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!
Ohio lawmakers have passed a bill that would require schools to teach students to graduate high school, get a job, and get married — in that order — before having a baby. They call this order of events the success sequence.
This one-sentence cutline should be identical to the caption used on your website (Photo by Name/Newsroom)
By Megan Henry
Ohio Senate Bill 276 passed 58-36 during Wednesday’s House session and the Ohio Senate concurred with the changes made to the bill later that night before going on summer break.
By Megan Henry
An academic intervention bill that would also exempt Ohio’s classical schools from teaching the science of reading curriculum is heading to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk.
By Susan Tebben
Ohio doctors asked lawmakers this week to back off of a bill that would require a 24-hour wait before abortion procedures.
By Reilly Ackerman
Ohio State University reached a $100 million settlement with 279 victims of former university doctor Richard Strauss last week.
By Morgan Trau, WEWS
Ohio lawmakers were unable to reach a compromise on new data center regulations Wednesday before they went on summer recess.
COMMENTARY
(Stock photo by Doug Wilson via Getty Images.
By Cristina Johnson
Ohio’s 40,000 fire crews frequently encounter gases and materials that can emit carcinogenic compositions. The National Firefighter Registry for Cancer helps researchers identify how exposure patterns contribute to cancer susceptibility.
STATELINE
The big challenges and policy issues that cross state lines.
By Tim Henderson
Consumer price inflation reached 4.2% in May, the highest mark in three years, boosted largely by higher energy prices that have spiked because of the Iran war, according to federal numbers released on Wednesday.
By Anna Claire Vollers
As the U.S. Supreme Court pulls back from the landmark federal law designed to safeguard the voting rights of minorities, more states are stepping in to prohibit discrimination in state and local elections.
By Amanda Watford
As advances in additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, make it easier to produce firearms at home, lawmakers in a growing number of states are pursuing new restrictions specifically for 3D-printed guns.
By Kevin Hardy
The Trump administration Wednesday proposed new regulations for online prediction markets that would ban bets on war, assassination and other extreme events, but still allow many sports bets to operate on the growing platforms.
THE RUNDOWN
News from other states
By Adam Friedman, Tennessee Lookout
The same day the Democratic Party dropped its lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s new U.S. House map, the state NAACP chapter is petitioning a federal judicial panel to block the map while its case goes forward.
NATIONAL NEWS
By Amelia Twyman
A group of 16 U.S. Senate Democrats is calling on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to tighten its regulation of prediction markets, citing concerns over insider trading and other consumer harms as betting on future events grows in popularity.
By Jennifer Shutt
Despite long lines and wait times, the head of the Social Security Administration testified to Congress Wednesday that customer service has improved during the last year, though he declined to offer ways to address the program’s dire financial situation.
By Shauneen Miranda
A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators promoted their legislation Wednesday to set national standards for college athletes’ compensation, calling the compromise bill the best available option.
By Sam Gauntt
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Wednesday blamed the Biden administration’s “open-border policies” for the six confirmed cases of the New World screwworm that have reached the United States, repeating a theme among Republicans.
By Amelia Twyman
Democrats in the U.S. House on Wednesday called for greater protections for transgender and diverse students, criticizing congressional Republican and Trump administration efforts to dissolve diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
SCIENCE FRIDAY
'Geminid Symphony' and 'Galactic Gandalf'
CATCHING OUR EYE
Infrastructure. The Statehouse News Bureau’s Karen Kasler reports, “$3.7B budget funding state infrastructure, local projects in Ohio goes to DeWine.”
The $3.7 billion capital improvements budget that provides money for infrastructure and state and local projects is expected to pass in the Ohio House today and head to Gov. Mike DeWine. House Bill 450 puts state money toward building and renovating K-12 schools, universities and state facilities; improvements at state parks and local arts and cultural sites; and to update services.Nursing homes. Cleveland.com’s Mary Frances McGowan reports, “Ohio passes bill to pay nursing homes $875 million after state Supreme Court ruling.”
Ohio lawmakers moved to pay nursing homes $875 million on Wednesday after a state Supreme Court ruling found they were underpaid.
The money was included in an omnibus budget correction bill that now goes to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature. The $875 million is earmarked for skilled nursing facilities.SNAP. The Dayton Daily News’ Samantha Wildow reports, “Ohio House passes SNAP-related bill right after finance committee added Medicaid provisions to the legislation.”
The Ohio House passed a bill related to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cards right after the Ohio House Finance Committee added regulations to certain Medicaid providers to the bill.
Lawmakers on Wednesday added proposed regulations for certain Medicaid providers from House Bill 795, which never made it past the Ohio Medicaid Committee, to Senate Bill 315, which deals with updating SNAP benefit cards.Katelyn’s law. Anthony Shoemaker and Quinlan Bentley report in the Cincinnati Enquirer, “Katelyn's Law, named for Fairfield woman, passes Ohio House.”
The Ohio House passed Katelyn's Law on June 10, a bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations for crimes connected to a murder, including abuse of a corpse.
Katelyn Markham, 21, disappeared from her Fairfield home in August 2011. Nearly two years later, a couple collecting cans found her skeletal remains near a creek in Indiana. Her death was ruled a homicide, though the cause of death was never determined.
Her fiancé, John Carter, was charged in 2023 in connection with her death — more than a decade after her remains were discovered. Prosecutors struggled to secure a murder conviction because of limited evidence, and Carter pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced in July 2024 to three years in prison.
THE POD
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS.
Mahalo!
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