At Cleveland.com, The Buckeye Institute encourages Ohio lawmakers to update the state’s antiquated and anti-competitive franchise law, which is responsible for lopsided restrictions that unfairly favor large wholesale distributors. “Ohio boasts an award-winning craft beer industry. But that industry and its small business owners have largely thrived in recent years despite — not because of — an unfair legal holdover from the Nixon era that should finally be changed, if not repealed entirely.”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Joint Committee on Property Tax Review and Reform and offered lawmakers several recommendations to ease the property tax burden on Ohioans. In the testimony, Buckeye pointed out that with 924 cities and villages, 1,308 townships, more than 600 school districts, 88 counties, and hundreds of other special taxing districts, Ohio has an “over-supply of local government reflects” that has “saddled Ohio with the 12th highest local tax burden as a percentage of income in the country.”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Government Oversight Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 331, which ensures that village governments unable to provide core services to their residents are held accountable. The bill also makes it easier for village residents to vote on whether to dissolve their local government. The policies in House Bill 331 advance commonsense Buckeye Institute-championed reforms by establishing a “process to determine whether Ohio villages meet the needs of their taxpaying constituents.”

In The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Buckeye Institute urges policymakers in the Queen City to avoid recycled tax-and-spend policies to address Cincinnati’s nearly $500 million budget shortfall, writing that “returning to outmoded tax-and-spend policies instead of creatively curbing public spending and attracting more workers, more residents, and more businesses will cost the city in the long run − perhaps even more than $500 million.” 

In a new policy memo, Classroom Space for Every Student in Every Family in Every Community, The Buckeye Institute offers lawmakers additional solutions to address the growing need for classroom space in private and charter schools, given the success of the Ohio EdChoice program and the increasing demand for vouchers. In this new memo, Buckeye builds on an earlier recommendation and urges lawmakers to “authorize the state treasurer to make linked deposit programs and a loan guarantee program available to non-district schools.”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio Senate Community Revitalization Committee on the policies in Ohio House Bill 50, which will help formerly incarcerated Ohioans reintegrate into society while keeping our communities safe. Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, applauded lawmakers for looking for ways to help formerly incarcerated people “secure stable housing in addition to stable employment.”

The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio Senate Small Business and Economic Opportunity Committee on the policies in Ohio Senate Bill 198, which help soon-to-be-released individuals obtain the documents they will need to secure stable housing and employment after incarceration. Senate Bill 198 “builds upon Ohio’s successful certificate of qualification for employment program, … and will further promote the state’s interest in a safer, more just society.”

In a new policy memo, Focus Higher Ed Capital Budget Spending on Building a 21st Century Workforce, The Buckeye Institute recommends that capital budget requests from public universities only be granted for the “construction, maintenance, demolition, and repurposing of buildings needed for educating students on public campuses.” With growing student debt, rising tuition, and stagnant and declining enrollment, legislators should grant capital requests to help right-size campuses and meet the “education needs of the 21st century.” 
 

The Buckeye Institute released a new policy brief, Making the Grade: Ohio’s Success Cutting Regulations, which reviews and grades how Ohio’s state agencies fared in cutting regulations. The Buckeye Institute analysis gives state agencies a B in complying with the Ohio Senate Bill 9, which requires every state agency to cut regulations by 10 percent by June 30, 2023, with the ultimate goal of cutting regulations by 30 percent by June 30, 2025.

The Buckeye Institute released a new policy brief, Brewing Freedom: Ensuring the Freedom to Contract for Ohio’s Craft Brewers, urging Ohio lawmakers to free Ohio’s small craft brewers from the state’s anti-competitive alcohol franchise law that “disproportionately empowers distributors to the detriment of small craft brewers.” “Ohio’s award-winning craft beer industry is suffering from the anti-competitive effects of the state’s 50-year-old alcohol franchise law.”