The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio Senate Energy Committee on Ohio House Bill 646, which will set policy to govern data center development in Ohio. In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a senior research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, outlined how critical data centers are to Ohio’s economic development and the future of manufacturing, healthcare systems, university research, national defense, cybersecurity, communications, and financial markets.

The Buckeye Institute submitted testimony to the Ohio Senate Energy Committee on Ohio Senate Concurrent Resolution 20, which calls on Congress to expedite energy production. In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a senior research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, noted that Ohio “continues to attract new advanced manufacturing firms, cloud computing companies, semiconductor plants, and digital storage centers” that help the United States “maintain its technological advantage.” As these industries “come online,” their “demand for energy is outpacing current supply.”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Transportation Committee on the policy in Ohio House Bill 814, which sets up a process to end the burdensome E-Check program. In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a senior research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, called for an end to E-Check in the affected counties—Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit—noting that the region has “demonstrate[ed] a 40 percent reduction in air pollutants over the past five years.”

The Buckeye Institute filed its merit brief in Sheldon v. Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE), calling on the Ohio Supreme Court to open Ohio’s courthouse doors to Ohioans fighting to end union wage theft. The Buckeye Institute was supported in its case by several nationally recognized public policy and legal groups that filed briefs in favor of Buckeye’s client, Matthew Sheldon.

The Buckeye Institute submitted testimony to the Ohio House Medicaid Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 795, and offered policy solutions to eliminate Medicaid fraud while maintaining and protecting this valuable program. In his testimony, Rea S. Hederman Jr., the vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute, noted that protecting Medicaid’s “integrity is vital for delivering benefits while maintaining taxpayer trust,” but pointed out that “waste and fraud plague” the program.

At The Center Square and The Gazette, Rea S. Hederman Jr., vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute, and John Hendrickson, policy director for Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation, look at Iowa’s successful tax reforms adopted under Gov. Kim Reynolds. “It is imperative that the flat tax is protected through conservative budgeting and that policymakers continue to look for avenues to further lower the rate. Lower taxes produce prosperity over time, and Iowa is benefiting from Gov. Reynolds’s strong reforms.”

When Jimmy Carter legalized home brewing in the 1970s, it unleashed a wave of American innovation that changed the craft beer market forever. Now, there is an opportunity to do the same thing with distilled spirits. Robert Alt, president and CEO of The Buckeye Institute, joined Matt Kibbe on Kibbe on Liberty to discuss Buckeye’s cases—Ream v. U.S. Department of Treasury and McNutt v. U.S. Department of Justice—to end the federal ban on home distilling. 

In The Washington Post, Jarrett Dieterle of the Manhattan Institute looks at The Buckeye Institute’s cases—Ream v. U.S. Department of Treasury and McNutt v. U.S. Department of Justice—challenging the federal ban on home distilling. Dieterle writes, “Two recent federal circuit court decisions have teed up a likely Supreme Court fight over the ban that could shape the boundaries of government power.”

Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, commented on Ohio’s newly-introduced capital budget, which appropriates nearly $3.7 billion in state spending, saying, “In order to eliminate Ohio’s income tax altogether, though, the General Assembly will need to reduce state spending, including through its capital budget. Continuing with business as usual does not lay the foundation for Ohio to join the no-state-income-tax club.”

The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Khatibi v. Lawson, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to tell California that medical professionals do not relinquish their First Amendment rights when the state licenses them. “The state of California has a right to ensure doctors and other medical professionals are qualified to do their jobs. It does not have the right to force these professionals to parrot the government’s position on controversial topics.”