Budget countdown: The Senate has finalized its version of Ohio’s two-year budget, setting the stage for final negotiations with the House and governor. Lawmakers remain divided on major issues, including tax cuts, school funding, and how to help pay for a new Cleveland Browns stadium. Anna Staver and Jeremy Pelzer have all the details on what’s in the Senate bill and where the big-ticket items stand.
Priorities: With the state of Ohio not as flush with money as it had been in in recent years, Ohio Republican lawmakers have been working hard to find creative ways to achieve ambitious policy goals, including tax cuts for the wealthy and $600 million toward a new Cleveland Browns stadium. Pelzer reports that state lawmakers are seeking to balance the budget by reining in Medicaid spending increases and cobbling together cuts for things like lead-abatement programs and abolishing a list of various state tax breaks.
Library funding: Ohio Senate Republicans aren’t coming to the rescue of the state’s libraries, Mary Frances McGowan reports. The Senate budget plan mirrors a House proposal that eliminates guaranteed state funding for libraries, tied to the percentage of state tax revenues. Under both budgets, library funding instead appears in the budget as a simple line item. Additionally, the Senate plan lumps together several other library entities into the same Public Library Funds, so the money allocated would potentially be cut into smaller pieces.
Board plan nixed: The state Senate on Tuesday also rejected a House plan to reduce the number of Ohio State Board of Education members from 19 to five, Staver reports. Current members of the state school board fought against the House plan, saying a larger panel contains more people with expertise in matters of educator licensing, misconduct investigations and more.
Stiff resistance: One of the Senate GOP’s changes Tuesday was to remove a controversial House-passed budget item to make the state’s 88 county coroners appointed instead of elected by voters. Pelzer has more on why the House sought the change, why the Senate removed it, and why the issue isn’t dead yet.
Move the Olympics? U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Westlake Republican, on Tuesday suggested moving the 2028 Olympics and upcoming international soccer matches from Los Angeles in light of current unrest in the city, Sabrina Eaton reports. Speaking at a Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing on the security readiness for upcoming large sporting events in the United States, Moreno suggested “we just make a decision now to say they’re incapable of handling two big, high-profile events like this.” Reynold Hoover, the chief executive officer of the non-profit group organizing the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, told Moreno that he’s found that the security coordination between all levels of government surrounding the Olympics has been “extraordinary,” and said he’s confident that when the Olympics start in July 2028, “the world will be watching and see America at its best.”
Housing crisis: U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown, a Warrensville Heights Democrat, on Tuesday introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives that calls for urgent, coordinated federal action to address the nation’s worsening housing crisis by preserving and expanding access to affordable housing. “This crisis is hitting families in every corner of the country, and it’s widening the wealth and racial gaps we’ve been trying to close for generations,” said a statement from Brown, who introduced the resolution with Columbus Democrat Joyce Beatty. Measures it calls for include expanding and preserving affordable housing units; strengthening federal rental assistance programs; promoting equitable zoning and infrastructure alignment; and partnering across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to protect tenants and spur innovation.
Deportation exchange: Vice President JD Vance appeared to suggest deporting a popular fashion blogger known as the “Menswear Guy” in a social media post on Monday, Axios writes. His post of a menacing Jack Nicholson meme came after fashion blogger Derek Guy, admitted on X that he came to the U.S. illegally from Canada as a kid, and another user suggested that the VP has “the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever,” referring to deporting Guy, who has made jesting fashion critiques of Vance and other elected officials before. Guy shot back at Vance in a follow-up post with pictures of Vance, “i think i can outrun you in these clothes." He also joked that Vance lived at the ready-to-wear retailer, Men’s Warehouse.
Parallels with Kent State: Kent State University professor Roseann “Chic” Canfora sees similarities with the National Guard’s descent upon the Los Angeles protests over immigration raids and the National Guard’s descent on the Vietnam protests at Kent State University in 1970. Canfora, who witnessed the Kent State protests and whose brother was injured when a guardsman shot him, said dialogue is necessary when citizens feel wronged, the Beacon Journal’s Mark J. Price reports.
Man of the hour: Ken Martin, the Minnesotan who was recently elected chair of the Democratic National Committee, will speak next week at the City Club of Cleveland. He’ll speak about the party’s future and opportunities on June 18 at noon, according to cleveland.com staff reporting.
Lobbying Lineup
Five organizations that have lobbied on state House Bill 131, which bans police departments from requiring their officers to write a certain number of tickets each month.
The Governor’s Office
R Street Institute
Reason Foundation
Cuyahoga County Mayors and City Managers Association
Ohio Justice & Policy Center
Birthdays
Malika Bartlett, deputy chief of staff for external engagement at the Franklin County Auditor’s office.
Straight from the Source
“When I hear ‘warrior ethos,’ and I hear it a lot from you, Mr. Secretary, I’m concerned. All the soldiers in our family, all of whom fought and received medals for their combat service, call themselves soldiers... I just am concerned about what those words you often utter actually do in people’s minds and change the language we have used since the founding of this republic. That is a concern of mine.”
-U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat, at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
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