Math problem: Teacher unions and administrators in the state’s eight urban school districts said that if many of the Ohio Senate’s proposals for the state budget become law, wealthy school districts could proportionately get more money compared to poorer districts, Laura Hancock reports. They also said the Senate’s provision stripping professional development and other requirements for daycares that accept children on federal subsidies would widen the gap.
Jobs report: Ohio’s unemployment rate rose to 5% in May, which economists say is an indication of how the state’s economy is continuing to struggle to rebound from the coronavirus crisis. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, even amid reports of employers struggling to fill jobs, Ohio has actually seen the number of jobs available drop in three of the first five months of 2021.
Not soft on Microsoft: Champaign County GOP Rep. Jim Jordan on Monday sent a letter to Microsoft President Brad Smith in his capacity as the House Judiciary Committee’s top Republican to express his view that the tech behemoth is biased against conservatives and is being protected from antitrust scrutiny by Democrats, Sabrina Eaton writes. “Big Tech, including Microsoft, Inc., is out to get conservatives,” Jordan’s letter began.
Pay to play: In a ruling against the NCAA, the United States Supreme Court said the college sports governing body’s rules on education-related compensation were unconstitutional while signaling that it was open to overturning the idea of amateur status for college athletics altogether, Nathan Baird reports. The ruling could hasten lawmakers’ efforts to pass a law to allow athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness.
Live on stage: Eight of the 13 candidates for the 11th Congressional District will be with the City Club today for a debate. There have been multiple forums across the district so far, but very few that have actually described themselves as a “debate,” though it’s an open question of whether anyone will be able to make a stand against former state Sen. Nina Turner.
Child tax credit: Starting July 15, 92% of Ohio’s children will benefit from monthly Child Tax Credit payments of $250 to $300 per child under the American Rescue Plan, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio told reporters on Monday. Families who filed taxes in 2019 or 2020 will automatically get the payments, but those who didn’t must fill out a one-page form on childtaxcredit.gov to get the payments, said Brown, who wants to make the one-year tax credit permanent. “It will make a huge difference for so many families,” Brown added.
Search and seizure: Now expelled Republican Larry Householder’s campaign website recently lapsed, with activists taking the opportunity to transform the conservative former lawmaker’s landing page into a pro-LGBTQ and social justice website, the Buckeye Flame reports. Among the new features is a list of Drag Story Time videos, which Householder moved to ban in 2019, and a list of “Things Larry (Very Likely*) Doesn’t Like.”
King Coal: A bill being pushed by Republican state Rep. Shane Wilkin would phase out programs that let utility companies collect billions in subsidies, though preserves those same subsidies for coal-based power plants, Energy News Network’s Kathiann Kowalski reports for Eye on Ohio. Wilkin was a lead sponsor on House Bill 6 and one of 21 representatives who voted against expelling Householder.
Hack attack: Personal data of the state’s Medicaid providers was hacked and may have been publicly exposed, the Akron Beacon Journal’s Titus Wu reports. The breach to Maximus, the data management contractor for the Ohio Department of Medicaid, said it found out about the exposure on May 19 and is offering 24 months of credit monitoring to anyone affected by the data leak.
Perfect timing: Several executives at Lordstown Motors Corp. sold off their stock before publicly disclosing the financial difficulties the company faced, the Wall Street Journal’s Ben Foldy reports. That includes the company’s president, Rich Schmidt, as well as then-Chief Financial Officer Julio Rodriguez, who resigned last week.
Charge it to the game: Looking to shed some of the negative publicity it has accrued over the past several weeks, Lordstown Motors invited investors and the media to its factory on Monday to get a view from the inside, the New York Times’ Neal Boudette and Matthew Goldstein report. Officials with the company said they were still confident they would start production in the next couple of months and have 1,000 electric trucks made by the end of the year.
Five things we learned from the May 12 financial disclosure form of state Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus, a Minerva Republican.
1. Aside from his legislative salary of $72,277.32, Stoltzfus reported income of up to $999 on royalties from oil well leases, $1,000 to $9,999 from farming, $25,000 to $49,999 from rental income on five properties, and more than $100,000 as owner of Dutchcraft Truss & Component Inc. and Pole Barns Direct LLC.
2. His reported investments were a retirement fund through the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, his two businesses, his real estate, livestock on his farm, a money market account with Raymond James and a simple IRA, SEP IRA, Roth IRA and an investment he identified as “JointR” through Trust Company of America.
3. At some point in 2020, Stoltzfus owed more than $1,000 to Consumers National Bank, Capital One Visa and Fifth Third Bank. Stoltzfus was owed more than $1,000 by his campaign and M.R. Stoltzfus.
4. Stoltzfus’ rental properties are in East Canton, Minerva, Hartville and North Canton.
5. The Ohio House of Representatives reimbursed Stoltzfus $3,365.40 for mileage and $159 for lodging.
State Rep. Susan Manchester
“You forgot to mention that gas prices are the same now as they were in June 2018. Or that this time last year unemployment was 11.1% — today it’s 5.8%.
@POTUS agrees families shouldn’t pay more at the pump – that’s why he’s opposed to GOP proposals to raise the gas tax.”
-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki in a tweet that was a retort to Champaign County Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, who blamed Democratic President Joe Biden for an increase in gas prices over last year.
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