Rep. Larry Householder

The Ohio Library Council responded to a letter House Speaker Larry Householder sent the organization in recent days, reminding them they receive state funds and demanding they stop libraries from offering classes featuring drag queens. Two Central Ohio libraries cancelled such events after backlash from their communities. 

The Ohio Library Council’s Michelle Francis said the organization encouraged libraries to continue to offer programming for all of the people they serve.

The Ohio House is considering a bill that would allow sports betting through the Ohio Lottery Commission, which can open the door to several venues. Speaker of the House Larry Householder stated his opinion on where sports betting should be allowed.

The bipartisan House bill would allow sports gambling in casinos and racinos.

Numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Ohio State Highway Patrol show 430 more people died from gun-related deaths in 2017 than in car accidents. Many majority Republicans back a bill that would allow people to carry concealed weapons without a license. But minority Democrats want what they call “common sense gun legislation” instead. Statehouse correspondent Jo Ingles reports.

Gov. Mike DeWine is urging state lawmakers to end the time limit on criminal charges for rape and sexual assault, which Democrats have been proposing for years. And the leader of the Ohio House said there’s a chance that will happen.

The leaders of Republicans and Democrats in the Ohio House are coming together to sponsor priority legislation for this general assembly. That’s a departure from previous sessions, when each caucus announced their priorities separately.

The bipartisan school funding plan put forth by two state representatives is not funded in the proposed House budget.  

House Speaker Larry Householder says he’s encouraged Reps. Bob Cupp (R-Lima) and John Patterson (D-Ashtabula) to continue to work on their plan.

State lawmakers have been advised by their economic researchers to cut the spending in Gov. Mike DeWine’s budget. But they may try to add something that DeWine deliberately didn’t put in. It may appear in the House version of the budget, set to be released on Wednesday.

There have been tax cuts in nearly every state budget since 2005, and Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) said Republican lawmakers want to continue that, saying they’re why the state’s economy has been doing well the last few years.

A transportation budget bill is headed to Gov. Mike DeWine’s office for his signature. He says he approves of the House and Senate deal that increases the gas tax by 10.5 cents, but it might only be a short-term fix to the state’s construction budget gap.

Drivers will be asked to pay more at the gas pump starting in July. Ohio lawmakers voted to raise the tax on gas by 10.5 cents, making the state tax total 38.5 cents a gallon.

The deal with the House and Senate also included a 19-cent increase to the diesel fuel tax.

Ohio lawmakers continue to work behind closed doors on hammering out an agreement over how much to increase Ohio’s gas tax. 

Gov. Mike DeWine wants an 18-cent increase on a gallon of gas. The Ohio House has approved an increase just under 11 cents. The Ohio Senate has proposed a six-cent increase. And Senate spokesman John Fortney said taxpayers have their own ideas.

“Certainly, a lot of calls, the majority of calls that have come into the senate offices, have been overwhelmingly against a major increase in the gas tax.”

The GOP-dominated state legislature starts a new two-year session Monday, and the vote for House Speaker could be unprecedented. It’s usually a unanimous formality, but the battle between two Republicans has allowed Democrats to come into the vote with surprising power.

In a private meeting Friday, 20 of 38 House Democrats said they’d back former speaker Larry Householder over current Speaker Ryan Smith.