Rotunda Rumblings
Redistricting amendment: Backers of a proposed state constitutional amendment that would give power to draw state legislative and congressional district lines to an independent commission is staring down a July deadline to submit signatures to qualify for the November ballot. Andrew Tobias reports that the group, Citizens Not Politicians, isn’t revealing how many signatures it has gathered so far (it needs more than 400,000 valid ones), but a spokesman says the group is running ahead of schedule.
Book keeping: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is asking a judge to stop Hebrew Union College from selling off books from its library, which includes a 14,000-item rare book collection with materials that are over 500 years old. Yost is arguing that scholarship would be halted if the materials ended up in private hands, but a spokeswoman for the school said there are no plans to sell the materials, Laura Hancock reports.
Justice vs. Jordan: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday denied political impropriety allegations levelled by Ohio’s Jim Jordan, saying prosecutions of ex-President Donald Trump aren’t politically motivated and dismissing allegations that the Justice Department had a role in New York’s prosecution of Trump as “a conspiracy theory” that amounts to an attack on the judicial process itself,” Sabrina Eaton reports. “I will not be intimidated,” said Garland. “And the Justice Department will not be intimidated. We will continue to do our jobs free from political influence. And we will not back down from defending our democracy.”
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Pork bill: Ohio lawmakers are considering legislation aimed at eradicating feral swine (aka wild hogs) from the state. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, House Bill 503 would – among other things – allow landowners to shoot feral swine on sight without a license, make it a felony to import or release them in the state, and require people aware of feral swine to immediately notify state wildlife officials. Many of the state’s most powerful agricultural groups are backing the bill, noting that feral swine damage land, destroy property, and spread disease to livestock (and, in some cases, humans).
Friends in high places: Democratic attorneys general from six states and Washington, D.C., submitted an amicus brief in a case challenging voting restrictions. Ohio voter Jennifer Kucera, who lives with muscular dystrophy and relies on in-home caregivers for help in many aspects of her life, including mail, is suing over a law in which her caregivers wouldn’t be able to assist her with her ballot, Ohio Capital Journal’s Nick Evans reports.
It’s a party: The New York Times editorial board’s Farah Stockman and Jillian Weinberger visited an event for the Shelby County Democratic Party to examine how rural Democrats are rebranding themselves to appeal to voters who aren’t crazy about Donald Trump, believe abortion rights are an issue of freedom and believe the Democrats better defend workers but may not swing as far to the left as urban Democrats.
Outside investigations: Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday that deaths in county jails need to be independently investigated, not probed by the county sheriffs that run the facilities, the Dispatch’s Laura Bischoff and Erin Glynn report. The reporters uncovered that at least 219 Ohioans died in the past four years in the custody of county jails, most hadn’t yet been tried for the crimes they were accused of.
Lobbying Lineup
Five organizations lobbying on House Bill 164, a bipartisan bill that would provide college scholarships for qualifying foster students, create a new position at the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce to work to keep foster children in their school of origin as they move to different homes, and creates four positions in the Ohio Department of Higher Education to serve as foster care student navigators to help students to apply for and enroll in college and obtain financial aid.
1. Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio
2. Adoption Network Cleveland
3. Central State University
4. Ohio Poverty Law Center
5. Ohio Association of Community Colleges
On the Move
Khalid Turaani is the new executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Ohio.
Pro-Choice Ohio, the anti-abortion organization, has changed its name to Abortion Forward. This is the second name change in recent years. It was originally known as NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, Jo Ingles of Ohio Public Radio reports.
Birthdays
Naomi del Guidice, legislative aide to state Rep. Jena Powell
Erin Sutter, Buckeye Institute director of operations
Straight From The Source
“This isn’t something that’s going to be impacting us a year from now. It’s going to have immediate effects.”
- Michelle Francis, executive director of the Ohio Library Council, talking to lawmakers about cuts in local library funding due to state revenues not meeting projections. Some local libraries have cut hours and are making decisions about programming and staffing, Ohio Capital Journal’s Susan Tebben reports.
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