Of the 350,000 Ohio High School Athletic Association student-athletes, only 32 name, image, or likeness deals have been reported, according to OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute. 

He recently testified as an interested party on a bill that would ban high school and middle school athletes from making NIL deals. Both people in favor of and those opposed to Ohio House Bill 661 spoke during Ohio House Education Committee Meetings this month. 

State Reps. Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, and Mike Odioso, R-Green Twp., introduced H.B. 661. Ohio is one of 45 states that allows high school athletes to have NIL deals. 

“Roughly half of those involve commission-based arrangements tied to promotional codes shared on social media platforms,” Ute said. “Of the remaining agreements, the vast majority consist of modest combinations of products and limited compensation, with a total value generally under $1,000. These opportunities allow students, who also happen to be athletes, to explore legitimate entrepreneurial opportunities within carefully established, education-based guardrails.”

Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said it’s a complex issue. 

“If a local business decides to pay all the kids who go to one high school in a city who want to play on this high school’s football team, I don’t know how ultimately you can control that,” he told reporters Wednesday. “You can put limits on that and attempt to enforce it, but it makes it even harder.”

Proponent testimony 

St. Xavier High School Football Coach Steve Specht spoke out in favor of the bill, but clarified he is not against NIL. 

“What I am against is pay-to-play,” he said. “And I think my biggest concern with NIL in the high school level is, where does the money come from? …Where are the guardrails at the high school level?”

Mason City Schools Superintendent Jonathan Cooper said the bill would allow Ohio to look at the long-term impacts for students and ultimately create a policy “that reflects both opportunity and protection.”

“Rather than reacting to momentum, our state can thoughtfully shape a model that protects student-athletes, preserves educational priorities, and sets a responsible example nationally,” he said. “If we don’t have the proper guardrails and the thoughtfulness around this, I think what we could possibly produce is unhealthy behaviors that actually place our kids into more dangerous situations than we really can even anticipate today.” 

H.B. 661 does not close doors for student-athletes, but rather it creates space, Cooper said. 

“Space to build safeguards,” he said. “Space to ensure that any future direction reflects the educational purpose of high school athletics.”

Opponent testimony

NIL at the high school level is not like NIL at the college level, said Luke Fedlam, a partner at the Columbus law firm Amundsen Davis and co-chair of Entertainment, Sports, and Media Law practice group. 

“When people hear NIL … we immediately start to think and picture the college marketplace, booster collectives, transfer portal incentives, six and seven figure deals, conference and television contracts in the millions of dollars,” he said. “That environment does not exist at the high school level and it is not pay to play.”

Ohio state Rep. Phil Robinson, D-Solon, asked what the downside would be if middle and high school students could not receive NIL compensation. 

Talented student-athletes could leave Ohio, Fedlam said. 

“Student-athletes, especially in border cities, could go to Michigan, they could go to West Virginia, they could go to Pennsylvania or Kentucky, and be able to earn that compensation by just simply moving across the border,” he said. 

Eugene Miller, a former state rep. who is running as a Democratic candidate for Ohio House District 20, spoke out against the bill. 

“If you have somebody in the band, the band person can make money on the side,” he said. “If you have someone who’s a DJ, they can make money on the side. Why should we punish athletes based on their likability by eliminating NIL opportunities?” 

Ohio High School Athletic Association 

A Franklin County judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing the OHSAA from enforcing its ban against high school athletes benefiting from NIL in October. 

Jasmine Brown had filed the lawsuit on behalf of her son Jamier Brown, an Ohio State Buckeyes football commit from the Dayton area.

He is a top-ranked wide receiver from Wayne High School in Huber Heights who is transferring to Big Walnut High School in Sunbury for his senior year.

Brown, a member of the class of 2027, has missed out on more than $100,000 in potential deals, according to the lawsuit. 

In November, high school athletic association member schools passed an emergency referendum allowing NIL. In that referendum, 447 schools voted in favor of athletes receiving NIL deals, 121 schools voted against it, and 247 schools abstained. 

“I think it’s very safe to assume that those who abstained did so because they were a no vote,” Bird said. “I think that it is very clear to me and others who are listening to school leaders across the state of Ohio that this is that we’re going down a path that schools in Ohio do not want to go.” 

Ute, however, said he does not consider the schools that did not vote abstentions. 

“They just didn’t vote,” he said. 

This story originally appeared at ohiocapitaljournal.com.

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This story is about suicide. If you or someone you know needs support now, call, text or chat the 988 Lifeline. 

At least four Ohio children have used artificial intelligence to write their suicide notes. 

“That’s four too many,” Ohio state Rep. Christine Cockley, D-Columbus, said during a press conference Wednesday. 

She introduced a bipartisan bill that would prevent anyone from creating an AI model in Ohio that encourages users to engage in self-harm or harm another person. 

“This legislation will ensure that tech companies are actively and consistently training their language models to not encourage or support users suicide ideation or violent thoughts,” Cockley said. 

Ohio House Bill 524 would empower the Ohio Attorney General’s office to investigate and prosecute anyone who creates AI models that are responsible for creating technology that encourage self-harm, she said. 

Cockley introduced the bill with Ohio state Rep. Ty D. Mathews, R-Findlay, and the legislation recently had its third hearing in the Ohio House Technology and Innovation Committee. The bill received no opposition testimony. 

“It’s about drawing a clear line that innovation cannot come at the expense of human life and children’s safety by encouraging developers to use a mental health framework when building and training AI,” Cockley said. 

The Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation is anecdotally hearing about AI’s influence with children suicide, said executive director Tony Coder. 

“I want to state that we’re not anti-technology,” he said. “I’m not anti AI. … I believe and support advances in technology that could, with some imagination, do amazing things that could impact society in positive ways, but we also must protect kids from the consequences, especially as you develop relationships with AI chatbots and put their trust into these entities.”

According to a 2025 report from Common Sense Media, 72% of teenagers have used AI companions at least once, 52% interact with these platforms at least a few times a month, and 12% of teens use AI for emotional or mental health support. 

Sewell Setzer III, a 14-year-old Florida teenager, died by suicide in 2024 after he had an extended virtual relationship with a Character.AI chatbot.

Juliana Peralta, a 13-year-old Colorado teenager, died by suicide in 2023 when she was 13 after sharing her suicidal thoughts with a Character.AI chatbot. 

Adam Raine, a 16-year-old California teenager, died by suicide in 2024 after sharing his suicidal thoughts with ChatGPT. 

In 2023, 1,777 Ohioans died by suicide, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

“What scares me about AI Chatbot is that research has shown that when a child asks about a mental health concern and asks about what they can be doing, only 22% of the time the answer that was given was correct from these AI files,” Coder said. 

Lack of access to mental health resources could be driving people to turn to AI, Cockley said. 

“Oftentimes, myself included, growing up in rural Ohio, it’s hard to get access to mental health care, and so I do think that having a barrier to access does drive people to find what can make me feel better, and sometimes that might be a chatbot that tells you exactly what you want to hear,” she said. 

Out of Ohio’s 88 counties, 75 are mental health shortage areas, according to a recent study from the Health Policy Institute of Ohio.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in December to create a national AI policy and deter state level AI regulation.

“We’re hoping this bill would still survive,” Mathews said. “We’re looking at the activities being produced because of that. We’re not targeting the research and development of the model or the product more so the activity.”

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Ohio and Washington tied fourth in the nation for having the most anti-LGBTQ+ incidents last year, with 50, according to a new report from GLAAD, a LGBTQ+ advocacy organization. 

GLAAD’s Anti-LGBTQ Extremism Reporting Tracker (ALERT) documented 1,042 anti-LGBTQ incidents in 2025 nationwide from Jan. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31. About half of the incidents targeted transgender and gender non-conforming people and about a quarter of the incidents happened in June.

“We must join together in a united call against the violence and harassment that too many LGBTQ Americans face,” GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “Instead of growing divides that lead to this violence, politicians should recognize that all Americans deserve freedom, fairness, and safety.”

ALERT tracked these incidents through self-reports, media, social media posts and data sharing from partner organizations and law enforcement. 

California had the most incidents with 198, followed by New Hampshire with 72, and Texas with 66. 

Breaking down Ohio’s incidents 

Several incidents in Ohio involved the Dayton Street Preachers hosting anti-LGBTQ+ protests at universities, events, street corners, concerts, Pride events, or outside the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. 

Many of the incidents involved White Lives Matter and Continental Resistance placing anti-LGBTQ+ stickers in cities last summer. 

In September, a man threatened on social media to kill a transgender councilwoman in St. Marys in western Ohio. The FBI investigated the threat and arrested the man. 

In another incident, a man set fires to many Pride flags hanging in front of Cincinnati homes in July. 

In April, a man checked out 100 books on LGBTQ+, Jewish, and Black history from a library in Beachwood and set them all on fire. 

Ohio had 19 incidents involving propaganda distribution, 11 involved a protest, five were vandalism or property damage, three were arsons, two were a bomb or shooting threat, and two were verbal or written threat. 

Cincinnati had seven incidents, and Columbus and Dayton both had five incidents.

Ohio anti-LGBTQ bills

The ACLU is currently tracking 366 anti-LGBTQ bills in the United States. Republican lawmakers in Ohio have introduced bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community. 

Ohio House Bill 190 would prohibit school employees from calling a student a name that is not listed on their birth certificate and would ban them from using pronouns that do not align with their biological sex. 

Ohio Republican state Reps. Johnathan Newman and Josh Williams introduced the bill, which has only had one committee hearing. 

Ohio House Bill 172 would not allow minors age 14 and older to receive mental health services without parental consent. Currently, mental health professionals are permitted to provide outpatient mental health services to minors 14 and older on a temporary basis without parental consent. 

Newman introduced this bill as well, which has has had three committee hearings so far — meaning it could be up for a committee vote soon. 

Ohio House Bill 249 would ban drag performers from performing anywhere that isn’t considered a designated adult entertainment facility. Ohio states Reps. Angie King, R-Celina, and Williams introduced this bill, which has had two hearings so far.

Ohio Equal Rights has started collecting signatures to get two amendments on the November ballot — including one that would get rid of the ban on same-sex marriage in the Ohio Constitution. 

Ohio’s constitution includes a ban on same-sex marriage after 61.7% of Ohio voters approved an amendment in 2004 that says marriage is only between one man and one woman. The United States Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in 2015 through the Obergefell case originating out of Ohio. 

This story originally appeared at ohiocapitaljournal.com.

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Ohio House Democrats are introducing a series of bills related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement — including one that would prohibit ICE officers from wearing face coverings and another that would not allow immigration enforcement to take place in schools or churches. 

Ohio Republicans have a supermajority in the Statehouse, but Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, said these are not partisan issues. 

“We’re talking about basic constitutional rights,” he said. “These are freedoms that we all enjoy as Americans.”

Ohio State Reps. Karen Brownlee, D-Symmes Twp, and Cecil Thomas, D-Cincinnati, are introducing a bill that would not allow federal, state, and local law enforcement from wearing face coverings and require them to clearly display their badge and identification.

“The goal is simple, face coverings should not be worn as a way to evade public accountability for faulty, improper or illegal policing tactics,” Brownlee said. 

Law enforcement officers withholding their identification makes people feel less safe, she said. 

“Imagine having an unmarked, unidentifiable SUV pull up next to you, and seconds later, you are surrounded by multiple individuals that are in masks with no badge, no identification telling you that you’re about to be detained,” Brownlee said. “They grab you and throw you into their unmarked vehicles.” 

State Rep. Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, is putting forth a bill that would place limits on state entities collecting and sharing data.

“When a government collects data on its citizens, that data should only be shared if necessary to administer a government program or service,” she said. “But across the nation, we can see growing fears about the impact of mishandled citizen data and what impact that mishandling it may have on our communities.” 

There have been reports that federal agents, including ICE, have accessed citizen’s private data. 

“That has to stop, and we have an obligation as Ohio lawmakers to demand that it does stop and to protect citizen privacy,” Russo said. 

Her bill would not allow state entities to collect, share or disclose information related to someone’s citizenship or immigration status, except when required by law. 

“Personal information or data shall not be disclosed without the informed consent of the individual, a warrant, a court order or a subpoena that is signed by an Ohio or federal judge or unless otherwise required by federal and state law,” Russo said.

State Reps. Christine Cockley, D-Columbus, and Tristan Rader, D-Lakewood, are introducing a bill that would not allow agencies, officials, and data brokers from selling or distributing sensitive personal data — unless used for a permitted purpose.

“ICE has been contracting with data brokers and tech companies to gain access to our personal data,” Cockley said. “Even interacting with the weather app generates location data, which can then be sold to agencies like ICE for further tracking and monitoring. These companies are turning profit by selling their collected data on Ohioans.”

The bill defines sensitive data as a person’s name, date of birth, social security number, phone number, and immigration status, among other things. 

State Reps. Ismail Mohamed, D-Columbus, and Eric Synenberg, D-Beachwood, are introducing a bill that would prohibit immigration enforcement in schools, place of worship, hospitals, and courthouses.

“Every Ohio deserves the right to feel safe in their school and place of worship,” Mohamed said. 

The Trump administration last year rescinded a policy directive that banned ICE from operating in “sensitive areas” like schools, places of worship, and hospitals.

“We will not tolerate that fear … especially in our most sacred and important locations for community well-being,” Mohamed said. 

State Reps. Mark Sigrist, D-Grove City, and Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, plan to introduce a resolution that asserts local law enforcement’s right to investigate crimes that happen inside Ohio.

“This will reaffirm that local law enforcement participation in those investigations is beneficial to public trust, government transparency and public safety,” Sigrist said. “Ohio has a right to investigate offenses that occur in our state.” 

State Reps. Ashley Bryant Bailey, D-Cincinnati, and Veronica Sims, D-Akron, are introducing a bill that would create minimum standards for Ohio’s immigration detention centers. This would include providing three hot meals a day, a bed, blankets, weather-appropriate clothing, time to participate in religious activities, and medical and mental health services.

“Our system is built upon the ideal that we are innocent until proven guilty,” Bryant Bailey said. “This bill would reaffirm an inmate or detainees’ right to fair treatment and mitigate the poor conditions within our current facilities.” 

There are six Ohio detention facilities that contract with ICE to hold people who have been detained: Butler County Jail in Hamilton, the Seneca County Jail in Tiffin, the Geauga County Safety Center in Chardon, the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio in Stryker, the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, and the Mahoning County Justice Center in Youngstown.

There were 1,069 people in Butler County Jail as of Wednesday. The general housing capacity for Butler County Jail is 844, even though the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction recommends 756 as the housing capacity, according to a July ODRC inspection report.   

State Rep. Latyna Humphrey, D-Columbus, is putting forth a resolution that reaffirms a lawmaker’s right to enter an Ohio immigration detention centers at any time.  

“As elected officials, this is our moral and ethical obligation to ensure that our detention facilities are humane,” Humphrey said. 

State Reps. Erika White, D-Springfield Township, and Anita Somani, D-Dublin, introduced a bill that would require the governor’s approval before National Guard troops are stationed in Ohio.

“This bill reaffirms the governor’s right to decline a president’s request to deploy the National Guard in Ohio under Title 32, for law enforcement purposes,” White said.

The bills will be introduced in the coming weeks and will be assigned bill numbers. 

This story originally appeared at ohiocapitaljournal.com.

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An Ohio man is alleging he was assaulted by corrections officers who used excessive force while he was incarcerated at the Hamilton County Jail. 

Chad Warren filed a federal lawsuit last week against Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey, Hamilton County Chief Deputy Chris Ketteman, and 26 Hamilton County Jail corrections officers — including a sergeant. 

Warren’s lawsuit lists a total of 11 counts including — excessive force, assault, battery, deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, failure to intervene, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among others. 

“This lawsuit makes clear that no one is above the law,” Solomon Radner, a civil rights attorney at Radner Law Group, who is representing Warren, said in a statement. “When someone entrusted with power chooses to abuse it, the justice system must respond.” 

A corrections officer allegedly beat Warren with his belt and a month later Warren learned his spine was fractured, the suit claims. Hitting an inmate with a belt is considered corporal punishment, which is illegal in U.S. federal and state prisons and violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, where Warren is asking for compensatory and punitive damages, though no dollar amount is listed. It also asks that all responsible parties be held accountable for their actions.  

“All of the facts surrounding this incident will be brought out in a court of law,” Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said in a statement. “Because this case is in litigation, the Sheriff’s Office cannot comment further at this time.” 

Timeline of events

Warren was incarcerated at the Hamilton County Jail from Oct. 25, 2025 to Jan. 8. 

On Nov. 19, Warren said he was getting ready to go to work in the jail’s kitchen when a corrections officer grabbed him in the hallway and now former corrections officer Jordan Anderson hit him with his belt while other correction officers laughed.

Anderson was arrested for allegedly beating Warren with his belt and faces one count of misdemeanor assault on an inmate.

“Regarding the investigation into the actions of now former deputy Jordan Anderson, as soon as we were made aware of the incident, and in accordance with the Sheriff’s Office transparency policy, we immediately released video and charged him with assault based on what we saw in the video,” McGuffey said in a statement.

Warren asked to speak to the sergeant and lieutenant about the incident, but corrections officers laughed at him. He ended up submitting a grievance through the jail kiosk later that day.

“After filing grievances and requesting to speak with supervisors, (Warren) was subjected to verbal abuse, threats, placement in administrative segregation, deprivation of water, placement in a restraint chair with a dirty spit hood, denial of recreation time, and interference with court appearances,” according to court documents.

Pepper balls were also shot into Warren’s cell causing burning eyes, vomiting, and respiratory distress, the lawsuit states.

“The force used against (Warren) was excessive and applied maliciously and sadistically to cause harm, rather than in a good-faith effort to maintain or restore discipline,” according to court documents.

On Nov. 24, a sergeant and lieutenant tried to get Warren to sign a paper saying he was safe around other deputies and inmates, but Warren refused.

Warren asked a corrections officer to go to the medical unit for back pain on Nov. 25, but the corrections officer refused, so Warren filed another grievance. Warren was eventually taken to medical on Dec. 19, where he got an x-ray of his back. His spine was fractured.

“The doctor stated that the incident with (corrections officer) Anderson either caused the fracture or exacerbated it,” court documents said.

Warren was offered Tylenol and Ibuprofen for pain and inflammation.

“The allegations in this lawsuit reflect a breakdown of basic professional and moral duties,” Alex Straus, an attorney from the Milberg law firm who is also representing Warren, said in a statement. “Public trust depends on transparency and accountability. Those who wield authority must be held to the highest standards.”

This story originally appeared at ohiocapitaljournal.com.

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A new Ohio law will soon give incarcerated women free access to period products in Ohio correctional facilities. 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed Ohio House Bill 29 on Dec. 19 and it will go into effect on March 20. The bill passed unanimously in the House and the Senate.  

“It’s in the best interest of everybody for women to have access to menstrual products,” said Kayelin Tiggs, who has been doing advocacy work with formerly incarcerated women since 2021. She helped author the bill’s language and worked with Ohio state Rep. Latyna M. Humphrey, D–Columbus.       

“What we wanted to do is … ensure that women who are incarcerated, had access to feminine hygiene products,” Humphrey said. “What it does is it kind of takes that worry away from women who are incarcerated.” 

Tiggs recalls visiting the Montgomery County Jail and being told there was no formal policy in place for period products at the time.  

“They had what was called just a best practice, which was taking a handful of products and passing them out,” she said. “There was no formalized way that these facilities would pass out these products, and there was also a pattern of withholding and denying these products.” 

Tiggs heard from formerly incarcerated women that feminine hygiene products would sometimes be withheld. 

“It was just up to the discretion of the corrections offices that determined most of the time whether or not the women got their products,” she said. 

Courtney Alspaugh, who served five years at the Dayton Correctional Institution from 2017 until 2021,  remembers going around begging for pads and tampons. At times, she had to resort to using paper towels or toilet paper. 

“It was just like chaos,” she said. “You’re basically fending for yourself on what to do. … I had used wash rags because there was no other option, I had no other choice.”

She cried when she heard DeWine signed the bill into law.  

“I was just overall really overwhelmed and excited and just happy that others won’t have to go through that because they’re already going through so much,” she said. “It’s just one less thing for them to have to worry about.”

The Ohio bill has anti-discrimination language that says period products can’t be withheld as a form of punishment or due to a prisoner’s identity. The bill also mandates that all of the facilities have a disposal bin. 

“It took us by surprise when we learned that women didn’t have a way to dispose of their products,” Tiggs said. “Oftentimes, they would take their products with their bare hands and either flush them … or they would have to carry them with their bare hands and move them to another part of the facility.”

At times, used period products would just be on the floor, Tiggs said. 

“The products are so cheap that they would fall out of women’s pants, fall out of women’s underwear, and just be on the floor, and there was no way to properly dispose of them,” she said. 

The new law requires correctional facilities to allow female inmates to shower once per day while menstruating. 

The bill was reintroduced for three consecutive general assemblies before being signed into law. It was first introduced at the end of 2022 during the 134th General Assembly. 

“We knew that there was not going to be enough time for the bill to gain any traction,” Tiggs said. “We wanted to make noise about it.” 

The bill passed the House, but it stalled in the Senate during the 135th General Assembly. The bipartisan bill was introduced by Humphrey and Republican state Rep. Marilyn John this General Assembly. 

The federal government started offering free access to menstrual products for federal inmates starting in 2017 and 25 states have laws requiring free access to feminine hygiene products in prisons, according to the Ohio Justice and Policy Center. 

A 2025 analysis by the Prison Policy Initiative reported at least six types of rules that can be used against people menstruating in prisons including property damage, maintaining personal hygiene, contraband, physical movement, work assignments, and feigning illness.  

“The denial and withholding of menstrual products is a form of intentional punishment,” Tiggs said. “Sometimes all you have left while you’re (incarcerated) is your dignity.”

This story originally appeared at ohiocapitaljournal.com.

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Ohio lawmakers have introduced several bills since going on winter break — including ones that would limit which families can receive school vouchers, make Election Day a state holiday, and ban 17-year-olds from getting married. 

The Ohio Senate was scheduled to return this week, but session and all committees were cancelled because of weather. The Ohio House will come back in February. 

Ohio’s 136th General Assembly is just past its halfway point, as the lawmakers operate on two-year cycles. Bills have until the end of 2026 to pass or else they die. 

Limiting Education Choice Expansions scholarships

A bipartisan bill would limit Education Choice Expansion scholarships to families with a federal adjusted gross income of $500,000 or less.

Ohio state Reps. Justin Pizzulli, R-Scioto County, and Anita Somani, D-Dublin, introduced Ohio House Bill 643 earlier this month. 

The income threshold would be adjusted annually for inflation, according to the bill’s language. 

Lawmakers expanded the Education Choice Expansion eligibility to 450% of the poverty line through the 2023 state budget — creating near-universal school vouchers.

K-8 students can receive a $6,166 scholarship and high schoolers can receive a $8,408 scholarship in state funding under the expansion.

Ohio spent more than a billion dollars on private school vouchers for the 2025 fiscal year, the second full year with near-universal school vouchers.

Nearly half of the money ($492.8 million) was from Education Choice Expansion vouchers. 

Make Election Day a state holiday 

An Ohio Senator is trying to make Election Day a state holiday. 

Ohio state Sen. Kent Smith, D-Euclid, introduced Ohio Senate Bill 335, which would make the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November “Democracy Day.” 

Hawaii, Illinois, West Virginia, Maryland, and New York have Election Day as a public holiday and require employers to provide paid time off for voting, according to the Movement Advancement Project. 

Montana, Louisiana, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have Election Day as a public holiday, but do not require employees to provide paid time off for voting, according to MAP. 

Seventeen states require employers to provide paid time off for voting, but do not have Election Day as a public holiday, according to MAP. 

Ohio does not have Election Day as a public holiday nor does it require employers to provide paid time off for voting. Ohio does allow for voters to get a “reasonable amount of time” off during the day to do their civic duty.

Voter turnout in Ohio is higher during an election year. 71.71% of registered Ohio voters voted in the 2024 general election, 49.63% of registered voters voted in 2023, 52.32% in 2022, and 73.99% in 2020, according to the Ohio Secretary of State. 

Banning 17 year olds from getting married 

A bipartisan bill would repeal a law that allows a person who is seventeen to marry. 

Ohio Sens. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, and Bill Blessing, R-Colerain Township, introduced Ohio Senate Bill 341 earlier this month. 

This bill would require both parties getting married to be at least 18 years old. 

Ohio law currently has a provision that allows a 17-year-old to get married if they demonstrate to a judge that they received satisfactory marriage counseling, waited 14 days and the age difference is no more than four years. 

This story originally appeared at ohiocapitaljournal.com.

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Ohio Equal Rights has started collecting signatures to get two amendments on the November ballot — one to get rid of the ban on same-sex marriage in the Ohio Constitution and the other to bolster discrimination protections. 

The second amendment would add language to the state’s constitution protecting citizens from discrimination based on race, color, creed or religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression regardless of sex assigned at birth, pregnancy status, genetic information, disease status, age, disability, recovery status, familial status, ancestry, national origin, or military and veteran status.  

“Individual rights are constantly under attack in this country, and Ohioans deserve protections that cannot be taken away by shifting political winds,” said Susan Appel, Volunteer Campaign Manager for Ohio Equal Rights.

“We cannot trust that the government will always do the right thing simply because it should. So we’re doing what Ohioans have always done—we’re taking matters into our own hands.”

Ohio Equal Rights, a grassroots organization, will need to collect about 413,487 signatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties — 10% of the total vote cast for governor during the last gubernatorial election — for each amendment in order to get on the ballot. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose will then need to verify the signatures. 

Because they are trying to get two amendments on the ballot, volunteers are trying to circulate both petitions at the same time, said Lis Regula, Ohio Equal Rights Executive Co-Chair. 

Hocking County is the county that is closest to completion with signatures, he said. 

“The narrative that rural Ohio is less concerned about rights at this point does not seem to be the case,” Regula said. 

Ohio Equal Rights originally had one proposed amendment, but the Ohio Ballot Board decided over the summer their proposal actually contained two amendments. They could have challenged the ruling in the Ohio Supreme Court, but decided to move forward with two amendments. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost certified the summary language for both amendments in August. 

“This certification should not be construed as an affirmation of the enforceability, constitutionality, or wisdom of the proposed amendment,” Yost said in both of his Aug. 8 letters. “Those matters are left for a different forum and another day.”

Ohio’s constitution includes a ban on same-sex marriage after 61.7% of Ohio voters approved an amendment in 2004 that says marriage is only between one man and one woman. The United States Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in 2015 through the Obergefell case originating out of Ohio. 

However, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called on the justices to revisit Obergefell after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“Ohioans deserve a Constitution that reflects the will of the people—not outdated laws or political agendas,” Appel said. “These amendments are about protecting families, protecting freedom, and protecting the basic principle that government should not be telling people how to live their lives.” 

The 2026 ballot will also include the governor’s race and other statewide executive offices. 

Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.

This story originally appeared at ohiocapitaljournal.com.

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Ohio Democratic candidate for governor Dr. Amy Acton and her newly announced running mate David Pepper met with several central Ohioans to discuss affordability at a roundtable event Wednesday. 

Acton, the former Ohio Department of Health director, is presumed to be the Democratic nominee running for governor and she named Pepper, former chair of the Ohio Democrats, as her choice for lieutenant governor this week. Wednesday’s roundtable at Katalina’s in Bexley, where Acton lives, was their first public appearance together. 

“I’m getting memes all the time now — Dr. Pepper,” Acton joked.

On a more serious note, Acton talked about Pepper’s lifelong commitment to Ohio and the skills he brings to the table as a lawyer. 

“He speaks up and fights tirelessly,” Acton said. “David, as a lawyer, brings things to the table that are very unique as somebody who is going to be the worst enemy of corruption.”

Pepper spoke highly of Acton, referring to her time helping lead the state during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’ve greatly admired her leadership in a tough time, watched her save lives, took her marching orders, and as I’ve gotten to see her run, especially get involved, I just think she’s an incredibly deep candidate,” Pepper said.

Acton has been going around the state listening to people share their stories. 

“This is part of something that matters a lot to us, hearing from folks what is really going on in their life,” she said. 

Republican frontrunner Vivek Ramaswamy tapped Ohio Senate President Rob McColley as his running mate earlier this week. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who appointed Acton as ODH director in 2019, endorsed Ramaswamy on Wednesday. 

Pepper said he and Acton are the change candidates. 

“Both of us are outsiders to politics in different ways,” Pepper said. “The status quo of Ohio is not working for so many people. …  I think most people want to see something different.” 

Housing affordability was a common topic that was touched on by most of the six panelists on the roundtable. 

“Affordable housing is an enormous obstacle for the people that we work with,” said Matt Heaggans, owner of Preston’s: A Burger Joint in Columbus. “We see the impacts of that on people every day and the way that it gets people off track.”

Derrick Smith, a Columbus realtor with Keller Williams, explained how about one out of every three people he works with has an older family member provide assistance to help them buy a house. 

“First-time buyers are where we really need to help,” he said. 

Acton experienced homelessness as a child growing up in the Youngstown area. 

“I can tell you that housing is going to be a big issue for me,” she said. 

Acton said she hears about the rising costs of living when traveling across the state, something she said she has experienced herself. 

“I don’t live far from here and our electric bill went up $150 this summer,” she said. “…  Rent is high, everything is high. Every one of our health care costs is going up right now.”

Harvest Pizzeria owner Chris Crader shared his concerns about the rising costs of goods. 

“You can only raise your prices so much until you price your pizza out of affordability,” he said. 

In response, Acton and Pepper took turns blaming gerrymandering. 

“What happens when you have a super gerrymandered situation?” Acton asked. “Corruption takes hold and that’s absolutely what this election is going to be about.”  

If a state is failing in multiple areas, something else is wrong, Pepper said. 

“What’s going wrong is we have a Statehouse, it’s gerrymandered,” he said.

Ohioans are ready for change, Acton said. 

“One of the reasons I’m running for governor is I just couldn’t look the other way anymore,” she said. “People are struggling. The state keeps going backwards on every measure.” 

This is a crisis moment for so many communities, Pepper said. 

“The issues we just heard about, broader economic issues, young people leaving, direct costs, challenges everyone faces,” he said. “In terms of stepping in, I think it’s a time for us and for so many others to get involved to try and change what is a troubling direction for a country, but especially for this state.”

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

The post Ohio Democratic Ticket of Amy Acton and David Pepper Hold Affordability Roundtable appeared first on Cincinnati CityBeat.

Ohio’s recreational marijuana sales surpassed more than $836 million in 2025, the first full year recreational sales were legal. 

Recreational sales started in August 2024 and the state’s total recreational marijuana sales were $1,091,250,807, as of Jan. 3, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control. 

Ohioans voted to legalize marijuana in 2023 and recreational sales totaled more than $242 million in 2024. 

Ohio’s medical marijuana sales started Jan. 14, 2019, and the state’s total medical marijuana sales were $2,293,970,758, as of Jan. 3, according to the Division of Cannabis Control.

Medical marijuana sales brought in more than $233 million in 2025. 

Ohio’s average marijuana prices are a bit lower now than they were compared to last year at this time.  

The manufactured sales average was $23.83 for the week ending in Jan. 3 compared to $26.66 for the week ending Jan. 4, 2025, according to the Division of Cannabis Control. 

There are 190 dual-use marijuana dispensaries in Ohio, meaning they can sell medical and non-medical marijuana, according to the Division of Cannabis Control.  

More than 130 Ohio municipalities and townships have moratoriums in place banning the sale of adult-use cannabis as of Dec. 2, according to Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law. 

Senate Bill 56 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill into law last month that made various changes to the state’s voter-passed marijuana law, including adding crimes, such as making it illegal to bring legally purchased marijuana from another state back to Ohio. 

DeWine signed Ohio Senate Bill 56, which is set to take effect in March. The bill also bans intoxicating hemp products. 

On the marijuana side, it will reduce the THC levels in adult-use marijuana extracts from a maximum of 90% down to a maximum of 70%, cap THC levels in adult-use flower to 35%, and prohibit smoking in most public places. 

The bill gets rid of protections against discrimination for housing, employment and organ donation. It also allows police to have probable cause during traffic stops if someone is a known user of marijuana. 

The bill prohibits possessing marijuana in anything outside of its original packaging and criminalizes bringing legal marijuana from another state back to Ohio. It also requires drivers to store marijuana in the trunk of their car while driving. 

Ohioans for Cannabis Choice recently launched a referendum effort in an attempt to stop the law from taking effect. 

The initial signatures were submitted, so now Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose must verify the signatures and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost will also have to certify the petition summary is fair and truthful.

If the petition passes those hurdles, organizers can begin canvassing to collect signatures. They’ll need 6% of the total number of votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election (248,092). The group will also need 3% of an individual county’s gubernatorial turnout in 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties. 

Organizers will have 90 days from the date the governor filed the law with the secretary to collect the required signatures.

The last referendum that passed in Ohio was when voters overturned an anti-collective bargaining law in 2011.

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

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