The Buckeye Institute submitted a public comment to the Ohio Supreme Court, urging the court to adopt a proposed amendment that would allow non-lawyer professionals, such as appraisers, accountants, and real estate brokers, to present evidence and represent homeowners at county board of revision hearings. Buckeye’s comment argues that expanded non-lawyer representation would lower the cost of challenging a property valuation in Ohio, particularly for lower-income homeowners seeking to correct inaccurate assessments.

The Buckeye Institute filed a public comment with the Ohio Supreme Court, urging it to adopt changes to the Government of the Bar Rules and expand law school accreditation options beyond the American Bar Association. The court’s proposed amendments come on the heels of changes at the federal level that would make it easier for new accreditors to receive recognition. The court’s proposed amendments dovetail with the proposed federal changes and will increase competition in law school accreditation and make accreditors more accountable.

The Buckeye Institute filed public comments with the Ohio Supreme Court, urging the court to adopt proposed amendments to the common pleas statistical reporting form, writing, “For more than a decade, The Buckeye Institute has championed commonsense public safety reforms. Unfortunately, Ohio’s balkanized court system makes it difficult for stakeholders and policymakers to obtain reliable data on criminal cases necessary for effective policymaking. The proposed amendments to the common pleas statistical reporting form take a small but meaningful step to resolve this data deficiency.”

The Buckeye Institute submitted comments to the American Bar Association Council on Law School Accreditation, urging reforms to accreditation standards to focus on student outcomes. The Buckeye Institute writes, “The ABA Standards are overbroad, burdensome, and focus on process rather than student outcome. The accreditation process itself lacks definitiveness and transparency, allowing regulators to take an ‘I know it when I see it’ approach to rule enforcement, which increases compliance costs and stifles academic freedom, institutional innovation, and competition.”

This comment, submitted by The Buckeye Institute, supports repealing the American Bar Association’s Standard 303(c) requirement that law schools must mandate bias training to receive ABA accreditation, arguing the mandate exceeds accreditation’s proper scope and imposes ideological uniformity on law schools. 

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio Select Committee on Data Centers. In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a senior research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, noted that “legitimate constituent concerns about data center proliferation cannot be ignored,” but reminded lawmakers what is at stake for Ohio and the country and urged them to adopt policies that will secure “America’s digital infrastructure and win[ ] the race for advanced computing technology.”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio Senate Education Committee on the policies in Ohio Senate Bill 311, which will make school choice more accessible by transforming unused vacant schools into centers of learning. In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a senior research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, praised lawmakers for their efforts to expand school choice, but noted that “those opportunities diminish when schools cannot physically open, expand, or operate in communities where demand exists.”

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.”