Ohioans have told lawmakers they need to do something about increasing property taxes. While a grassroots effort to put a constitutional amendment before voters to abolish property taxes works to collect petition signatures, a number of other bills and proposals are taking shape at the Statehouse.
One of those bills would reduce property tax collections by $3.5 billion is getting pushback. House Bill 335 would eliminate the 1% property tax value that schools and local governments can levy without voter approval. It's known as inside millage.
The bill is sponsored by Republican state Representative David Thomas of Jefferson, in Ashtabula County. Schools and local governments say the bill would be cataclysmic for school staffing and public services.
Property taxes and what to do about them begins this week’s discussion of news on the “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.”
Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren will not make the September primary ballot ending his bid for re-election. Seren failed to collect enough valid signatures to qualify. Also this week, a report from a law firm investigating allegations of intimidating behavior on the part of the mayor's wife found evidence of "screaming and cursing" but not a hostile work environment. The city commissioned the report.
The front offices of the state's many professional sports teams like the Ohio Senate's idea for using unclaimed funds to pay for sports venues including the construction of a new domed stadium in Brook Park for the Browns. The management of the sports teams, including the Guardians and Cavaliers, sent a letter to statehouse leaders expressing their support for the idea.
The Ohio Senate proposed tapping the unclaimed money to create a funding mechanism for the Browns stadium and other sports projects in the state. Since the proposal went public, there’s been a marked increase in people filing claims to get their money from the unpaid fund.
The U.S. Department of the Interior has posted signs in the national parks that request visitors to report on any actions or comments that are "negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the grandeur, beauty and abundance of landscapes and other natural features." One of the locations for the signs is in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park at the Boston Mill Visitors Center.\
Two Republican lawmakers want to take aim at a reproductive health amendment that voters approved in 2023. The amendment also codified abortion protections into the state's constitution. Now a bill being proposed called the Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act would ban all abortions and criminalize the procedure. It also seeks to ban in vitro fertilization treatments. The bill's sponsors would grant criminal and civil protections from the point of fertilization onward.
Guests:
-Stephanie Czekalinski, Deputy Editor for News, Ideastream Public Media
-Zaria Johnson, Environmental Reporter, Ideastream Public Media