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Groups will be listening to State of the State for hints on how Ohio will spend billions

By Karen Kasler

Published March 22, 2022 at 6:33 PM EDT

Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) gestures during his 2019 State of the State speech in the Ohio House chambers on March 5, 2019. [OGT/The Ohio Channel / screenshot] — Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) gestures during his 2019 State of the State speech in the Ohio House chambers on March 5, 2019.

On Wednesday, Gov. Mike DeWine will deliver his first State of the State speech since 2019 – the last two were scrapped because of COVID-19. And two groups with very different constituencies will be listening for specific messages about money.

Advocates for Ohio’s Future is a coalition of more than 500 health and human services activists and groups involved in safety net programs. Director Kelsey Bergfeld said they’ll be listening for hints on how DeWine plans to spend $3.3 billion in American Rescue Plan money, since earlier COVID-19 relief funds went to businesses and to pay the state’s unemployment debt.

“We know that folks are still struggling from the impact of the pandemic and looking for investments in health and human services – specifically housing recovery, food and nutritional support as well as ongoing support for things like child care," Bergfeld said.

And Bergfeld said the groups will be upset if more funds go to those that already have benefits, saying this is the time to invest in people and get them back to work.

With that federal COVID-19 relief money and a capital construction bill set for this year, Greg Lawson of the Buckeye Institute, a conservative think tank, said he’s concerned about too much state spending.

Lawson said he wants to hear DeWine talk about infrastructure, COVID-19 relief and workforce development.

“We need to be sure that we don’t set ourselves up for long term budget headaches because we overspend in state resources now," Lawson said. "We need to be very targeted in what we do, use the federal resources that we’re getting in targeted ways that help get us back on our feet.”

Lawson said he’s especially interested in anything related to leveraging the $20 billion investment that computer chip manufacturer Intel is making, along with $2 billion in state dollars, which is almost certain to come up in this re-election year speech.