Ohio House Democrats jammed up a tax bill Wednesday after Republicans rejected a suite of changes – most pointedly, a provision benefitting investors who make millions of dollars investing in startups. 

Senate Bill 9, the state legislation, would direct Ohio Department of Taxation officials to conform to federal tax cuts enacted by President Donald Trump via the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 

Democrats in the state House targeted one provision in particular – the expansion of the “qualified small business stock gain exclusion,” a tax cut for early investors into companies that succeed and grow in value up to $75 million.  

The change will affect fewer than 1,000 taxpayers, according to Legislative Budget Office estimates shared with Signal Ohio. Of all such payers nationally, 94% of them report household income of more than $1 million per year, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a progressive think tank. 

By the back-of-the-napkin math from Rep. Chris Glassburn, a Cleveland-area Democrat, those 1,000 payers (mostly millionaires) comprise .008% of the 11.88 million Ohioans. 

“This is not just a perfunctory measure, this is a large, policy-changing bill that removes money available for the state government to do other business,” he said in a floor speech. “This is a deduction of the 1% of the 1%.”

Republicans control 65 of 99 House seats, meaning they rarely need Democratic buy-in to effectuate their agenda. But legislation can’t take effect within 90 days without what’s known as an “emergency clause,” which requires a two-thirds vote. The emergency clause failed by three votes. The House passed the bill regardless, but its fate is less certain as Tax Day approaches. 

“We can bring it up for another vote in a future session, perhaps next Wednesday,” House Speaker Matt Huffman, an Allen County Republican, said, according to Gongwer News Service. “Or if Democrats aren’t going to agree to the emergency clause, then folks will just have a harder time filing their income tax returns this year.”

House Finance Chair Brian Stewart, a central Ohio Republican, said on X that the Democrats’ “temper tantrum is going to cost Ohioans millions of dollars in needless tax-filing & preparation charges.” So much for “affordability,” he added. 

Rep. Dan Troy, a Lake County Democrat, called the measure an “egregious” giveaway to the ultrawealthy. He noted that some conservative states like Alabama and Mississippi, and mixed political states like Wisconsin, have rejected the tax break. He said Ohio should do so, as the state did in the 1980s in rebuffing certain Ronald Reagan-era tax changes. 

The state isn’t required to adopt the federal changes. But they support big and small businesses and residents, according to GOP House Ways and Means Chair Bill Roemer. And the conformity makes tax season easier for people, businesses and the tax department, which means less expensive as well. 

The bill as a whole is estimated to cost Ohio $63.3 million in revenue in 2026 and $29.5 million in 2027, according to the Legislative Service Commission. 

Democrats, citing Tax Department estimates, say the qualified small business stock gain exclusion alone will cost Ohio $22 million over a decade. And that might be a lowball, given Wisconsin, as it adopted the tax change, pegged the 10-year cost estimate around $86 million.

Republicans said they didn’t reject the Democrats’ amendment on the merits. Rather, according to a ruling from Huffman, later backed up by a party-line vote of the House, ruled the Democrats’ amendment contained other changes that were not germane to the bill. Their full amendment would have redirected some of the $22 million to support military families of dead soldiers, food assistance and others. 

This story originally appeared at signalohio.com.

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Ohio’s upcoming elections are flush with Republicans who denied the reality of the last one.

In races for Congress, statewide offices, and seats in the state legislature, Republicans up and down the ballot have alleged voter fraud in 2020. In some cases, they baselessly claimed the scale of the fraud was enough to tip the scale for President Joe Biden to win over predecessor Donald Trump in 2020.

Various post-election audits and other investigations have found only extremely rare instances of voter fraud that comprise small fractions of one percent of the total electorate. There’s no evidence of voter fraud anywhere near sufficient enough to have swayed the outcome of any state’s results. Regardless, conservative politicians have used their social media accounts and media profiles to continue to sow doubt and air unsubstantiated and often debunked theories of how the 2020 election was stolen.

Five Ohio Republicans in Congress — Steve Chabot, Warren Davidson, Bob Gibbs, Bill Johnson, and Jim Jordan — voted to object to the certification of at least one state. They cast their votes after hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump mobbed and ransacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, assaulting police officers and desecrating the seat of government.

Jordan, Gibbs, and Johnson, plus Reps. Bob Latta and Brad Wenstrup also signed onto a lawsuit alleging “unconstitutional irregularities involved in the 2020 presidential election” in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. The filing describes the election as having been “riddled with an unprecedented number of serious allegations of fraud and irregularities.”

In the state House, meanwhile, 42 GOP lawmakers sent a letter to Attorney General Dave Yost alleging similar “irregularities in the vote count, unexplained statistical anomalies, as well as grave allegations of irregularities and misconduct” in four swing states.

Here’s a look back on what the elected officials and candidates have said about the 2020 election.

U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance

“There were certainly people voting illegally on a large-scale basis,” Vance said to the Youngstown Vindicator in October 2021.

Earlier this year, Vance answered in the affirmative when asked if he thought the election was stolen.

“I mean, look, I think the fundamental problem is we had a massive effort to shift the election by very powerful people in this country,” he told Spectrum News in January 2022. “I don’t care whether you say it’s rigged, whether you say it’s stolen, like I’ll say what I’m going to say about it.”

However, in comments in a recent Columbus Dispatch interview and public debate, he has downplayed his claims of outright fraud and said his issue is that the technology industry wields too much influence over elections.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose

As Ohio’s Secretary of State, LaRose has generally stopped short of making an outright declaration of a stolen election while hyping the infinitesimally rare rates of voter fraud.

“Here they go again. Mainstream media trying to minimize voter fraud to suit their narrative,’” LaRose wrote on Twitter in February 2022, sharing a media report.

“The Hill uses a press release from my office to falsely claim ‘there’s nothing to see here – move along.’ WRONG! The alleged voter fraud uncovered by my office and referred for prosecution this week is ONLY THE BEGINNING. This is one of MANY investigations.”

Congressman Jim Jordan

Rep. Jim Jordan began issuing statements on social media hinting at or outright declaring that the election was stolen shortly after Election Day, according to a compilation of dozens of Jordan’s statements over several months on the subject from Just Security, a national security analysis outlet.

He attended a “stop the steal” rally in Pennsylvania; falsely claimed that dead people voted in some states; claimed some “missing memory cards” with votes on them were found in Georgia; called for an investigation of “allegations of actual election error and misconduct;” claimed “anomalies” were found in Dominion Voting Systems machines; forwarded White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows a legal theory holding that the vice president can reject the certification of Biden’s election; and others.

This occurred as Jordan helped lead a congressional effort to object to states’ certification of Biden’s win.

On Jan. 5, 2021, Jordan told Fox News that there was “fraud on top of the unconstitutional way they ran the election,” referring to states changing election laws without state legislatures to cater to voting during the pandemic.

“Once they got that done, then they added fraud on top of it,” he said. “And that’s why President Trump wasn’t elected president.”

Congressman Brad Wenstrup

In December, Wenstrup said to Spectrum News that Americans should be free from the election “uncertainties that have been so evident in 2020.”

He signed onto the lawsuit challenging the election results but declined to object to the certification of the election on Jan. 6, 2021. He continued to hint at the existence of voter fraud regardless in a statement after the attack.

“I believe there remain constitutional concerns and actual violations regarding election administration,” he said. “Understandably, many Americans across the political spectrum have concerns about its fairness and accuracy”

Congressman Steve Chabot

In December 2020, Chabot told Spectrum News that Trump has “every right to exhaust his legal remedies, which he’s doing at this point.”

In a statement hours before the attacks on Jan. 6, 2021, he alleged voter fraud but said he was undecided on whether he’d object to certification, which he later did.

“Where do I stand on this? I do believe that there was fraud and irregularities in a number of states. Whether it was enough to make the difference in the election, I don’t know,” he said. “And since it’s been my experience in life that I learn a lot more by listening than by talking, I am reserving my judgment on how I’ll ultimately vote until I’ve studied all the available evidence, heard from my constituents on both sides of the issue, and listened closely to the debate on the floor today. Then I’ll decide.”

Congressman Bill Johnson

In December 2020, Johnson told Spectrum News that while Biden is technically president, “the 2020 election was tainted with credible allegations of voter fraud, irregularities, and media bias at a level not seen in the modern era.”

Returning to the Capitol after law enforcement extricated the rioters, Johnson objected to the electoral certification, alleging election impropriety.

“I will support objections to the certification of the Electoral College vote of Pennsylvania, and possibly other states on grounds that they: potentially violated the U.S. Constitution; disregarded their own state election laws; and/or failed to count all legal ballots,” he said to the Ohio Capital Journal. “The Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media hide behind bullying, spin, and carefully crafted talking points to distract from this fact. But most of the people I represent know the truth— that between the news media acting as the public relations department of the Democrat party, Big Tech’s big thumb on the social media and search results scales, and credible allegations of election fraud in some states, many believe the 2020 election wasn’t fair.”

Congressman Bob Gibbs

In December 2020, Gibbs told Spectrum News he didn’t think the election was over and no one should concede. By the time of a Jan. 5, 2021 interview with 1480 WHBC talk radio, he went further.

“We’re seeing in a handful of states there was fraud,” he said. “Everybody agrees there’s always some election fraud … There’s definitely some fraud out there. Fraud of a higher magnitude than we’ve ever seen.”

Congressman Warren Davidson

In a press conference on Dec. 3, 2020, Davidson joined with other GOP congressmen to allege voter fraud.

“There are concerns and sworn statements of fraudulent activity, criminal activity, in this election, and they deserve to be investigated,” he said.

“The Investigation is incredibly consequential because it could change the outcome of the election. For the American people, they deserve to know whether he fraud that happened will change the outcome or won’t.”

Congressman Bob Latta

In an interview with conservative podcaster Andy Hooser in November 2020, Latta said Trump has a right to allege voter fraud in court. He said the Democrats prematurely declared victory after preliminary counts had Biden winning the electoral college.

One month later, he suggested fraudulent ballots helped buoy Biden.

“One of the things that is really important is the American people have got to say, wait a minute, how do you open up a desk drawer and find ballots. It’s just, it’s crazy,” he said.

“I think there are a lot of things that Americans want answers to, and so it’s not one of these things where they can just say, we’re going to push these things under a carpet.”

A spokeswoman for Latta noted that after Trump exhausted his legal appeals, Latta opted to certify Biden’s 2020 win.

Congressional candidate Max Miller

In a September interview with Cleveland.com, Miller affirmed that Biden is the president, but still suggested impropriety in 2020.

“I think there were a lot of irregularities within the election that need to be looked into immediately to give the American people the confidence that they know when they cast a vote that it counts,” he said.

The House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol issued a subpoena compelling him to produce documents and testify to the committee. According to claims in the subpoena, Miller helped to secure a permit for a stage at the “stop the steal” rally. He was also allegedly present for a meeting with Trump about the rally two days before it occurred.

Miller has previously accused the committee of selectively editing snippets of his private deposition that were shared in a public hearing. He declined to comment on the committee’s allegations.

Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, congressional candidate

On her social media platforms, Gilbert has issued vague statements that election officials “stop[ped] counting votes” or claims that Biden votes appeared in the middle of the night.

“Where exactly do they pull ballots out of suitcases under a table in the middle of the night?” she wrote on Facebook on Dec. 4, 2020.

She warned of what a country “without integrity” would look like and called on everyone to stand together against “voter fraud, suppression and irregularities.” In December 2018, she posted a video message on her social media page complaining that “Republicans continue to turn their back on the election integrity fight and on President Trump.”

At noon on Jan. 6, 2021, about two hours before rioters forcefully broke into the U.S. Capitol, Gilbert said on Twitter that Trump “accurately pointed out the immense number of people on the ground to support our president and election integrity.”

In a statement, Gilbert said she never questioned Ohio’s election results, given LaRose’s leadership.

“Election integrity is fundamental to a functioning democracy,” she said. “I believe we must strengthen our voter integrity laws to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. In Congress, I will work to ensure all federal agencies have the funding and resources they need to combat foreign interference and voter fraud.”

J.R. Majewski, congressional candidate

Majewski reportedly attended the “stop the steal” rally outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

He also flirted with allegations of election fraud in a newspaper interview, saying it was purported legitimacy issues with the 2022 election prompted him to run.

“Watching the election get stolen, I think … I don’t want to say stolen,” he said to The Toledo Blade in April 2021. “There were definitely things that happened that caused speculation, and where there’s smoke there’s fire,” he said. “I won’t sit here today and say that I have factual evidence that Joe Biden didn’t beat President Trump in a fair election. I can’t say that. What I can say is there were enough things that caused concern or areas of question to the point that we should have been a little bit more intrusive from an auditing perspective.”

A Majewski spokeswoman didn’t answer whether Majewski stands by these comments and instead accused a reporter of “covering up antisemitism and sexism” from his rival.

This story was originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal and republished here with permission.

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That relationship is most pronounced in places that allow people convicted of violent misdemeanor crimes to carry a concealed firearm.

Those states are associated with an estimated 24% increase in assaults with a gun. “What we saw was that prohibiting violent misdemeanors from obtaining a permit actually ended up mattering a lot,” said Mitchell Doucette, an assistant scientist at Johns Hopkins University Center for Gun Violence Solutions, the lead author on the research.

Additionally, Doucette said the research indicates that states removing a requirement that applicants complete live firearms training, like shooting at a gun range, are associated with an 18% increase in assaults with a firearm.

Measuring the relationship between gun laws and gun crimes

The study analyzes 34 states that relaxed their concealed carry programs between 1980 and 2019, and compares them against predicted crime rates based on data from “may issue” states. The research was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Given the period studied, the research doesn’t consider several GOP states that have removed licensure requirements to carry concealed weapons or a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning New York’s may-issue program.

Permitless concealed carry in Ohio

The recent research focuses on states that loosen concealed carry programs, but not those that remove licensure as a requirement to carry a concealed weapon. However, Doucette said the study suggests that Ohio may experience more gun crimes in the future by removing its ability to screen out people who have been convicted of violent assaults from carrying a concealed weapon.

“I do think that losing that screening ability is important,” he said. “I think it’s meaningful.” 

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark opinion with major implications for state concealed carry laws. A 6-3 majority overturned a New York law that required those seeking to carry a concealed weapon to demonstrate that “proper cause” exists to carry a weapon for self-protection beyond that of the general public. This has prompted some may issue states to revisit their programs. Meanwhile, the Ohio Supreme Court noted the federal ruling and asked parties to submit arguments in a case challenging a state law that prohibits people who are under indictment for violent crimes from possessing a weapon.

Doucette said the research indicates if states want to reduce gun crime, they should ensure their concealed carry laws prohibit those with violent misdemeanors from carrying a weapon.

This article has been corrected to reflect that Ohio’s permitless carry law requires those who carry a concealed weapon to meet the standards required to obtain the license.

This story was originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal and is republished here with permission.

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Last year saw the highest numbers of fatal overdoses, gun deaths, homicides and motor vehicle fatalities among Ohioans over the last 15 years, according to data from the state health department.

It was also the third-worst year on record for suicide deaths of Ohioans, just off the high mark set in 2018.

Taken together, the data adds detail to a troubling trend of a 51% increase in deaths of working age Ohioans over the last 15 years. The mortality falls into the category of what sociologists call “deaths of despair” — often indicators of larger ills around economics, access to health care, economic and geographic mobility, racial inequalities and other complex societal problems.

The data is from the Ohio Department of Health’s mortality database, which tracks deaths from 2007 to the present. It doesn’t include historical data, which would show much higher rates of car crashes and homicides around the 1960s and ’70s.

In 2021, some 5,395 Ohioans fatally overdosed, more than tripling that figure 15 years ago. By state, Ohio had the fourth highest rate of fatal overdoses per capita the year prior, according to the CDC.

Also in 2021, 1,909 Ohioans died by gunshot. This is the fourth year in a row of new record gun deaths in the state. The trend was driven in part by a record number of homicide deaths (1,018). Conversely, suicides comprised a lower percentage of gun deaths in 2021 (53%) than in years past.

Ohio has drastically loosened its gun laws in recent years. Republican state lawmakers passed legislation in 2020 removing the legal duty to seek retreat before shooting to kill in perceived self-defense. They passed legislation this year removing training and background check requirements to carry a concealed weapon. They also passed legislation allowing teachers to carry firearms in the classroom after receiving certain training.

Some 1,455 Ohioans died in motor vehicle crashes in 2021, another new record for the recent era.

The Ohio data follows national trends of record numbers of homicides, unintentional drug overdoses, gun deaths and fatal crashes between 1999 and 2021, according to CDC data shared by the state health department. The year also saw the second highest number of suicides nationally in the same time frame.

What to make of it?

Several public health researchers and policy analysts weighed in on the mortality data.

Greg Moody, the point man on health policy for GOP Gov. John Kasich’s administration and now an Ohio State University professor, said Ohio has seen some its progress against deaths of despair erased.

Solutions are as complicated as the problem, he said. They must address economics, racial and economic inequality, political underrepresentation, wage disparities, pre-existing health conditions, untreated mental illness, and others.

“COVID hit and the real issue became clearer to more people – differences in opportunity related to wealth and race directly impact health outcomes,” he said. “Wealth and race are correlated to the likelihood of exposure to COVID on the job, job loss, exhausted savings, preexisting conditions, access to care – when these change for the worse, so do overdoses, accidents related to alcohol, gun deaths, homicide, suicide, also heart disease, stroke, untreated mental illness, and others. Until we address the root causes, everything else is a trip to the emergency room.”

Amy Bush Stevens, vice president of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, said the deaths seem to be pointing at problematic trends in society more generally.

“One thing that’s particularly troubling is that these causes of death are largely preventable,” she said. “There are effective things that we can be doing to reverse these.”

Some solutions are available, she said. These include expanding Ohio’s good Samaritan laws, which shield people from criminal consequences if they assist others who overdose on drugs; expanding access to naloxone, which reverses drug overdoses; or doing the same for test strips to look for the presence of fentanyl or other synthetic opioids.

Other HPIO research has shined light on similar problematic data points. For instance, firearms have become increasingly prevalent in suicides since 2007; suicides among young Ohioans have increased since 1999 but the trend is most pronounced among young, Black Ohioans; and chronic liver disease, which is linked to alcohol use, increased 74% since 2007.

Dan Flannery directs the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education at Case Western Reserve University and has studied overdose trends in Cuyahoga County. He said the increase in overdoses is likely driven by synthetic opioids like fentanyl or carfentanyl that are increasingly prevalent in the drug supply.

“The last couple years have been nasty across the board with respect to gun violence and overdoses in particular,” he said.

In Cuyahoga County, he said about two in three people who fatally overdose have three or more substances in their system. That could either indicate a person intentionally using multiple drugs, or a tainted supply.

He has joined calls for a public health approach to gun violence, offering an eight-point plan to do so. Several points it calls for like bans on large capacity magazines, red flag laws, safe storage requirements, and others have proven to be non-starters in the Republican-controlled state legislature.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration researched the pandemic-era increase in traffic deaths. It found drivers are increasingly engaging in risky behaviors like speeding, driving under the influence, and skipping on seat belt use.

Dennis Calhoun runs Harm Reduction Ohio, which advocates for policies like needle exchange programs aimed to reduce the risk of drug use. He said the trendlines all seem to point back to the pandemic in one way or another. He noted that patterns like overdose and gun death increases are occurring nationally as well.

Regarding fatal overdoses, he argued one key driver is closures at the U.S.-Mexico border. Those closures, he said, choked off the heroin and cocaine supply. This left a hole in the market that wound up being filled by synthetics like fentanyl.

Political responses

The Ohio Capital Journal shared the data with several state agencies and the two candidates running for governor.

Dan Tierney, a spokesman for Gov. Mike DeWine, said the ODH data confirms nationwide public health trends. And he noted that in the last 12-month period for which CDC data is available, Ohio has experienced a decrease in overdoses — a positive indicator only shared among seven other states.

DeWine, he said, has advocated for mental health, addiction services, and law enforcement responses. He has also called for legislation aimed to restrict cell phone use of drivers, as well as stiffening penalties for violent offenders.

He pushed back on drawing a line between the governor’s gun policies and the recent rise of gun violence.

“We do not see where the specific changes regarding concealed carry permits and school districts’ option for authorizing certain staff to carry in a school safety zone would affect homicide or suicide rates,” he said. “Concealed carry permits have generally been used by law-abiding citizens, and those barred from carrying are barred from having concealed carry permits.”

Nan Whaley, a Democrat running against DeWine, said in a statement that DeWine is more focused on pursuing an “extremist agenda” than tackling problems that have worsened under his watch. And the surge in gun deaths, she said, is unsurprising. His inability to “stand up to the extremes in his party” will only make things worse.

“Legislation he has signed like permitless concealed carry and stand your ground have been proven to make communities less safe,” she said. “Between the troubling data on gun deaths to fatal overdoses, it’s clear that Ohio is certainly worse off under Governor DeWine’s leadership.”

State agencies

Ken Gordon, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health, said one of the agency’s most important roles is surveillance to raise awareness and target resources. He also cited several ODH programs aimed to expand mental health screenings; funding for school-based health centers, some of which include behavioral health services; increasing availability and awareness of naloxone; and a program that has trained doctors to screen some 230,000 patients for opioid-use disorder, which have linked more than 7,000 to relevant health services.

In a statement, the Ohio Department of Public Safety noted several appropriations of federal coronavirus relief funds it steered toward violent crime prevention. Spokesman Bret Crow also noted various traffic safety surveillance efforts and two others targeting drunk driving and distracted driving.

The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services didn’t respond to an inquiry.

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Republicans running for the U.S. senate and governor’s office in Ohio declined to face their opponents in a debate, organizers announced Wednesday, Sept. 21.

Both incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine and U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance will not appear at the planned October forums hosted by the Ohio Debate Commission, an independent outfit with ties to media around the state. The gubernatorial race now has zero debates on the horizon, and the Senate race is hardly looking more hopeful on the subject.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” said ODC Board President Dan Moulthrop.

“This election year has been plagued with candidates from both parties who prize their campaign consultants’ input over voters’ information needs. When 84% of Ohioans are saying they want debates and campaigns refuse a good faith offer from a statewide organization, democracy is paying the price.”

In both races, the Democratic candidates have lambasted their rivals’ apparent unwillingness to debate in public — without the filter of political handlers or media outlets. Both have emphasized a recent USA TODAY Network Ohio/Suffolk University poll indicating 84% of Ohioans want to see their candidates debate.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nan Whaley has criticized DeWine’s refusal to debate and his noncommittal statements on the subject over the past few weeks. DeWine has said his openness to interviews, newspaper editorial meetings, and decades in office are enough for voters to consider.

The Senate debate prognosis is more of a mess.

Ryan publicly agreed to and challenged Vance to three debates hosted by the ODC, Youngstown area news station WFMJ-TV, and Cincinnati news station WLWT.

Vance spurned the ODC debate, with a spokesman calling its executive director a “liberal Tim Ryan donor who has repeatedly and publicly smeared Republicans.” On Monday, in the hours before the deadline to respond to ODC’s debate invitation, two conservative media outlets published stories noting the moderator’s history of contributing $250 to Tim Ryan in 2014 and running for office as a Democrat in 2014 and 2016. FEC records show the director, Jill Zimon, ceased donating to politicians in 2018.

Meanwhile, WFMJ invited both Senate candidates to debate in July. Ryan agreed. Vance has not.

“We have no feedback or answer from the Vance campaign as to whether they are or are not interested,” said news director Mona Alexander.

The Vance campaign declined to comment on the WFMJ matter.

As for WLWT, the candidates can’t agree on the date. Ryan publicly announced he’d participate in the WLWT debate on Oct. 4. Vance, days later, said he’d participate in the WLWT debate at a date still to be determined. However, he agreed to participate in a debate hosted by Nexstar, which owns several TV news stations around Ohio, also scheduled for Oct. 4.

Ryan’s campaign said he won’t do the Nexstar debate because he already committed to the WLWT event. In a statement, he accused Vance of trying to “double-book” himself as an excuse. Vance declined to comment on the WLWT event.

Jeff Benscoter, news director for WLWT, said in an email that both campaigns have “formally agreed to debate on WLWT” but they’re still finalizing a date.

A Nexstar spokesman didn’t respond to an inquiry.

Both Whaley and Ryan expressed frustration with the lack of debates — a longstanding tradition in American politics.

“This is incredibly disappointing. I agreed to this and numerous other debates across Ohio,” Whaley said. “I guess Mike DeWine is too big of a coward to defend his record. Ohio deserves better.”

A DeWine spokesman did not respond to an inquiry.

Ryan’s campaign, in a statement, criticized Vance, noting he participated in an ODC debate in the Republican primary.

“Tim Ryan remains as eager as ever to debate JD Vance, but in order for that to happen, JD needs to stop hiding from debate organizers and trying to back out of forums both candidates have already committed to,” said Ryan’s campaign manager Dave Chase in a statement. “All we want is JD and his team to stop playing games and have the courtesy to respond to these reputable news outlets attempting to give Ohio voters the fair debate they deserve.”

The refusal to publicly debate follows the steady tapering away of democratic norms on the political right. Republicans have similarly declined Senate debates around the country. The New York Times reports that four Republican-controlled states (including Ohio) will hold elections this year on redistricting maps that their state supreme courts have found to be unconstitutional gerrymanders. Polls from different universities in the last two years have found between 60% and 80% of Republicans falsely believe the election was stolen — a claim echoed by Vance. Republican state legislatures around the U.S. in 2021 passed dozens of voter restrictions around mail voting, voter registration, voter identification requirements, and others.

This story was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and is republished here with permission.

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Two Ohio House Republicans introduced legislation on Sept. 15 that would force school boards to disclose to parents all “sexually explicit content” taught in the classroom.

At parents’ request, teachers would need to provide students with alternative instruction that doesn’t include this sexually explicit content.

The legislation — introduced by Republicans Sara Carruthers and D.J. Swearingen — defines sexually explicit content as any description of or any picture, drawing, film, image, or “similar visual representation” depicting sexual conduct.

The sponsors refused to specify what precisely they’re trying inform parents of that’s occurring in the classrooms.

The legislation also requires boards of education to notify students of any “change in the student’s services or monitoring” regarding their mental, emotional, or physical health and well-being. Likewise, it prohibits school personnel from “directly or indirectly encouraging” a student to withhold information from their parents regarding their mental or emotional health.

The legislation continues a pattern of Republican legislation on a state and national level seeking to restrict what’s taught in classrooms, especially as it relates to race relations, American history, gender, and sexual identity.

“I think the real issue here is just how vague the term ‘sexually explicit content’ is,” said Kathryn Poe, a public policy and digital communications manager with Equality Ohio, which advocates for LGBTQ interests.

Poe noted the bill makes no exception for health, biology or anatomy classes. The bill’s real point, Poe said, is to use the legislation’s vague language to chill speech about gender and sexuality in classrooms under guise of parental rights

“We know who will be called out here — it’s LGBT people,” she said.

The newly introduced bill in Ohio is largely a copy of similar legislation recently enacted in Virginia and Missouri. In Missouri, NPR reports the legislation goes as far as to criminalize teachers and librarians providing sexually explicit material to students, leaving librarians pulling books off the shelves to comply. A similar law passed the Pennsylvania Senate earlier this summer, according to the Pennsylvania Capital Star.

Organizations representing the LGBTQ community in other states have also protested the legislation, arguing the laws are a means of marginalizing gay and lesbian voices and experiences in classrooms.

Some 36 states have introduced 137 bills designed to restrict teaching about race, gender, U.S. history and sexual identity, according to a report from PEN America, which advocates for the freedom of expression in literature. Seven became law this year, and another 12 became law last year.

In Ohio, Republicans introduced House Bill 327, which forbids educators from teaching certain “divisive concepts” mostly related to race in America, past and present. Another, House Bill 616, includes the ‘divisive concept’ provisions but expands the proposal to also prohibit the teaching of “sexual orientation or gender identity” until it’s “age appropriate” (a point in time not specified by the legislation). Neither have passed as of yet.

The recent bill’s sponsors declined to specify what kinds of purported sexually explicit conduct or changes in student health monitoring they’re seeking to inform parents of. Instead, in a statement through an aide, they both said the legislation would bring teachers and parents together to “foster involvement.”

The General Assembly is set to return after the November elections to wrap up its legislative work before the term ends.

This story was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and is republished here with permission.

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In state and federal courtrooms and behind the scenes of the Statehouse, OSU and the victims have clashed, with millions of dollars on the line. While the university has settled with 296 people who sued the university for more than $60 million, another 236 continue to press on with 10 lawsuits now pending in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, according to a university count.

Dead center in the fray is Stephen Snyder-Hill, one of Dr. Richard Strauss’ final known victims and now a lead plaintiff in one of the surviving lawsuits. Between a near-encyclopedic knowledge of four decades of the Strauss-OSU story and a hard drive’s worth of chronologically organized documents to back him up, he’s perhaps the most dogged crusader pressing to hold Ohio State accountable.

He says he’s not in it for the money, but he wants to force OSU to come to terms with its role in the story, and to ensure it can never happen again.

“They only understand money,” he said, relaying advice from his lawyers. “So if you punish them in something they understand, that’s when they’ll make it count that they’re not going to let it happen again.”

A university-commissioned investigation found that between 1979 and 1996, Strauss sexually abused at least 177 mostly male victims, usually under the guise of medical treatment. This occurred while he worked as a physician for OSU’s Athletics Department and also at the Student Health Center. When Snyder-Hill saw Strauss on Jan. 5, 1995, a visit for a lump on his chest descended into a medically unnecessary testicular and anal examination and Strauss pressing an erection into his side. 

Snyder-Hill filed a written complaint the next day, but Ted Grace, then the head of student health services, indicated that Strauss denied the allegations and the university sided with its doctor. Snyder-Hill agreed to drop his complaint if Grace told him, in writing, that Strauss hadn’t been the subject of any prior complaints of abuse. Grace, a physician, signed a letter to that effect, now some of the clearest evidence of the university’s enabling role.

The university’s investigation shows not only that Strauss had been abusing students for decades, but another student filed a complaint with the assistant director of student health services just two days before Snyder-Hill’s visit.

After OSU conducted what investigators later called a “very limited investigation” of Strauss’ complaint history and removed him from his physician roles in 1996, it allowed him to voluntarily retire before opening a men’s clinic off campus where his abuse continued. He maintained “emeritus” status with the university until his death by suicide in 2005.  

• OSU has spent $8.5 million on legal fees since 2018 fighting the 37 lawsuits seeking damages for the university’s role in the Strauss scandal and related litigation.
  
• The university’s settlement program pays victims pennies on the dollar compared to similar scandals at other universities and forbids victims from disparaging OSU’s post-2018 handling of the matter.
  
• OSU flouted public records laws and withheld from Snyder-Hill documents detailing his 1995 visit and the aftermath. The university also made deceptive statements to the court in mediation about the whereabouts of those documents.
  
• While keeping a neutral public position, OSU quietly lobbied behind the scenes against legislation that would have paved a sturdier legal pathway for Strauss’ victims to win in court against the university.
  

Statute of limitations

The lawsuits alleged Title IX violations against OSU for repeatedly mishandling complaints about Strauss’ behavior, which included rape, sexual abuse like fondling students’ genitals during clinical visits, and deviant behavior like taking extended showers with athletes in the locker room. However, this type of legal claim bears a statute of limitations requiring plaintiffs to file any civil suit within two years of the abuse.

Snyder-Hill sued the university in the summer of 2018, eventually becoming the lead plaintiff of what is now 83 others claiming they’re victims of Strauss’ abuse as enabled by a university that covered up for a predator.

His case was dismissed in district court by a judge who signaled sympathy but said the law is clear that the two-year statute of limitations has passed. Attorneys for Snyder-Hill have since adopted a legal theory of fraudulent concealment — essentially, the clock on the statute of limitations shouldn’t have begun ticking because of the university’s role covering up the scope of Strauss’ behavior. They argue that two-year limitation should have only begun when the university disclosed the full scope of the scandal. 

According to university spokesman Ben Johnson, the cost of the independent investigation and “related litigation and mediation” is about $14.7 million. Of the total, approximately $6.2 million was for the independent investigation, conducted by the law firm of Perkins Coie.

The university’s settlement program states its average payment to survivors is not to exceed about $252,000. This pales in comparison to eerily similar scandals at Michigan State University, University of Southern California, and the University of Michigan. At those schools — large universities whose employees abused hundreds of students under guise of medical care — the victims each received an average settlement of between $467,000 and $1.5 million.

Johnson emphasized that a majority of plaintiffs have settled, and that all male students who filed lawsuits have been offered the opportunity to settle. He also cited a statement included in a news release announcing some of the settlements.

“After extensive negotiations, we were able to reach a settlement on behalf of our clients,” said attorney Rick Schulte, lead negotiator for the plaintiffs that took the settlement. “The bravery of our clients is humbling. We are pleased that Ohio State stepped forward and did the right thing. This settlement will help our clients move forward with the healing process.”

The settlement agreement notes it is not an admission of guilt from Ohio State. It allows the victims to publicly discuss their past experiences with Strauss as “part of the healing process” but forbids them from “any disparagement of Ohio State’s handling of this matter since March 2018.”

Withholding documents

Seven days later, Ohio State’s legal department found and possessed the records in question, court records show. Despite a legal duty to turn them over, OSU withheld them for 155 days, claiming it did so to protect Snyder-Hill and other victims from “unnecessary retraumatization.”

Under Ohio law, any document kept by a public office like a university is a public record, unless it meets one of about 40 exceptions (which do not include “retraumatization”). Those records must be turned over within a reasonable period. 

Snyder-Hill filed a lawsuit in April 2019 in the Ohio Court of Claims, a special venue to handle public records cases.

During a court mediation that Snyder-Hill secretly recorded, OSU attorney Kirsten Fraser said Perkins Coie, as opposed to OSU, had the documents in question. Plus, she said OSU’s Office of Compliance and Integrity, which fielded the records request, “didn’t even get the documents back from Perkins Coie until close to the time the report was released.”

Johnson, OSU’s spokesman, declined to comment about the statement because the recording “violates the court’s expectation of confidentiality in mediation.” 

Special Master Jeff Clark, essentially a judge who oversees public records lawsuits, blasted OSU’s rationale in a ruling.

“The gravamen of this and the other arguments appears to be that OSU knows better than a survivor when his interests would best be served by disclosure,” Clark wrote.

“OSU is obligated to comply with the requirements of the Public Records Act, and its preference for confidentiality, alone, cannot limit a requester’s access to otherwise public records.”

Snyder-Hill won a $25 judgment from the university. The check is still hanging on his wall at home.

“They knew what they were doing from the start,” Snyder-Hill said in an interview. “I would have had the full story right there.”

Johnson said the university “had serious concerns that releasing records piecemeal during the investigation would retraumatize survivors and create a chilling effect that would compromise the integrity of the investigation and our ability to publicly uncover Strauss’ abuse and the university’s failure to appropriately respond decades ago.”

Shadow lobbying

About 10 of Strauss’ victims came forward publicly at committee hearings in 2019, describing how Strauss abused them. They detailed aftershocks into adulthood manifesting in strained marriages, depression, trust problems, and substance abuse. Several grown men cried before a mostly male panel of lawmakers.

As the OCJ has previously reported, top House Republicans including then House Speaker Larry Householder and Majority Leader Bill Seitz have admitted they never planned to pass the legislation. They merely used the bill as an instrument to pressure OSU into offering a more generous settlement offer. Strauss’ victims were never told of the strategy. The bill died without ever being voted on.

OSU said in public it wouldn’t take a position on the legislation, given the ongoing litigation. 

During legislative hearings, Kevin Shimp, a lobbyist with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, testified against the legislation on behalf of the Ohio Alliance for Civil Justice. Beforehand, he emailed OSU lobbyist Brian Perera that he understood “OSU is willing to assist me” drafting the testimony and asked if Perera had anything to add.

“I will have materials for you next week,” Perera said.

The Lantern, a student publication on campus, first reported on Ohio State’s backstage lobbying efforts. Shimp didn’t respond to an inquiry.

“The passage of HB 249 would undermine the important goals of statutes of limitation by reviving certain claims that were not filed in civil or criminal court within the timeframe required by statute,” Shimp said to lawmakers. “By reviving the claim, the bill would allow claims that were once barred by the statute of limitation to be brought forward again.”

Ohio State, its spokesman said, did not want to take a public position on the legislation that would “impede the mediation’s success.”

Obsessed

He enlisted in the Army in 1988, eventually rising to become a Major. As a gay man, he remained closeted for much of his service, before becoming a national advocate against the U.S. military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy that prohibited openly gay people from serving.

During a 2012 GOP presidential debate, Snyder-Hill, speaking remotely from Iraq while on a deployment, asked the candidates whether they plan to “circumvent” the newfound openness to openly gay soldiers. He was booed — a segment that made national news and was featured in HBO’s series The Newsroom.

He gave a TEDx Talk about the event in 2015, at Ohio State of all places. The title: “Trust the Power of Your Voice.”

He talks fast. He figures he has filed at least 30 public records requests with OSU and the Ohio General Assembly about the scandal. He acknowledged his own zeal in a roughly three-hour interview, using self-descriptors including “psychotic” and “obsessed.”

“I know how I appear when I send an email and it’s like, a tirade of shit,” he said. “It’s a determination to know the truth. It has consumed me.”

There are plenty of detractors. He said he gets hate mail, calling him a disgrace to veterans or this or that anti-gay slur. He knows he poked the bear of a beloved university and athletics franchise.

But he wants people to see the world through his eyes: He was wronged in 1995 by Strauss. Ohio State’s top doctor lied to him about it. Now, that same university who’s admitting to everything then is still fighting with him now.

When asked what victory would look like, he said it’s about truth and accountability.

“I want them to be held accountable for everything they did,” he said. “And what does that look like? For me, it’s having to admit it. Having to own up to it.”

This story originally was published by the Ohio Capital Journal and is republished here with permission.

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Solar energy developers are facing peril after state officials recommended against granting them a permit to build a solar farm in Greene County capable of powering an estimated 34,000 homes per year.

Opposition from local governments, primarily concerned about the rural aesthetics of the area, trump the Kingwood Solar’s signed leases with landowners, the payroll and tax benefits for locals, and clean electricity for the grid, per the Ohio Power Siting Board’s staff conclusions.

The OPSB’s voting members aren’t obligated to heed the staff recommendation, though they typically do. There’s no firm timeline for a decision.

Board staffers originally drafted their report last year recommending a green light for the 175-megawatt application from Kingwood Solar, according to testimony from an adjudicatory hearing. But on Oct. 28, 2021, one day before its publication, OPSB executive director Theresa White directed an employee to call local townships to determine their position on the project.

After the call that same day, the all-Republican Greene County Commission voted to pass a resolution declaring the solar farm to be “incompatible with the general health, safety and welfare” of residents. Kingwood officials had been engaged with the commission but weren’t told in advance of the hearing and didn’t get to come in and make their case. That resolution ultimately flipped OPSB staff’s recommendation from yes to no.

Kingwood officials said the practice of feeling out the locals makes sense, but the timing is baffling. Why wait until one day before a report is due to do so? And why weren’t the developers told of the vote?

“This certainly seems like a coordinated effort on the OPSB’s part to have a basis to deny the permit,” said Juan Suarez, Kingwood’s chief development officer, in an interview.

OPSB lawyers acknowledged the phone call to the county and said in legal filings that it’s “proper and appropriate for the Board to consider local opposition” in its decision.

State law requires the OPSB to consider eight factors in the applications. Kingwood met seven of them, according to OPSB staff. But given the commission vote, staff said the project doesn’t “serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity.”

The Kingwood story shows how despite a boom in solar generation in Ohio, resistance from state and local governments and NIMBY-fervor continue to gum up projects and possibly chill future investments.

It also underscores locals’ ability to thwart renewable projects, an ability that doesn’t apply for fossil fuels. In 2015, the Ohio Supreme Court overturned Munroe Falls’ ordinances seeking to ban fracking, determining the state has “sole and exclusive authority” as to the regulation of oil and gas wells.

Rejection of the Kingwood permit would come at the cost of $1.575 million annually to the county in taxes. Kingwood officials estimated they’d hire 225 full-time employees over 16 months to build the project, creating $20 million in payroll. From there, it would employ four full time employees year-round that earn an average of about $111,000 annually, according to its application. That’s to say nothing of indirect economic benefits.

The project sits on 1,5000 acres of rural land in townships of Miami, Xenia, and Cedarville, including about half a mile from Gov. Mike DeWine’s own backyard.

Kingwood is a project of Vesper Energy, a Texas-based renewable developer with projects around the country, including the 80-megawatt Nestlewood Solar project in Brown and Clermont counties. (That project had been delayed by the OPSB’s former chairman, who has since been accused of taking a $4.3 million bribe from FirstEnergy Corp.)

Both Kingwood and the OPSB agree that state law and the courts provide little guidance as to what’s in the “public interest.” OPSB staff interpreted the phrase narrowly — the local government opposition alone meets the standard. The report section makes no note of the landowners who signed deals with Kingwood or the global need to shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

Planning for Kingwood started about five years ago, which exempts it from recently passed state legislation that gives county commissions veto power over utility-scale wind and solar projects. However, the OPSB said the legislation has “emboldened” locals to oppose the grandfathered-in projects.

Just before Greene County passed its resolution, five residents voiced their support for the project and opposition to the commission’s action. Union electrical workers and operating engineers emphasized the construction jobs the project promised. Others, including some who leased land to Kingwood, emphasized the rights of property owners to do as they wish with their land, and the need to pivot to renewables.

All three county commissioners voted for the resolution, though they all noted they’re not “against solar.” Several mentioned the project is against the county use plan — which as they noted, only passed after the Kingwood developers applied for a permit. They said the solar panels will ruin the natural aesthetic.

“I’m a strong believer in landowner rights, but your landowner rights don’t necessarily stop at your property line,” said Commissioner Richard Gould at the hearing.

The three commissioners declined interview requests. In a statement, county administrator Brandon Huddleston defended the decision.

“The Commissioners are not against solar installations altogether, they just want to make sure they are in the right places,” he said. “In this case, they do not believe it would be properly sited. The area under consideration is well populated and growing. It is near (and on the way to and from) several tourist attractions and natural scenic areas. They felt it would be a detriment to the local tourist economy and would negatively impact the quality of life of nearby residents.”

Some 17 residents entered lease agreements with Kingwood, and several residents have publicly expressed support for the project. However, considerable local opposition surfaced at community meetings. A November 2021 public hearing attracted 68 speakers over six hours, according to The Dayton Daily News, with the vast majority in opposition. Conversely, Kingwood submitted to the OPSB letters supporting the project from 76 union workers in support of the project.

Kingwood also commissioned a recent poll from a Virginia-based firm that consults for Republican candidates and corporate clients. Pollsters interviewed 350 registered voters in Greene County. Of them, most (60%) hadn’t heard anything about the Kingwood project. The respondents indicated support for Kingwood on about a 2-1 margin when the question was framed around the project’s tax benefits to the county.

Kingwood officials have asked the OPSB to ignore their staffers’ opinion and grant the permit. In an interview, they said they expect an unfavorable ruling that they plan to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.

DeWine, speaking to reporters last week, said he’s leaving the project to the legal process.

“I have not taken a specific position on that,” he said. “It is in my backyard. I’m careful not to take a position.”

Besides the local government opposition, a few outside groups have joined the legal fight against Kingwood. Among them is a group called “Citizens for Green Acres,” which says it represents 47 people who live adjacent to the project. In legal filings, the citizens listened among their concerns: spoiled views, construction noise, potential threats to birds and wildlife, a failure to protect groundwater supplies, and a failure to protect the panels against wind, hail, lighting and fire. (OPSB staff disagreed on these points).

Citizens for Green Acres is represented by an attorney named Jack Van Kley, who represents citizens challenging at least 12 wind and solar projects around Ohio. He did not respond to an inquiry.

Kingwood staff emphasized that they’ve offered concessions to locals like payments to those adjacent to the property, expanded buffer zones between property lines and solar panels, and more robust vegetative screening.

The planet continues to warm, and a U.N.-backed international panel of scientists recently issued a major report on the worsening outlook of global warming and the pan-governmental need to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

At a certain point, Suarez said, governments have to see a bigger picture than neighbors concerned about their unobstructed views.

“It needs to be interpreted broader than just the local community. You need to take the county and state into consideration,” he said.

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Nan Whaley wants a debate with the governor. But will Mike DeWine go toe to toe with his Democratic challenger? He repeatedly avoided a clear answer on the subject on Friday, Aug. 26.

“We’ll see. I suspect there will be joint appearances that some of the newspapers will be having, those will be available to people to watch live,” he said to reporters after a speech. “I’m out every day talking with the people in the state of Ohio. There has been no governor that has had more press conferences than I have.”

DeWine said voters have his years of governor with which to evaluate him. Whaley, a former mayor of Dayton and Ohio’s first woman to run for governor on a major party ticket, said she’s all in.

“Hey, I’m ready,” Whaley said. “Look, I’m pretty disappointed. Frankly, I thought that Mike DeWine at least believed in democracy.”

“He knows those answers aren’t good for him,” she said. “We’re ready to go. You name the time and place and we’ll be there.” Invitations to the governor from both Nexstar Media Group, which operates several news stations in Ohio, and the Ohio Debate Commission await final answers.

“Voters are entitled to get information from candidates they can trust,” she said. “High quality debates with skilled moderators tend to be able to produce that kind of content.”

She said the newspaper editorial board meetings DeWine cited — which typically consist of editors, opinion contributors and reporters at a publication asking questions of one or both candidates — don’t cut it.

“They’re worthwhile, but they’re not a substitute for a debate,” she said.

Both candidates answered a range of questions from reporters on other subjects on Aug. 26.

DeWine

“Well, that means 78 have not,” DeWine said. “Look, these are local communities making decisions. We are a local government state, where people locally have the right to express their opinion.”

“You know, as far as subsidizing any facility outside the state of Ohio, there’s no reason we should be doing that at all,” he said.

On President Joe Biden’s recently announced plan to forgive $10,000 to $20,000 of student loan debt, he said it’s a difficult question. He suggested finding ways to make college more affordable would be more prudent.

“I have certainly talked to enough former students who have a debt that’s a very significant burden to them,” he said. “On the other hand, you know, I have a fear about additional inflation. This is a ton of money to be dumping into the economy. So I worry about that, inflation is a very cruel tax and it’s usually felt the hardest by people who are poor.”

Whaley

She expressed her support for policies to reduce gun violence like requiring background checks for all gun sales. She contrasted this with the governor, who signed into law a bill that expands the right to shoot to kill in self-defense, another that removed training requirements for adults to carry a concealed weapon, and a third that allows teachers to carry a gun in the classroom.

She said DeWine caved to the “extremism” within his own party, after making little effort to pass a modest gun safety package of his own.

“Nine people dead in Dayton wasn’t worth the political risk for Mike DeWine,” she said, referring to the 2019 mass shooting.

Whaley criticized DeWine for the whipsaw pace with which Ohio moved in federal court to enact a roughly six-week abortion ban after the Supreme Court reversed its prior holding protecting women’s right to abortion access.

She also mentioned his comments reported in the Columbus Dispatch that we should “go as far as we can” restricting abortion. She said these restrictions are going to deter women from moving to Ohio to work.

“Women have choices of where to live and where to work,” she said. “If you are 20 to 40 years old, why would you choose to live in Ohio if he wants to go as far as possible on abortion access? Why would you want to live in a state where you might die on the operating table because your doctor cannot provide the services that you need?”

This story was originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal and republished here with permission.

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At least 10 Ohio counties have passed resolutions blocking the development of new utility scale wind and solar projects within all or part of their jurisdictions in the last year.

The counties’ moves come after the October 2021 enactment of a state law giving the locals the veto power over renewable energy generation sites — a veto power that doesn’t exist for fossil fuel developments.

At least two more counties are actively considering such a prohibition. In Crawford County, meanwhile, citizens are pushing to reverse their commission’s ban by placing the issue on the 2022 ballot.

The state law and subsequent county action add new roadblocks to renewable energy development as the international scientific community warns of a warming climate and a need to shift away from fossil fuels.

“As you can see, there are counties making use of the authority,” said Jon Honeck, a policy analyst with the County Commissioners Association of Ohio, which did not take a formal position for or against the state legislation.

“It’s a changed regulatory landscape.”

The counties, all rural, that have moved against renewables include:

• The Allen County Commission unanimously passed a resolution April 24 banning large wind and solar projects in unincorporated areas
• The Auglaize County Commission unanimously passed a resolution April 26 banning large wind and solar projects in unincorporated areas
• The Butler County Commission passed a resolution June 23 banning large wind and solar projects in unincorporated areas in 12 townships in the county
• The Crawford County Commission passed a resolution in May banning wind farms in part of the county. Cleveland.com reports that a potential wind farm developer has submitted enough signatures to place the issue on the ballot in November
• The Hancock County Commission passed a resolution April 19 banning large wind and solar projects in most the county
• The Knox County Commission passed a resolution Aug. 11 banning large wind projects (not solar) in unincorporated areas of the county
• The Logan County Commission passed a resolution Aug. 11 banning large wind and solar projects in 16 townships and unincorporated areas of the county
• The Medina County Commission passed a resolution Jan. 25 banning large wind and solar projects in unincorporated areas of the county
• The Seneca County Commission passed a resolution Nov. 23 banning large wind and solar projects in Seneca County, according to The Advertiser-Tribune
• The Union County Commission passed a resolution June 15 that bans large solar projects (not wind) within eight townships that requested the prohibition

Other counties have broached but not yet finalized the issue. Ottawa County is set for a public hearing next month on a potential ban. Delaware County met to consider one in October but has yet to advance it further.

The legislation doesn’t apply to wind and solar projects that have received approval from the state before it took effect.

Sarah Spence, executive director of the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum, has been tracking the counties’ action on wind and solar. She said she’s disappointed but not surprised by the speed with which the counties moved. She said it’s a loss for economic development and renewables in the areas.

Environmentalists opposed Senate Bill 52, which gave counties the new authority, arguing there was room to create more community input on power siting without choking off wind and solar entirely.

“By implementing these bans now, it’s going to make it harder to make the transition to clean energy that the public, business community, and public health and climate science all demand,” said Neil Waggoner, an operative with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “These bans close off communities from the investment dollars driving these projects, new sources of revenue for local services and education, and also limit local property owner rights.”

The issue scrambles some typical political coalitions. The state legislation passed with only Republican support — somewhat unusual for legislation giving governments new control over landowners’ private property rights. A handful of Republicans in both chambers voted with Democrats in opposition, though the bill was ultimately signed by GOP Gov. Mike DeWine. It passed over the objections of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, typically a conservative ally.

Republicans and outside supporters of the bill said the legislation restores local autonomy and prevents a situation where the Ohio Power Siting Board — a state level panel of gubernatorial appointees — grants an application for a project over objections from locals.

“Economic development and innovative energy technology is always welcome in the State of Ohio, but not at the expense of rural communities who do not want them,” said GOP Senate President Matt Huffman in a statement. “This bill keeps local residents and officials informed and in-control of where they are located.”

The bill’s two sponsors did not respond to inquiries.

Some of the opposition to wind turbines gets a bit more far-fetched. In Crawford County, Apex Clean Energy applied to build a farm of 60 turbines that could power up to 300 MW of energy, which the company says could power 85,000 homes per year.

An organization called Crawford Anti Wind formed in opposition. Its website calls for readers to “vote out big wind” and hosts pictures of a turbine on fire. The site states it’s paid for by the Crawford Neighbors United PAC, but no such group could be located in state or federal campaign finance databases.

Both Apex and Crawford Anti Wind did not respond to inquiries.

The Energy News Network previously reported on other dubious claims about renewables made during the legislative process, including one of solar panels “leaking” chemicals like lead or cadmium into the soil.

In April, 278 climate experts with the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change warned that the world is on track to pass a key climate target within eight years at the current rate of emissions. While the international goal can still be met to stave off disastrous effects of global warming, it will require an economically viable but politically difficult shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy.

Ohio’s new legislation has moved in the opposite direction, erecting a new hurdle to clear for development and new risks for investors. In contrast, the state passed legislation last year removing authority from local governments seeking to block new buildings within their borders from natural gas hookups, an effort seen in some progressive cities to decarbonize buildings.

This story was originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal and is republished here with permission.

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