The city council paused the $20 million contract with local nonprofit DigitalC with concerns that the $40 million broadband expansion initiative would be too large for the company to manage.
The state’s latest proposal would create a flat income tax rate of 2.75 percent and would cut corporate property taxes and increase residential/agricultural property taxes. But experts say benefits of Ohio’s tax cuts are unclear.
Though the Auditor of State hasn’t identified any government in Ohio that is improperly spending its pandemic funds, debates have sparked about whether the funds can be appropriately used on things like a new jail or improved baseball stadium.
The new law will take effect in April during the first week of early voting and will require voters to provide photo identification when casting an in-person ballot. The law also changes the timeline for absentee voting.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a formal order mandating the company to conduct a cleanup operation and pay for the remediation costs of the freight derailment that released toxic chemicals into the area.
The legislation would create a flat state income tax rate of 2.75 percent, which would yield a larger tax break for the highest tax bracket, and would supplement the lost revenue by cutting $1.2 billion per year in state property tax rollbacks.
The General Assembly will study the two-year budget that includes about 25 percent more spending annually than the current year’s budget, including $2.3 billion on roads and $717 million on bridges.
Three years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, those in the Cleveland area are still uncertain about where employers will require their workers to be: in office, at home or a hybrid of the two.
Larry Householder and former Ohio GOP chairman and lobbyist Matthew Borges are standing trial this week on charges that they participated in a “criminal enterprise” that took nearly $61 million in bribes.
The grant funding will be available through two programs that will support the state’s Broadband and 5G Sector Partnership, which aims to educate and train a skilled workforce for Ohio’s telecommunications industry.
The state’s minimum wage increased by 80 cents to $10.10 an hour for non-tipped workers, the largest increase in more than a decade and a half. The state’s minimum wage increased about four times between 1969 and 2006.
Sports betting in the state became legal on Jan. 1 and many hope that the industry will bring in millions in tax revenue for Ohio schools and increased revenue for other businesses. But some are worried about addiction.
Democrats have pushed relentlessly for policies that would reduce surging rates of gun violence in the state, but lawmakers joined conservatives to kill a last-minute gun control proposal.
The Ohio Mayors Alliance, a bipartisan group that represents the state’s 30 largest cities, says its top recommendations for next year include remote work that could undermine local revenue, police training and gun reform.
Administrators of Bath Township, Ohio, aren’t sure why the 2020 Census reported a 40 percent decline in population as compared to the 2010 report. Officials suspect the loss is a data glitch; surrounding communities have been shrinking.
In the final weeks of the legislative session, Republican state lawmakers appear ready to approve a bill that would make it impossible for most residents to vote without a photo ID. Ohio would join eight other states with similarly strict laws.
