The Buckeye Institute filed its appeal brief in Vanderveer v. OAPSE with Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals, calling on the court to reverse the lower court’s dismissal of the case and end the union’s wage theft practices. The Buckeye Institute represents Katrina Vanderveer of Wauseon, Ohio, in Vanderveer v. OAPSE—one of several union wage theft cases brought by The Buckeye Institute. This case will decide “whether the courthouse doors are open to Mrs. Vanderveer—and other Ohioans...”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Public Insurance and Pensions Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 473, which includes “reform[s] that will help local governments live within their means and make public employee compensation more transparent for taxpayers.” The pension pick-up loophole diverts money from public services that taxpayers expect or requires property tax hikes that taxpayers don’t—“just the sort of opaque and expensive public perk that has fueled taxpayer frustration.” 

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Technology and Innovation Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 413, which will open local government accounting books to the public. “Local governments and jurisdictions are already required to make tax collection and spending information available upon taxpayer request. House Bill 413 simply “streamlines that process by making local revenues and expenditures immediately accessible online, eliminating the need for residents to file time-consuming public records requests and wait weeks for a response.”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Technology and Innovation Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 392, which will “help position Ohio as a national leader in AI and data processing technology.” House Bill 392 establishes “clear regulatory guardrails to properly balance innovation and responsible oversight of emerging technology,” and “provides regulatory certainty for the AI sector by preventing local governments from imposing a patchwork of contradictory rules that are expensive and difficult to follow.”

The Buckeye Institute commented on the passage of House Bill 186 and House Bill 335 by the Ohio House of Representatives, saying, “Taken together, House Bill 186 and House Bill 335 will help rein in unvoted property tax increases as The Buckeye Institute recommended. While there remains more to do to reform Ohio’s expensive system of local government and protect Ohioans from spiking property taxes, the adoption of the policies in House Bill 186 and House Bill 335 is another step in the right direction...”

The Buckeye Institute appealed Kresevic v. Kimmel to Ohio’s Ninth District Court of Appeals on behalf of Buckeye’s client Karen Kresevic, urging the court to rein in local governments that continue to take income taxes from Ohioans illegally. In its appeal, The Buckeye Institute argues that the trial court erred in its decision to dismiss the case and that the city of Akron stretched the law in breach of its own tax ordinances and forms.

The Buckeye Institute commented after the Ohio House of Representatives passed House Bill 309, which will help lower property taxes on Ohioans, saying, “House Bill 309 is only one piece of a much larger puzzle of local government and property tax reforms that need to be adopted to help Ohioans clamoring for relief, and The Buckeye Institute urges the Ohio Senate to take up this urgent reform to help homeowners struggling with skyrocketing property tax bills.”

The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in McGee v. Alger County Treasurer, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and protect homeowners from Michigan’s unconstitutional violation of the Fifth Amendment. The Manhattan Institute and the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center joined The Buckeye Institute in filing the brief. “The Fifth Amendment’s just compensation requirement is categorical. When the government takes property, it must pay for it.”

The Buckeye Institute joined the Washington Legal Foundation in filing an amicus brief in Ohio Telecom Association v. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to hear the case en banc and affirm congressional authority over federal rulemaking. “The FCC has ignored congressional authority in proposing a nearly identical rule to one Congress already scrapped using the Congressional Rule Act process.” The NFIB Small Business Legal Center also joined the brief.

As the Ohio House General Government Committee begins its review of Ohio occupational licenses, The Buckeye Institute issued its fourth Opening Doors policy brief, where it identified 39 licenses that the state should eliminate or reform to make Ohio more economically competitive and make it easier for people to earn a living. Since 2019, Ohio has eliminated or reduced requirements for nearly 100 licenses based on The Buckeye Institute’s recommendations.