The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio Senate Public Utilities Committee on the policies in Ohio Senate Bill 103, which takes “great strides to meet rising [energy] demand without sacrificing consumer protections.” At its core, the bill reforms Ohio’s rigid regulatory procedures for natural gas project approvals through the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO).

The Buckeye Institute commented on the report issued by Governor DeWine’s Property Tax Reform Working Group, saying, “Some of the recommendations from the Property Tax Reform Working Group are positive and align with recommendations made by The Buckeye Institute. However, as Ohioans clamor for relief from skyrocketing property taxes, more needs to be done. Ohio needs to revamp its complex and opaque local government system, as well as its thousands of separate taxing authorities…”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Government Oversight Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 176, which will boost innovation, help businesses access capital, and help consumers access better and safer products. In the testimony, The Buckeye Institute noted that, if adopted, House Bill 176 would make “Ohio the sixth state with a universal sandbox across economic sectors, benefiting entrepreneurs, business startups, and consumers by encouraging teamwork between businesses and state regulators.” 

Robert Alt, president and CEO of The Buckeye Institute, joins Case in Point host Hans von Spakovsky to discuss Buckeye’s lawsuit against the IRS—Buckeye v. IRS—and the dangers posed to the privacy of the public by IRS regulations and mishandling of taxpayer information. They also delve into Robert’s experience as a mountain climber and his recent ascent of Mt. Everest. 

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Ways and Means Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 309, which empowers county budget commissions to reduce property tax levies if those levies collect more than approved by voters. 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. Find more Buckeye Institute recommendations to reform local government and lower property taxes at BuckeyeInstitute.org/LocalGovReform.

In The Washington Times, The Buckeye Institute and Americans for Prosperity-Ohio put a spotlight on Ohio’s recent energy policy reforms as a standard for policymakers nationwide. “Ohio’s sweeping energy policy reforms have taken a bold, market-based turn that state and federal policymakers would be wise to follow. Evolving from Rust Belt factories to a high-tech haven, Ohio has seen the technological future, and it needs energy — reliable, affordable energy — and a lot of it.”

At Cleveland.com, The Buckeye Institute calls on lawmakers to re-establish a committee to review all of Ohio’s tax loopholes, writing, “While not all tax expenditures should be eliminated, they should all be reviewed to ensure they are accomplishing the goals for which they were created. And closing loopholes —as recommended by The Buckeye Institute — would allow lawmakers to pursue broad-based tax reform benefiting all Ohioans, not merely the well-connected few.”

The Buckeye Institute filed two sets of public comments—one from Buckeye’s policy experts, the other from Buckeye’s legal experts—outlining the technical and legal reasons the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should rescind its 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding and motor-vehicle greenhouse gas standards, which have driven up the price of cars and trucks for American consumers.

The Buckeye Institute commented on the newly released jobs report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, saying,  “In August, Ohio’s unemployment rate remained flat at five percent, while the labor force participation rate declined slightly to 62.5 percent as more Ohioans left the workforce. This continues a trend where the national job market—which also weakened in August—remains stronger than Ohio’s… The silver lining is that the private sector continues to add jobs in Ohio, averaging 6,000 new jobs a month.”

The Buckeye Institute submitted written testimony at the invitation of Ohio’s Property Tax Reform Working Group. Buckeye’s testimony outlines 10 specific recommendations to reform local government and reduce the soaring property tax burden afflicting Ohio homeowners. In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, noted that the driving force behind increasing property taxes is the “ever-rising cost of maintaining Ohio’s extraordinarily complicated local government structure.”