Week in Review: May 14, 2023

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Ohioans who paid Intuit for free tax services began receiving checks on Monday, May 8 due to a multistate settlement, Attorney General Dave Yost announced Friday. The $141 million settlement with Intuit, the owner of TurboTax, includes $5.3 million to be paid to the 174,000 Ohioans who were misled by the company. Nationwide, 4.4 million consumers paid Intuit for free services. "The checks are in the mail -- or will be soon," Yost said in a press release. "I'm beyond thrilled that cheated Ohioans will see money go back into their pockets after Intuit's shameless scheme."

BALLOT ISSUES

Voters can go to the polls in August to decide whether the Ohio Constitution should be more difficult to amend under a joint resolution adopted by Republicans in the House and Senate on Wednesday. While there were questions about whether the House had the 60 votes necessary to adopt SJR2 (McColley) heading into session, the measure ultimately passed 62-37 after several passionate speeches from lawmakers and demonstrations by protesters in the gallery. Reps. Jamie Callender (R-Concord), Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville), Brett Hillyer (R-Dennison), Jeff LaRe (R-Canal Winchester) and Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) joined Democrats in voting against SJR2. The House voted 56-42 to add the Aug. 8, 2023 election date to SJR2, with Reps. Callender, Edwards, Hillyer, LaRe, Patton, Jon Cross (R-Kenton), Adam Holmes (R-Nashport), Mike Loychik (R-Cortland), Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville) and Sharon Ray (R-Wadsworth) joining Democrats in voting against the amendment. After the House approved SJR2, the Senate concurred with House amendments by a vote of 26-7. Secretary of State Frank LaRose tweeted that he had instructed county boards of elections to begin preparing for an election on Tuesday, Aug. 8.

Four major business organizations on Thursday announced their support for the measure to make the Ohio Constitution more difficult to amend. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Ohio Restaurant Association, and Ohio Hotel & Lodging Association said the Ohio Constitution "should not be subject to changes based on fleeting public opinion. For far too long, the Ohio Constitution has been an easy target for those seeking to enact anti-business policies or further narrow special interest initiatives outside of the traditional legislative process. Currently, there is an effort to massively increase Ohio's minimum wage and eliminate the tipped wage, which is the latest example. Ironically, Ohio already has a minimum wage that is indexed for inflation," the groups said in a news release. Many other groups across the state also registered their support or opposition to the ballot measure.

Most voters believe the state shouldn't make it more difficult to amend the Ohio Constitution, according to a new poll. The survey, conducted by an organization that opposes the proposal to increase the threshold to pass constitutional amendments from a simple majority to 60 percent, found that only 21 percent of Ohio voters would support the amendment, and 52 percent oppose it. "The poll shows that Ohioans support majority rule, and wholeheartedly oppose an effort by out-of-state special interests to make it more difficult for voters to make decisions on issues that matter most to them," One Person One Vote said in a news release.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Gov. Mike DeWine's administration announced Monday the approval of assistance for eight projects expected to create 663 new jobs and retain 499 jobs statewide. During its monthly meeting, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority reviewed economic development proposals brought by JobsOhio and its regional partners. The projects are expected to collectively result in more than $35 million in new payroll and spur more than $185 million in investments across Ohio.

ECONOMY

The national unemployment rate was little changed at 3.4% in April, down slightly from 3.6% in March. Total employment rose by 253,000, according to the report Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The number of unemployed people in April was 5.7 million, also little changed from March. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.3%), adult women (3.1%), teenagers (9.2%), Whites (3.1%), Blacks (4.7%), Asians (2.8%) and Hispanics (4.4%) showed little or no change in April.