The Statehouse News Bureau

Established in 1980, the Statehouse News Bureau offers thorough and educational reporting on legislation, elections, and various activities related to the Statehouse for Ohio's public radio and television stations. It continues to be the sole broadcast source focused on detailed coverage of state government news and issues that matter across the state. The Bureau receives funding from the Broadcast Educational Media Commission and is operated by ideastream.

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Ohio budget proposal links fracking royalties to state parks’ bottom lines

2 days ago | statenews.org | Sarah Donaldson

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) was poised to benefit from more than $30 million in bonus royalty payments from drilling under state parks, but the latest version of House Bill 96 ties that money to the agency’s already-existing budget instead.
Democrats in the Ohio Legislature want to put marriage equality on the ballot in 2026

4 days ago | statenews.org | Jo Ingles

Democratic state lawmakers are taking steps to put marriage equality on the ballot in 2026 so voters could decide whether to recognize gay marriages in Ohio through a constitutional amendment. That’s just one of several provisions introduced by Democratic lawmakers to mark Pride Month in Ohio. It’s been more than five decades since the first official PRIDE protest, and Rep. Tristan Rader (D-Lakewood) says LGBTQ people are still fighting for basic rights others take for granted.
Ohio Senate budget includes flat income tax rate

4 days ago | statenews.org | Sarah Donaldson

Senate lawmakers made hundreds of amendments Tuesday afternoon to House Bill 96, the biennial state budget which is due June 30. Among them, the GOP-majority Senate Finance Committee added a measure that would flatten the state income tax, transitioning down from the current two-bracket system to a flat rate for everybody at 2.75% by 2026.
Getting up there: the Goodyear Blimp turns 100

4 days ago | statenews.org | Kendall Crawford

A century ago, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company decided to take their advertising to the next level. To the skies, to be more exact. The Ohio company posted their name on a 100 ft. long helium airship. “It's one of the biggest recognized symbols that there is,” said Goodyear airship pilot Adam Basaran. “We're the only tire company that has a blimp typically flying around.”The first Goodyear Blimp, “The Pilgrim”, took off from Wingfoot Lake, outside of Akron in Suffield, in 1925.
Bill would require Pledge of Allegiance daily in Ohio public schools

5 days ago | statenews.org | Sarah Donaldson

As schools are letting out for the summer across Ohio, state lawmakers are looking ahead to the next academic year. Among the proposed changes to the laws governing the state’s public schools, one bill would require that schools make time for the Pledge of Allegiance every day. Although some already do, current law only requires each district’s school board to have a policy on whether its schools regularly stand and recite the pledge. In short, it’s not a mandate. Reps.
Ohio lawmakers want to make it tougher to pass local property tax levies

5 days ago | statenews.org | Jo Ingles

Some Republican state lawmakers are getting ready to introduce a bill that change the threshold for being able to pass a local property tax levy to 60% or more. “Taxpayers are tapped out and just really at their wits' end,” Rep. Dave Thomas (R-Ashtabula), one of the legislation’s sponsors, said. Right now, local levies pass with a simple majority. Thomas said it raising the threshold to 60% would ensure there is broader support.
Less food, more demand: Ohio’s rural food pantries cope with federal cuts

5 days ago | statenews.org | Erin Gottsacker

As a steady trickle of cars pulled into a gravel roundabout one morning in Stockport, a tiny village in southeast Ohio, volunteers loaded cardboard boxes into truck beds and passenger seats. They were filled with pantry staples: apple juice, corn flakes, kidney beans and elbow macaroni. “We try to provide a three-day supply of food,” said Stefanie Thompson, the executive director of Morgan County United Ministries, which runs this mobile food pantry.
Convention and visitors bureaus in counties with popular tourism attractions fight to keep funding

1 week ago | statenews.org | Jo Ingles

There’s an amendment in the proposed Ohio state budget that would strip away a big chunk of funding many convention and visitors bureaus now receive. The suggested amendment would require smaller counties that collect more than $500,000 in lodging tax to redirect two-thirds of those funds to support other needs affected by that tourism. That would leave a third of the dollars for that county's convention and visitors bureau.
Carryover limit on public schools among possible Senate changes to Ohio budget

1 week ago | statenews.org | Sarah Donaldson

With another week of back-to-back marathon hearings nearly behind them, members of the Ohio Senate Finance committee are getting ready to release their initial version of the biennial state budget Tuesday. Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) has been mum on most of his caucus’s budget priorities and plans since the House sent House Bill 96 over in April.
Nature invented the tomato. An Ohioan perfected it

1 week ago | statenews.org | Kendall Crawford

It’s not quite yet tomato season in Ohio, but there’s still a small variety at the Smith Farm Market in Columbus. Heirloom tomatoes of all sizes, with purplish and yellow hues, pile atop one another. A row of seed packets offer potential for even more variety. “This is a variety called Black Crim, which is called that because the outside is a little bit purple,” said Ohio State University horticulture and food science associate professor Jessica Cooperstone, grabbing a seed packet from the rack.