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.”

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.

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Public Safety Committee on the policy in Ohio House Bill 667. In his testimony, Alex M. Certo, a senior associate legal fellow at The Buckeye Institute, praised lawmakers for their more than a decade “commitment to prudent, commonsense public safety policies and reforms,” and urged them to reject changes that would undermine the success of T-CAP while doing little to protect Ohio’s communities from violent criminal offenders.

The Buckeye Institute submitted written testimony to the Ohio House Energy Committee on Ohio House Concurrent Resolution 35, which calls on Congress to expedite energy production. In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a senior research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, applauded lawmakers for adopting reforms championed by The Buckeye Institute and called House Concurrent Resolution 35 “the logical next step” to “modernize and streamline federal regulatory policies” and expedite energy production across the country to meet growing demand.

The Buckeye Institute submitted written testimony to the Ohio House Finance Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 413, which will shine a light on the work of local government. In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, noted that local governments and jurisdictions are already required to make tax collection and spending information available upon taxpayer request. House Bill 413 simply “streamlines that process.”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Finance Committee on the policy in Ohio House Bill 645, which, if adopted, would make state government better stewards of Ohio’s taxpayer dollars and make state government more accountable to voters by implementing zero-based budgeting, which forces government officials to justify the use of every taxpayer dollar rather than simply maintaining—or increasing—government spending on programs that may have outlived their usefulness.