For many Ohioans, getting out of debt is a serious and seemingly impossible effort. The bills keep coming and the interest rates keep piling up. It seems like no matter how hard they try, they can never get ahead of the bills. And this isn’t just a problem facing the poor, it could easily happen to any one of us. In fact, Ohioans have an average of $5,583 in credit card debt—more than 10 percent of the median household income.

This season Serial has come to Cleveland to take a deeper look at a typical criminal justice system. Throughout the podcast series, The Buckeye Institute will look at the issues raised and what Ohio can do to fix some of those issues in a blog series, Justice in Cleveland’s Justice System. In the second episode, we are introduced to a problem in the Cuyahoga County courthouse which permeates courthouses across the state – access to treatment for those suffering from addiction and mental health issues.

Columbus, OH – The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in State National Bank of Big Spring v. Mnuchin urging the Supreme Court of the United States to rein in the power of the unelected administrative state. In its brief, Buckeye argues that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau violates the separation of powers and allows unelected government officials to usurp the power of the states and their elected officials.

In The Plain Dealer, Buckeye’s Greg Lawson looks at Medicaid's pharmaceutical drug program and pharmacy benefits managers writing, “As Medicaid glowers over the state's annual budget and its costs and expenses continue to escalate, state policymakers routinely – and rightly – look for responsible ways to curb those costs in order to preserve other spending priorities without jeopardizing Ohio's fiscal future. Unfortunately, some proposed Medicaid remedies threaten to do more harm than good for Ohio.”

The wildly popular podcast, Serial, has come to Cleveland to take a deeper look at a typical criminal justice system. Throughout the series, The Buckeye Institute will look at the issues raised and what Ohio can do to fix some of those issues. In Episode 1, we look at mens rea and bail reform.

Columbus, OH – Continuing his important work on bail reform, The Buckeye Institute’s Daniel J. Dew filed public comments with the Ohio Supreme Court on proposed criminal rule 46, which would fix Ohio’s broken cash bail system. The comments follow on Dew’s report, “Money Bail”: Making Ohio a More Dangerous Place to Live, and his research that found reforms to Ohio’s cash bail system could save an estimated $67 million in jail costs to communities across the state.

Columbus, OH – Robert Alt, The Buckeye Institute’s president and chief executive officer, issued the following statement after Minnesota Federal District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson denied the motion for preliminary injunction in the case Uradnik v. Inter Faculty Organization, et al.  Alt is one of the lead attorneys representing Kathy Uradnik in her case to end forced exclusive representation.

Issue 1 and its criminal justice reform measures would move Ohio in the right direction on a road paved with good intentions concerning issues such as drug possession, criminal sentencing, and mental health treatment. Unfortunately, Issue 1 proponents have chosen the wrong vehicle to take us where we need to go, and that well-intended, well-paved road may not offer as smooth a ride as many of its advocates claim.

Columbus, OH – Andrew J. Kidd, Ph.D., an economist with The Buckeye Institute’s Economic Research Center, commented on newly released employment data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, writing, “An unchanged unemployment rate and modest job growth mark the end of the summer for Ohio. Although the unemployment rate remained the same in August at 4.6 percent—and still lags behind the nation at 3.9 percent—Ohio did add 9,400 private sector jobs.”

Columbus, OH – Robert Alt, The Buckeye Institute’s president and chief executive officer, issued the following statement after the preliminary injunction hearing in the case Uradnik v. Inter Faculty Organization, et al. Alt is one of the lead attorneys representing Kathy Uradnik in her case to end forced exclusive representation by her union.