It’s a modern year and the modern General Assembly begins tomorrow at the Ohio Statehouse. While this is a state-level election-free year, there will be a lot of work to be done at the state level.
Here are some of the top issues likely to be covered in 2025.
Election of the US Senate
First: Gov. Mike DeWine will soon be appointed to the U.S. Senate, replacing J.D. Vance after he resigned as vice president.
“It has to be someone who really wants and does the job and who we believe has the skills to do it,” DeWine said, adding that the Senate appointee would also be able to hold the job for a long time.
The governor has previously said he needs someone who will not only win the primary and general elections in 2026, but also hold the seat in 2028.
We were will be the first to report that the governor and Gov. Jon Husted visited Mar-a-Lago to meet with President-elect Donald Trump and Vance in tardy 2024.
DeWine has been extremely reserved about his meetings, and we are still waiting on a request to record his schedule from several months ago.
From our deep intelligence and conversations with thirty political figures, Husted is the leader. However, several other names consistently appeared. The leading candidates are Ohio RNC Leader Jane Timken and Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague.
Politicians also mentioned state Rep. Jay Edwards, Sec. State Senator Frank LaRose, State Senator Matt Dolan and State Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik.
Operating budget
This year, lawmakers will also have to pass a modern operating budget for 2026-2027, providing billions to fund government and other state policies. State Rep. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), who, according to a nameplate on the door of a specific chair, is expected to be the modern finance chairman, previously explained that this includes school funding, tax changes and supports or cuts to public programs such as Medicaid.
“The job of every senator and member of the House, as you know, is to try to represent their districts well and meet the needs in the budget process that we’re going through,” he said. “If something doesn’t get funded now, it may get funded in the next cycle.”
House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) is hoping for property tax relief, but she’s not counting on it from her GOP colleagues.
“We have said from the beginning that by not providing direct property tax relief, it is a choice made by the majority to not address this issue and the real financial burden on many Ohioans, especially those who are older and retired. set budgets,” Russo said.
There are possibilities to provide immediate aid, she added.
Dozens of bills have been proposed to provide relief to homeowners from the ever-increasing property taxes. Commissions were established. Statewide reports have been released, including one on Wednesday. Nothing universal was achieved.
“We don’t have to wait with the budget in six months, when, by the way, we will probably have less income,” the leader continued. “Other tax cuts are being considered that will reduce the amount coming in to provide relief to residents.”
The state will have much less money than in previous years because there are no more federal pandemic dollars.
Do I think it will pass then too? Probably not,” she added. “I think there will always be excuses not to address this issue.”
Republicans continue to say they will eventually address property taxes and that they will likely be included in the budget. However, outgoing state Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) raised the issue that lawmakers need to really sit down and think about the possible consequences of their choices.
“We have to be careful when providing this type of property tax relief so as not to disrupt the school funding formula…” Seitz said. “I would hate to see the constitutional school funding formula derailed at the last minute by a series of local property tax cuts that throw it out of balance.”
Change of area
The Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC) is tasked with drawing a modern map of the state’s 15 congressional districts. Currently, Republicans control 10 seats and Democrats control five.
The ORC consists of seven seats. Two of them in the House of Representatives will always go to Republicans and two to Democrats. The three remaining seats are governor, secretary of state and auditor.
This led to Ohio’s 2021-2022 redistricting mess, during which the bipartisan Ohio Supreme Court rejected seven different adopted maps, citing that GOP committee members drew lines to unfairly benefit their party.
Because the ORC vote on the map was not unanimous when it was first approved in 2022, it could only last four years. This congressional map was ruled unconstitutional, along with a similar earlier version, by the bipartisan Ohio Supreme Court.
Redistricting reform, Issue 1, failed last November, so Republican lawmakers will continue to govern. With a slim GOP majority in Congress, both sides of the argument have a lot to lose.
While a majority of voters rejected changing the current system, politicians across parties admit the 2021-2022 redistricting process was a “mess,” as DeWine put it.
The governor has proposed a different plan – based on Iowa’s hybrid system – to prevent gerry tampering. DeWine is a member of that commission and has voted for all the maps that the Supreme Court has found unconstitutional.
Marijuana reform
Now that Speaker-elect Matt Huffman (Lima) will control the House and President-elect Rob McColley (Napoleon) will lead the Senate, they will likely have a better chance of changing marijuana policy.
Currently, adults 21 and older can smoke, vape and do weed. Individual Ohioans can grow up to six plants, 12 per household.
“There were some fundamental flaws in the initiative presented and passed by voters – which tends to happen when there is no vetting on all sides,” Huffman said. “The bill passed by the Senate last December addresses many of these issues.”
In December 2023, the Senate passed a bill restricting marijuana. If signed into law, it would reduce THC content and raise costs. Among dozens of other restrictions and changes to what voters chose, it would ban the expansive majority of vapes. It would also reduce home marijuana cultivation from 12 to six.
House leaders were adamant that they listened to Ohioans by blocking Huffman’s proposal.
But now Huffman is set to become Speaker of the House of Representatives, so he has a better chance of changing the law.
The sale has been going on since August, so last year’s House leaders said changing the law now would be harmful and confusing.
When will it start?
The 136th General Assembly begins on Monday, January 6. New lawmakers will be sworn in during a ceremony in each chamber.
This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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