Rotunda Rumblings

Change order: Two Ohio Democrats who ran statewide in 2022 are sounding the alarms that questions over President Joe Biden’s fitness for office will tank the party’s down-ballot candidates, including Sen. Sherrod Brown. Per Andrew Tobias, former congressman Tim Ryan, who was the party’s 2022 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, backed Vice President Kamala Harris in a Tuesday opinion column in Newsweek, while former Cincinnati mayor John Cranley, who lost the 2022 Democratic primary for governor, has floated several Democratic governor candidates.

Star-spangled banner: A bill just passed the Ohio House that would require all flags raised on state and local government buildings be made in America. Most American flags are already made domestically. House Bill 87 is now in the Senate for consideration, but lawmakers aren’t scheduled to be back in session until after the November election, Laura Hancock reports.

Baby you’re a: Fireworks, newly legalized for private use on certain holidays, have generated $3 million for the state to use to train its firefighters. As Jake Zuckerman reports, the money comes from a 4% gross receipts tax.

Celling point: Ohio drivers accused of violating the state’s new texting-while-driving ban have the responsibility of showing their phone use is allowed under one of the law’s many exceptions, a state appeals court has ruled. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, the court decided against an Ohio driver who argued that the burden of proof is on prosecutors to prove that none of the exceptions in the state’s texting ban applied to his case.

Party planning: The Libertarian Party of Ohio on Tuesday submitted more than 88,000 signatures to regain state recognition for the first time in four years. As Pelzer reports, if successful, Libertarians plan to run several candidates in the state’s November general election, including presidential nominee Chase Oliver.

In the CHIPS: Akron’s Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub is getting a $51 million infusion of CHIPS and Science Act funding from the Department of Commerce, Sabrina Eaton writes. The Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub led by the Greater Akron Chamber will try to address the severe climate and environmental impacts resulting from the use of fossil fuel-derived polymers (rubbers and plastics) through accelerating U.S. sustainable polymer manufacturing and commercialization.

Elder care: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is awarding $1 million to Northeast Ohio Medical University’s Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce announced Tuesday. “As Ohio continues to face industry-wide healthcare staffing shortages, it is important we are working to train and better equip geriatric health professionals to meet the growing demand,” said a statement from the South Russell Republican.

Party favors? Republican state lawmakers are expected to embrace school choice, even in rural areas where the populations are too small to support a private school. This has made many of these rural lawmakers who support public schools and vote against private school vouchers targets of primaries, writes ProPublica’s Alec MacGillis, who noted that vouchers became a campaign issue in GOP state Rep. Jon Cross’ unsuccessful reelection bid.

Not on board: A board member of the State Teachers Retirement System resigned last week, Morgan Trau of WEWS reports. Steve Foreman said he wasn’t ready to talk about why he left, except indicating retirement had something to do with it. Foreman was seen as a “reformer” who was open to changing investment strategies. Two other reformers are in court, fighting an attempt by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to remove them from their positions for allegedly breaching fiduciary responsibilities.

On pause: The state has ordered a Youngstown youth mental health center to stop accepting new patients until problems are corrected. This comes after Disability Rights Ohio investigated Youth Intensive Services learned kids claimed they were held in chokeholds, held to the ground and regularly left the campus, the Dispatch’s Laura Bischoff reports.

Programming note: We are taking a few days off for the Fourth of July holiday. Capitol Letter will return to your inbox on Monday. Enjoy your holiday!

Lobbying Lineup

Five organizations lobbying on House Bill 87, which would require state and local government buildings to fly Ohio and U.S. flags that have only been produced domestically. The bill passed the House last week and is headed to the Senate.

1. Governor’s office

2. The Ohio Adjutant General’s Department

3. The Ohio Township Association

4. The American Legion Department of Ohio

5. Supreme Court of Ohio

Birthdays

Wednesday, July 3: No birthdays

Thursday, July 4: Ex-state Rep. Bernadine Kent; Andrew Spencer, Ohio House committee clerk; State Rep. Dick Stein; Ethan Allen Brown, 7th Ohio governor (1766-1852)

Friday, July 5: Mallory Golski, civic engagement and advocacy manager, Kaleidoscope Youth Center, Inc.; Matthew Kelly, director of coalitions for Gov. Mike DeWine; Joseph B. Foraker, U.S. senator, Ohio’s 37th governor (1846-1917)

Saturday, July 6: Megan Fitzmartin, senior adviser to Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens; Allie Harris Butchello, associate legal counsel and chief legislative officer, Ohio Department of Administrative Services; Ramona Ragland, legislative aide to state Sen. Catherine Ingram

Sunday, July 7: Tim Bally, Ohio House assistant sergeant at-arms; Bettina Hahn-Lawson, senior project manager at Government Resources Center; Beth Vanderkooi, executive director, Greater Columbus Right To Life; Kelsey Woolard, manager of governmental affairs, Governmental Policy Group; James E. Campbell, Ohio’s 38th governor (1843-1924); A. Victor Donahey, Ohio’s 50th governor (1873-1946); Ex-state Rep. John Patterson

Straight From The Source

“You’re going to regulate where a 75-year-old trans individual goes to the bathroom?”

-Cleveland attorney Robert Chaloupka, who does work for Equality Ohio and helps transgender people change their names and genders if they’re transitioning, in an interview with Ohio Capital Journal’s Megan Henry about potential problems with bathroom bills.

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