In a new policy memo, The Buckeye Institute outlines how Senate Bill 256 and House Bill 534 take reasonable, necessary steps to help Ohio families seeking debt relief. “Ohio’s household debt crisis demands practical, consumer-focused solutions. Clarifying the state’s debt-settlement law offers a responsible path forward by enhancing consumer choice. Senate Bill 256 and House Bill 534 take reasonable, necessary steps to help Ohio families seeking debt relief.”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Energy Committee on the policies in Ohio Senate Bill 103, which will help create a dynamic energy future for Ohio by eliminating rigid regulatory procedures for approving natural gas projects. The Buckeye Institute noted that delays in approving natural gas projects undermine Ohio’s “economic and technological growth,” and that the policies in Senate Bill 103 will “help keep Ohio competitive and spur economic development by attracting new technology and industrial investment.”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House General Government Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 59, which opens doors to Ohio’s workers by eliminating and reforming unnecessary occupational licensing requirements that make it harder to start a new career or get a promotion. The Buckeye Institute urged lawmakers to adopt the recommendations outlined in The Buckeye Institute’s third Opening Doors policy brief and eliminate or reform 39 state-required licenses. 

The Buckeye Institute submitted written testimony to the Ohio Senate Local Government Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 309, which gives county budget commissions another tool to reduce property tax levies if the levies collect more taxes than the voters approved. This is one of the 10 recommendations The Buckeye Institute offered to the Property Tax Reform Working Group to lower Ohio’s soaring property taxes.

The Buckeye Institute filed an important amicus brief in Columbus City School District v. State of Ohio, calling on Ohio’s 10th District Court of Appeals to protect school choice for parents and students who have benefited from voucher programs and those who will benefit from them in the future. “School choice is being threatened by a coalition of disgruntled and self-interested districts that previously tried and failed to end Ohio’s groundbreaking Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program.”

The Buckeye Institute filed its appeal brief in Vanderveer v. OAPSE with Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals, calling on the court to reverse the lower court’s dismissal of the case and end the union’s wage theft practices. The Buckeye Institute represents Katrina Vanderveer of Wauseon, Ohio, in Vanderveer v. OAPSE—one of several union wage theft cases brought by The Buckeye Institute. This case will decide “whether the courthouse doors are open to Mrs. Vanderveer—and other Ohioans...”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Public Insurance and Pensions Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 473, which includes “reform[s] that will help local governments live within their means and make public employee compensation more transparent for taxpayers.” The pension pick-up loophole diverts money from public services that taxpayers expect or requires property tax hikes that taxpayers don’t—“just the sort of opaque and expensive public perk that has fueled taxpayer frustration.” 

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Technology and Innovation Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 413, which will open local government accounting books to the public. “Local governments and jurisdictions are already required to make tax collection and spending information available upon taxpayer request. House Bill 413 simply “streamlines that process by making local revenues and expenditures immediately accessible online, eliminating the need for residents to file time-consuming public records requests and wait weeks for a response.”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Technology and Innovation Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 392, which will “help position Ohio as a national leader in AI and data processing technology.” House Bill 392 establishes “clear regulatory guardrails to properly balance innovation and responsible oversight of emerging technology,” and “provides regulatory certainty for the AI sector by preventing local governments from imposing a patchwork of contradictory rules that are expensive and difficult to follow.”

The Buckeye Institute commented on the passage of House Bill 186 and House Bill 335 by the Ohio House of Representatives, saying, “Taken together, House Bill 186 and House Bill 335 will help rein in unvoted property tax increases as The Buckeye Institute recommended. While there remains more to do to reform Ohio’s expensive system of local government and protect Ohioans from spiking property taxes, the adoption of the policies in House Bill 186 and House Bill 335 is another step in the right direction...”