(The Center Square) – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s recently proposed budget focused on children. His annual State of the State Address on Wednesday touted economic development and pushed for more.
Calling the state’s workforce its greatest opportunity and greatest challenge, DeWine told a joint session of the Ohio Legislature it’s time to remove roadblocks to the workforce.
“The state of our state is strong. Ohio is strong,” DeWine said. “Our goal remains the same – to work each day so that every single Ohioan has the tools to live up to their full potential and live their version of the American dream.”
DeWine said there are more jobs in Ohio than at any other time in history, and more are to come with major economic development projects underway in Defiance County, Wyandot County, Dayton, Fayette County, Cincinnati, Jackson, Jefferson County, Ashtabula County, Cleveland, Brecksville, Lorain County, Pickaway County and Licking County.
“Now our focus as a state is to act with great urgency in filling these jobs,” DeWine said.
While offering few specific legislative plans, DeWine encouraged Ohio employers to remove employment roadblocks by hiring more people with disabilities, more released convicts, those with mental health challenges and senior citizens.
“All of those groups of people deserve the chance to live up to their God-given potential and to lead healthy, productive lives. And we need all of them as well,” DeWine said.
Senate Republicans promised to look at DeWine’s ideas presented both in the State of the State and the budget.
“We’ll take a look at anything the governor proposes in its own right,” said Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon. “It’s a balancing of priorities, and one of our priorities is to make Ohio the best state to live, work, and run a business.”
Democrats were mixed in their response.
“Democrats stood up and applauded quite a bit over some of the things that we heard, especially when we heard pro-family policies, pro-children and families with children,” said Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, said. “We join him in supporting our families going forward. At the same time, we also did not hear the discussion that many Ohioans are in crisis. They are facing a child care crisis, a housing crisis, a cost-of-living crisis. We have threats and outrageous authoritarian abuses coming from the federal level that create concern in Ohio.”
DeWine also encouraged lawmakers to approve regional child wellness campuses to help care for foster children, provide literacy coaches in low-performing school districts and pass his planned expanded child tax credit. All were included in DeWine’s recently proposed budget.
House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, likes the idea of pro-family policies but questioned if the proposed tax credit would help.
“I don’t think an income tax credit for many Ohioans is the way to go, but pro-family policies for a variety of Ohioans can be very helpful. But, if we can reduce college debt, those are longer-term things that are very pro-family,” Huffman said.
In May, DeWine signed a law that required school districts to develop a student cell phone policy. On Wednesday, he called on lawmakers to ban cellphones in every Ohio school.
DeWine also wants lawmakers to create a permanent revenue stream to bring driver’s education training back to Ohio schools. He also wants the state’s department of education to review curriculum to make sure schools are teaching basic life skills.
