S. House maps or are moving toward doing so — a highly unusual mid-decade revamp prompted by President Donald Trump and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling late last month.
By Sofia Resnick and Kelcie Moseley-Morris
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday to preserve telehealth access to the abortion drug mifepristone until after the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on the merits of the high-stakes federal lawsuit Louisiana v. Food and Drug Administration.
THE RUNDOWN
News from other states
By Stories from the States Podcast
Mifepristone is one of two drugs used to terminate a pregnancy before 10 weeks and to treat miscarriages, but could require an in-person visit before it’s dispensed, depending on a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
NATIONAL NEWS
By Ashley Murray and Jonathan Shorman
Democrats and advocacy groups urged a quick rejection of President Donald Trump’s latest executive order on compiling citizenship lists and creating traceable mail-in ballots in a federal court hearing Thursday.
By Shauneen Miranda
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon took heat Thursday over forthcoming changes to the federal student loan system that will impose new borrowing limits for professional and graduate students.
CATCHING OUR EYE
Medicaid. The Statehouse News Bureau’s Karen Kasler reports, “Legislative leaders speak out about allegations of fraud in Ohio Medicaid program.”
The Trump administration is temporarily stopping new home health and hospital providers from enrolling in Medicare because of concerns about fraud in the system. This comes after a conservative outlet reported dozens of home health care businesses in Columbus allegedly billed the other government insurance program, Medicaid, for millions of dollars' worth of services that were never provided. Ohio's legislative leaders are now weighing in on the situation.
House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said he believes the report put out by the Daily Wire. Huffman said he is talking with other leaders about the possibility of new legislation on fraud. But he said lawmakers have tried to deal with protecting the program from fraud.Medicaid measures. The Dayton Daily News’ Samantha Wildow reports, “DeWine imposing Medicaid changes to address possible fraud, waste.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine imposed new limitations on aspects of the Medicaid program that critics have accused of lacking oversight or proper checks, making the program vulnerable to potential fraud or misuse…
DeWine instructed the Ohio Department of Medicaid to seek permission from the federal government to impose a moratorium on new home-healthcare and hospice businesses being able to become Medicaid providers. He also plans to issue an executive order that would lead to more stringent oversight of certain providers already part of the Medicaid program.FirstEnergy re-trial. Cleveland.com’s Jeremy Pelzer reports, “Dave Yost predicts FirstEnergy bribery retrial will proceed under new Ohio AG.”
Outgoing Attorney General Dave Yost expressed confidence Thursday that ex-FirstEnergy executives Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling will be retried on bribery charges even though Yost is stepping down next month.
Yost’s comments, posted on social media, are the strongest indication yet that a scheduled retrial of Jones and Dowling this fall will continue as planned under his recently appointed successor, Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson.False. The Columbus Dispatch’s Chad Murphy reports, “Letter falsely claims DeWine signed law banning ‘aimless driving’ in Ohio.”
The letter falsely states a new law, House Bill 626, outlaws "aimless driving" with a $1,000 fine. The real House Bill 626 deals with electronic court notifications and has not been passed into law. Similar hoax letters targeting "joyriding" have also appeared in Florida and Kentucky.
THE POD
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS.
Mahalo!
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