We’re back with the third episode of Ohio Politics Explained, a podcast from the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau.
Each week, we catch you up on the state’s political news of the week in 15 minutes or less. This week, host Anna Staver was joined by reporter Haley BeMiller.
Here’s what we talked about:
1) It’s Election Day … again
Ohioans are going to vote in a bunch of local elections on Tuesday (school boards, city ballot measures, township trustees). But folks around Columbus and Cleveland are also going to pick their new U.S. House representatives.
Former representatives Marcia Fudge and Steve Stivers both left office before the end of their terms, so now we have to pick their replacements.
2) You can’t sit with us!
The Ohio School Boards Association broke up with its national parent group this week over a letter the national association sent to President Joe Biden.
The letter, which the National School Boards Association later apologized for, asked the White House for help investigating threats made to school board members across the country.
3) Make sure to fill out your paperwork
A bill passed by the Ohio Senate would make it a crime to not report infants who were “born alive” during an abortion to the Ohio Department of Health. Doctors who didn’t file the proper paperwork could face third-degree felony charges.
4) “Much work remains”
That’s the conclusion Ohio’s auditor came to after his office investigated the state’s unemployment system.
Ohio paid out more than $475 million to criminals posing as out-of-work residents during the pandemic, and we accidentally made $3.3 billion worth of overpayments to actual Ohioans.
The auditor’s report details why he thinks this happened, what’s been fixed already and what he thinks still needs to be done to keep it from happening again.
Listen to “Ohio Politics Explained” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and TuneIn Radio. The episode is also available by clicking the link at the top of the article.
The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
