Mayor from Ohio. (Getty image file photo.)
Each morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio, the country and the world that catches our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye and have published it here.
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Catching our eyes
• Ohio voters oppose public school taxes. Jake Zuckerman of Signal Ohio reports: “Ohio voters reject school fees and statewide tax increases“
Ohio voters statewide overwhelmingly rejected local government requests for property and income tax increases to fund K-12 public schools.
Only 24 of 66 property and income taxes in local school districts passed, according to Ohio School Boards Association estimates based on preliminary election results.
• Restricting health care for transgender adults. WCMH’s David Rees reports: “An Ohio bill would limit public insurance coverage for surgeries performed by transgender people“
A newly introduced bill in the House of Representatives would restrict certain types of health care services tied to gender-affirming procedures, deepening the legislative focus on transgender-related policies.
• He doesn’t believe Jim Jordan. NBC News reports: “A former Ohio state official testified that he did not believe Rep.’s denials. Jim Jordan in the Strauss molestation case“
Ohio State University’s former athletic director said in testimony that he believed Rep. Jim Jordan “probably knew” that campus doctor Richard Strauss was abusing wrestlers Jordan trained more than two decades ago.
“I believe there was an active conversation about Dr. Strauss – with the wrestlers,” Andy Geiger testified in a sworn deposition unsealed Monday by the Southern District of Ohio. “I heard especially loud and clear the dissatisfaction with the shower situation.”
“It doesn’t seem credible to someone who was involved in the program” that Jordan didn’t know Strauss was allegedly preying on male athletes, Geiger said in a deposition.
“I don’t know for sure,” Geiger added. “But I think he probably knew.”
• Financial ruin. In a Columbus Dispatch guest column, Bill Shkurti, Greg Browning, Tom Johnson and Pari Sabety write: “Banning property taxes would blow a $21 billion hole in Ohio“
As former Ohio budget directors, both Republicans and Democrats, we don’t always agree on everything. But we are united on one issue: the proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate property taxes in Ohio is one of the most reckless proposals we have ever seen.
Ohioans are fed up with rising property taxes and more needs to be done to facilitate homeowners. But eliminating the largest local source of revenue for local governments and schools would put Ohio on a collision course toward financial ruin.
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