broadband internet access

Portman calls on Democratic leaders to bring the smaller of two infrastructure bills up for a vote now.

The program was created to connect underserved areas.

COVID hospitalizations in Ohio continue their steady march upwards following the steep rise in new cases; the remains of a northern Ohio Navy Corpsman who died in the August attack on the Kabul airport will return home Wednesday; a judge in southern Ohio has ruled that doctors at a Cincinnati area hospital cannot be forced to give COVID patients a livestock medicine as treatment; and more stories.

Sen. Rob Portman says the bill is about 90% done, although there are a still a few sticking points they are working to resolve.

Lawmakers have not reached a deal on the two-year state government budget which must be signed into law by the end of the month.

Senate Republicans took out money that had been set aside for broadband programs and added a provision that would prohibit local communities from doing their own broadband programs.

The Ohio Senate approved its version of the state budget last Wednesday. They day before, a last minute amendment was added anonymously that severely restricts municipalities from providing broadband internet service.

Akron City Council is considering a law that would require police to automatically post body camera footage within a week of an officer using deadly force; Dennis Kucinich will seek another bid for Cleveland mayor more than 40 years later; several Northeast Ohio municipalities are speaking out against an amendment slipped into the Senate’s state budget proposal that limits public broadband projects and cuts all broadband-related funding; and more stories.

There are $1.3 billion in tax cuts in the Senate version of the budget, which Republican Senate leaders say are paid for with spending cuts. Among them is the elimination of $190 million for grants for broadband expansion that’s in the House’s budget.

A revised health order says fully vaccinated Ohioans will no longer be required wear masks indoors in most situations; Vaccinated Ohioans now must register to qualify for Ohio’s Vax-a-Million lottery system; the state of Ohio overpaid more than $2 billion in unemployment benefits during the pandemic; and more stories.