Ohio politics Explained: Will we draw new maps for our statehouse districts on time?
Ohio's next round of redistricting got off to a rocky start this week. The estimate on what universal vouchers might cost appears to be wrong, and the first abortion ads went up on the air.
We break down what it all means in this week's episode of Ohio Politics Explained. A podcast from the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau to catch you up on the state's political news in 15 minutes or less.
This week, host Anna Staver was joined by statehouse bureau chief Anthony Shoemaker.
Redistricting delays
Ohio needs to draw new district maps for its House and Senate seats, but the commission tasked with doing so got off to a rocky start this week when Republicans couldn't agree on who should co-chair the meetings.
The Ohio Redistricting Commission met Wednesday for the first time since May 2022. Their goal was to re-establish the commission and its rules before getting into the process of drawing district boundaries. But none of that happened.
Gov. Mike DeWine adjourned the meeting until Friday morning after the Republican representatives from the state House and Senate couldn't agree on which one would co-chair the meeting with DeWine.
"This reminds me of student council government. It's like who the heck should be in charge? 'I want to be.' 'No, I want to be,'" said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio. "These kind of power plays are not productive. It shows a dysfunction that I didn't actually think that they had."
Abortion ad wars
Supporters of Ohio's reproductive rights amendment launched their first television ads this week.
Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights spent nearly $700,000 to run a 30-second ad across Ohio's different television markets and features doctors talking about how families, not governments, should make these personal medical decisions.
Their ad buy is the first in what's expected to be an expensive campaign. Ohio is the only state in the country with abortion on the ballot this fall.
Rising costs for universal vouchers
All Ohio school children are eligible for a voucher this fall, and interest in the EdChoice Expansion scholarships appears to already exceed expectations.
According to an analysis by the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, the state has received applications totaling approximately $432 million for the 2023-2024 school year. That's $34 million more than the Legislative Services Commission forecasted.
"Voucher programs have busted state budgets in places like Arizona," Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro said. "I don’t know that anybody knew exactly what to expect, but it’s not surprising that people already sending their kids to private schools would take advantage of free money provided by the state."
Big focus on property taxes
Lawmakers from both chambers and both sides of the aisle say it's time for Ohio to overhaul how it taxes homeowners.
"The real estate property tax scheme is like a giant robot or some other kind of machine where every five years someone puts on another part to it, and everything gets dumped in and stuff comes out and you get this product and nobody quite knows how you got it ...," Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said. "I do think that it is time for a retrofit. Let's take the machine apart; see what should be in there and what shouldn't be in there."
There is a committee set up to dive deep into this issue over the next year, but its recommendations won't help Ohioans facing bigger bills next year.
That's why a bipartisan group of state lawmakers launched an effort this week to freeze property taxes for older Ohioans and have them rise with inflation instead of home values. And another group is working on changing how home values get calculated.
Listen to "Ohio Politics Explained" on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts and TuneIn Radio. The episode is also available by clicking the link in this article.
The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau serves The Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Politics Explained podcast: abortion ads and redistricting delays
