The Buckeye Institute released Access to Health Care Made Easier: Promoting Best Practices in Ohio’s Telehealth Policy, which looks at the benefits of telehealth that the increase in demand and use during the pandemic have revealed. With the benefits of telehealth evident, the report outlines why expanded access to telehealth should be made permanent, which lawmakers are considering in House Bill 679. 

Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, issued a statement on the policies in Senate Bill 352 sponsored by Senator Kristina Roegner (R-27). The legislation would end Ohio’s unconstitutional emergency local income tax structure that proactively deemed all work performed at an employee’s home during Ohio’s stay-at-home order to have been performed in an often higher-taxed office location instead.

The Buckeye Institute submitted written testimony to the Ohio Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on the policies in House Bill 669, which would permanently allow restaurants and bars to offer alcohol on their carryout and delivery menus. In his testimony, Buckeye’s Greg R. Lawson wrote, “By permanently allowing Ohio restaurants and bars to offer alcohol on their carryout and delivery menus, House Bill 669 throws a needed lifeline to the small, local businesses and their employees struggling to survive COVID-19’s economic shutdown.”

Rea S. Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute and vice president of policy, commented on newly released employment data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, saying, “Although there are glimmers of hope in the August numbers, Ohio’s recovery is slow and at the current pace of hiring the state will not fully recover until the summer of 2021. That is too long for Ohioans who are in desperate need of a job to wait.”

Rea S. Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute and vice president of policy, issued a statement on the signing of Ohio House Bill 606—which provides businesses, schools, and frontline workers with critical liability protections from COVID-19 lawsuits. Hederman and Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, attended the virtual signing ceremony at the invitation of Governor DeWine.

Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, issued a statement on the Greater Ohio Policy Center’s recent report supporting the continuation of Ohio’s unconstitutional tax structure, saying, “The unconstitutional system in question here is not only unfair to workers, it is unfair to the municipalities that are actually providing public services and are losing out on the tax revenues they are entitled to.”

On Cleveland.com, Buckeye’s Greg Lawson responds to proposals to continue a freeze on state report cards and performance assessments for Ohio schools, writing, “While the idea of a freeze is understandable, given the ongoing uncertainty associated with COVID-19, legislators should be certain that parents can still obtain information to accurately assess how well their school is educating students.”

With some exceptions, state legislatures moved in the direction of easing criminal penalties in a variety of areas in 2019. Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, joins Caleb O. Brown on the Cato Daily Podcast to discuss his new research for The Federalist Society. Alt, a nationally-recognized scholar in criminal law, reviewed the legal landscape of criminal law changes across the country writing that states were most willing to adjust their laws related to criminal sentencing, record expungement and offender registries, marijuana legalization, and restoring voting rights for people convicted of felonies.

As students and teachers return to school, educators are preparing for a new—and unique—school year, getting their classrooms ready—or their at home “office”, and reviewing their to-do lists. One item on the to-do list is the decision to join, remain in, or leave the union. Teachers across the country will make different decisions on this important question and their reasons will vary. Some teachers disagree with the union’s political positions, some believe the union is too expensive and offers little direct benefit to them, some would simply rather spend their money elsewhere, and some believe that union membership is the best decision for them. 

What if something you changed caused devastating unintended consequences? That question is the central theme posed by a new documentary, Safeguard: An Electoral College Story, which premiers today on Amazon Prime. Safeguard is an important film explaining exactly how the Electoral College works in our presidential elections, why our Founders believed it was so important, and what could happen if we got rid of it.