Amy-where, Amy-time: Former Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton is considering a Democratic run for U.S. Senate next year, Seth Richardson reports. Discussions about recruiting her predate Republican Sen. Rob Portman’s announcement that he wouldn’t run, with some Democrats now viewing her as a potential game-changer in an election for an open seat.
Senate tracker: A couple more Ohio Republicans are considering running for Portman’s Senate seat. Jim Renacci, the former Wadsworth congressman who’s been laying the groundwork to challenge DeWine next year, wrote on Facebook he’s going through an “exploratory deep dive phase” over his “options to re-enter public office” over the next 60 days. Ohio Sen. Matt Dolan, a Chagrin Falls Republican, said in an interview he’s considering running for the seat, too. Meanwhile, Rep. Troy Balderson said he’s not, as did former Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel.
Impeachment update: Portman on Tuesday joined 44 other Republicans in supporting an effort by Kentucky’s Rand Paul to reject the constitutionality of impeaching former President Donald Trump, Sabrina Eaton writes. “I’ve been very clear that former President Trump bears some responsibility for what happened on January 6 through his words and actions,” said a statement Portman released after the vote. “I will listen as a juror, but as I have said, I do have questions about the constitutionality of holding a Senate trial and removing from office someone who is now a private citizen.”
Breaking curfew? Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday unveiled a plan to roll back Ohio’s coronavirus curfew if the number of hospitalizations in the state keep dropping. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, if COVID-19 hospitalizations remain beneath 3,500, the curfew would be pushed back to 11 p.m. starting Thursday. In a few weeks, if hospitalizations drop below 2,500 for seven days in a row, the curfew would be lifted entirely.
Lower case levels: With 4,262 new cases on Tuesday, DeWine called the level “a pretty good number,” especially compared to recent months, when more than 8,000 new cases were seen in a day, Laura Hancock reports.
Extra, extra: DeWine announced that he’s diverting leftover coronavirus vaccines that nursing home workers declined, combined with allocations of vaccines that used to go to vaccinating health care workers, to older Ohioans in the 1B group. Hancock reports that Ohio health care workers have discovered, thanks to their technique and supplies, a way to get six doses instead of five out of Pfizer vials, which will also produce more vaccines.
School vaccine rollout: Vaccinations will begin this week in Cincinnati for school staff ahead of the Feb. 1 start date, DeWine said in Tuesday’s coronavirus briefing. Emily Bamforth reports the schools that will receive the vaccines beginning next week have already been notified, and the rest will receive information by Friday.
Shots shots shots shots: The Biden administration has announced that starting next week, states will see a 16% boost in vaccine deliveries, the Associated Press reported. Asked about the report on Tuesday, DeWine declined to comment.
School spending: The Ohio auditor’s office released an audit of the Ohio Department of Education, which claimed that per-pupil spending had a low correlation with per-pupil spending. Bamforth reports that socioeconomic data was not considered in that analysis, though data showed that as median income went up in the top performers, so did achievement.
Ohio online: U.S. News & World Report ranked online programs for 2021, as the coronavirus pandemic pushed many universities to further invest in online education. Bamforth runs down which schools made the top 100.
Seeking sanctuary: State Rep. Michael Loychik is preparing legislation that would make Ohio the fifth state to become a “Second Amendment sanctuary state” that nullifies gun-control measures put into place by the Biden Administration. But as Pelzer reports, one potential problem is the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states that federal law generally trumps state law.
Buggin’ out: The Ohio Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday over whether Volkswagen should pay the state of Ohio hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties for the automaker’s 2015 emissions cheating scandal. As Pelzer writes, VW’s attorney asserted that if Ohio wins, it would create “regulatory chaos” for the auto industry. A lawyer for the state, though, stated that Ohio has the power to punish the German automaker for tampering with cars being driven on Ohio roads.
A seat at the table? The Ohio Supreme Court will hear a challenge Wednesday morning to Marsy’s Law, a constitutional amendment voters passed in 2018 that secures rights of crime victims, including the right to be present in the courtroom during the trial of an accused perpetuator. In State. v. Montgomery, the court is asked whether a victim sitting at the table with the prosecutor during the trial of a Stark County man convicted of raping and kidnapping her was so prejudicial that he didn’t receive a fair trial. An Ohio-based spokeswoman for the Marsy’s Law campaign said the case had nothing to do with the law, “because nothing in the Marsy’s Law amendment to the Ohio Constitution gives a victim the right to sit next to the prosecutor.”
Homeland Security: Portman was one of two Republicans on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs who voted Tuesday to bring Alejandro Mayorkas’ nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security to the U.S. Senate floor. Portman said he has reservations about Mayorkas after an Inspector General’s report indicated he mistreated agency employees and acted to benefit politically connected individuals, but feels that “he’s learned from that,” and it’s important to get a DHS Secretary in place quickly to address problems like the SolarWinds cybersecurity breach.
Ohio matters: The retirement decision Portman announced Monday prompted the New York Times to run a lengthy Q&A interview with Dayton mayor Nan Whaley about her interest in succeeding Portman, and a separate piece about Trump’s potential role in that race and others around the country, including a potential primary challenge to Rocky River GOP Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, who voted to impeach him.
They’re coming home: The Ohio National Guard has ended its special duty to provide security during the Biden presidential inauguration. About 1,000 had been assigned to Washington D.C., while another 500 were deployed to help state and local officials in Columbus at the Ohio Statehouse.
Mailing it in: A FirstEnergy-backed political group’s campaign paid for mailers attacking Cleveland Public Power as part of its campaign against the city-owned utility, John Caniglia reports. Cleveland City Council members said they’re looking for an apology from FirstEnergy.
Five things we learned from the Jan. 15, 2020 financial disclosure of Sen. Sandra O’Brien, an Ashtabula County Republican who took office this month after winning the November election:
1. At the time, she did not disclose any current employers.
2. Her only disclosed source of income was a pension from the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. She is a former Ashtabula County auditor.
3. She or a family member do business under the following companies: Optical Center Inc., R.P. McAuliffe and Son Inc.
4. At some point in 2019, she owed at least $1,000 to U.S. Bank and Capital One.
5. She disclosed owning no real estate other than her home, holding no professional licenses or anyone owing her at least $1,000.
State Reps. Kristin Boggs, Jamie Callender, Brett Hillyer, Mike Skindell and Dick Stein have been named to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.
State Reps. Erica Crawley, Scott Oelslager and Shane Wilkin have been named to the Ohio Controlling Board.
Citizens for Community Values has hired David Mahan as its director of policy.
State Rep. Adam Miller
Matt Eiting, legislative aide to state Rep. Mark Johnson
“I make no apologies for being a rough man ready to do rough things in rough situations. It is absolutely necessary at times, and has been throughout our history.”
- Adam Newbold, a former Navy SEAL from Lisbon, Ohio who was photographed sitting on a police motorcycle at the steps of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot there, to the New York Times.
Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free.
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