New Game, New Rules: Just before the Cleveland Indians held their home kick-off on Monday afternoon, Governor Mike DeWine’s government lifted attendance restrictions on Progressive Field and other outdoor venues. However, as Jeremy Pelzer explains, seating capacity is likely to remain below pre-pandemic levels due to ongoing social distancing restrictions. The DeWine administration’s new health order also allows festivals, parades, proms, graduations, fairs, and other mass gatherings to resume in Ohio, provided appropriate coronavirus health precautions are followed.
School vaccinations: DeWine announced Monday that local health officials will be working with schools to vaccinate students aged 16 or 17. Emily Bamforth reports that Pfizer would be used for these vaccinations as it is the only vaccine approved for anyone under the age of 18.
New Managed Care Program: Ohio Medicaid has selected Aetna to manage the health of approximately 60,000 Ohio children suffering from complex mental health problems under the new OhioRISE program. Laura Hancock reports that the company will receive $ 900 million a year for this.
New numbers: The Ohio Department of Health reported 2,918 new coronavirus cases for Monday and Sunday when officials were absent at Easter, Hancock reports. Almost 19% of the Ohio population have completed the vaccine.
Groundwork: Proponents of voting rights urge heads of state to begin the restructuring process, including appointing lawmakers to a state redistribution commission and setting a prime date for the June 2022 elections, writes Andrew Tobias. The Ohio and Common Cause Ohio League of Women Voters said state officials will not have to wait for the US census data to be completed, which is delayed and not expected until September 30 to begin preparing the new redistribution process and funding in the public.
Abortion warrant: A judge in Cincinnati on Monday temporarily suspended enforcement of a law coming into effect Tuesday requiring fetal remains from surgical abortions to be buried or cremated, Hancock reports. Plaintiffs in the case, which includes Ohio abortion providers, must decide after the Department of Health enacts lawful rules whether to sue Senate Bill 27.
Confirmed: The Ohio Supreme Court upheld Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s decision in a 6-1 ruling to block the appointment of a former Lorain County commission to the Lorain County electoral board. The Lorain County Democratic Party sued Sharon Sweda on the electoral board. However, the Supreme Court ruling found that LaRose had the right to reject Sweda. LaRose, a Republican, cited emails his office received from a tipster who claimed, according to the Elyria Chronicle Telegram, that Sweda had used her county email for political purposes in some cases.
Timken’s bottom line: Former Ohio Republican Party leader Jane Timken raised $ 2.1 million through March to successfully retire Republican Rob Portman in the US Senate, writes Sabrina Eaton. The amount Timken raised in the first quarter of the year surpasses the $ 1.3 million a GOP rival announced for Portman’s seat, former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, during that period, and the $ 1 , $ 2 million raised by likely Democratic candidate US Representative Tim Ryan from Niles.
Turner’s Tally: Congressional candidate Nina Turner has raised $ 2.2 million to date to win the Cleveland and Akron seat vacated by President Joe Biden’s election of Marcia Fudge as secretary for housing and urban development, Eaton reports. The hiring gives her a likely advantage in fundraising among the more than half a dozen candidates seeking primary school seating on August 3rd. The general election will take place on November 2nd.
Accounting issues: U.S. Representative Jim Jordan’s re-election campaign filed filings with the Federal Election Commission on Sunday to answer questions about large accounting discrepancies between the reports filed several years ago and the revised reports the committee issued earlier this year reported Eaton. The campaign treasurer, who Jordan hired last year, said many of the transactions in question were originally reported when they were entered into the campaign’s reporting database, rather than when they were processed online, which happened in a different reporting period was. He said his review also corrected several cases where duplicate posts were reported.
Jordan Challenger: A Democrat who filed documents to challenge Jordan, Lima-based Jeff Sites, announced that his campaign raised more than $ 380,000 in the first quarter of the year. “We’re getting support from ordinary Americans who are fed up with the cynical games of professional politicians,” said a statement from Sites, a US Army veteran and warehouse manager who unsuccessful his party’s 2020 nomination for the fight against Jordan requested.
Familiar face: Franklin County recorder Danny O’Connor, a Columbus Democrat who ran and lost in a 2018 special election for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, announced Monday that he is running again for Congress. As Tobias writes, O’Connor may be passing on nationwide to run for Congress, although he’s not sure what districts will look like. One possible outcome is a competitive borough anchored in suburban Columbus, despite O’Connor saying he was ready to go up against Reps Steve Stivers, Troy Balderson, or even Jordan.
Gonzalez challenger: The Democrat, who lost to Republican US Representative Anthony Gonzalez, Westlake physicist Aaron Paul Godfrey last year, submitted the Federal Election Commission filing to run again on Monday. Godfrey said he will make his final decision on whether to locate the seat after Ohio redraws its congressional maps and that he will be able to assess the district’s new geography. It would be Godfrey’s third run to the Congress.
Senate Race Watch: The Dispatch, the conservative, generally anti-Trump outlet not to be confused with the Columbus Dispatch, released a take-out on the Ohio Republican primary for the U.S. Senate on Monday. Like many national outlets, she asked Timken to elaborate on her comments to cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer on February 1, in which she personally praised Gonzalez and tactfully criticized his voice in order to indict former President Donald Trump. The outlet also spoke to U.S. Representatives Mike Turner, Bill Johnson, and Senator Matt Dolan, but was unsuccessful in tracking down former treasurer Josh Mandel.
No excuses: Vivek Ramaswamy, a Cincinnati area entrepreneur who is considering running for Republican for the US Senate next year, posted a statement for cleveland.com advocating the use of the phrase “Wuhan -Virus “by Lt. Gov. Jon Husted Defended Describe the Coronavirus. Ramaswamy, whose parents are from India, wrote in part: “Last week I shared the most important advice I gave him: be empathetic but do not apologize. Why? Because he didn’t do anything wrong. An apology would reinforce the offensive idea that Asian Americans are linked to the actions of the Chinese Communist Party. “The Ohio Republican Party promoted the statement in an email to media members on Monday.
Tax Overhaul Plans: Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and two colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee on Monday proposed a bill to encourage domestic investment to ensure mega-corporations pay their fair share of taxes, Eaton writes. Republican US Senator Rob Portman, who is also a member of the finance committee, denies their claims, saying the 2017 law created a level playing field for US companies with their foreign competitors and returned investments in the US.
The following lobbyists are registered as agents for Uber, the ride-sharing service:
1. Ben Kaiser
2. Robert Kellman
3. Robert Klaffky
4. Doug Preisse
Scott Ryan, Executive Director of Third Frontier in Ohio and former lawmaker
Dan Cech, Legal Advisor to Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp
“Perception is power.”
– Rep. Dontavius Jarrells, a Columbus Democrat, speaks to the Columbus Dispatch. Jarrells said the way Ohioans perceive the state’s new Stand Your Ground law – even if wrong – can have dire consequences.
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