Questions have come up about the potential to hack the election after the FBI raised concerns about the voting systems in Arizona and Illinois. But Secretary of State Jon Husted says Ohio's election system is safe. More than 7 million absentee ballot applications will go out to registered voters this weekend, and 1.6 million postcards will go to residents who aren’t registered, reminding them that the deadline to do so is October 11. And House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger has announced a process to pick the 12 members of the commission that will oversee the state’s medicinal pot program, which launches with a law taking effect September 8.
Twenty years ago, President Bill Clinton signed a law that he declared would “end welfare as we know it”. The law – sponsored by then Ohio Congressman, now Gov. John Kasich – created federal grants to the states to finance programs that offer temporary aid to needy families and limited most to a lifetime of five years of benefits. States then put their own restrictions and requirements on TANF funding, such as requiring job training. And lawmakers are still considering what other changes they can make to move people from welfare to work – even as critics of welfare reform say it’s weakened the safety net for the more than one-sixth of Ohioans who live in poverty. One idea that’s come up several times is a proposal requiring some people applying for unemployment benefits to submit to drug tests. In April, one of its sponsors, Rep. Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) and Rep. Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights), a vocal critic of the idea, clashed over the proposal.