FY26-27 BUDGET

Saying his office is unable to rely exclusively on a consistent source of federal funding to address cybersecurity, Secretary of State Frank LaRose is seeking an increase in General Revenue Fund support for his office's efforts in the next biennium. LaRose's FY26-27 budget request, provided to Hannah News by the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) through a public records request, seeks an increase of $4.6 million in FY26 and $4.7 million in FY27, primarily for cybersecurity efforts.

State lawmakers are facing tougher budget decisions in 2025 than they have since at least the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, making this year an inflection point for many state budgets, according to Pew Charitable Trusts. In a series of analyses, Pew is examining the key debates that will be had in the nation's statehouses in the coming year, starting with the budget. Josh Goodman, author of Pew's analysis on state fiscal health released Monday, said that not only are more states facing budget stress, but the stresses in budgets are more widespread and having more of an effect on decisions policy makers have had to make and will make.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/URBAN REVITALIZATION

The Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) announced Monday registration has opened for its Brownfields Conference on Thursday, May 8 at the Quest Conference Center in Westerville. The event is being held in partnership with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) and will feature public and private sector brownfields practitioners along with government leaders at the local, state and federal levels. Early bird registration is open from now through the end of February for $160. After that ends, general registration will cost $180. For more information, visit the conference website HERE. That website will be updated as the event nears.

The DeWine administration and defense technology company Anduril Industries announced Thursday the company had selected Pickaway County as the site for an advanced manufacturing facility that will bring over 4,000 new production and service jobs to the state by 2035. It represents the largest single job creation and new payroll project in Ohio history and will add close to $1 billion to the state GDP. The project is expected to lead to around 4,500 indirect jobs by 2035 as well and will generate over $2 billion in annual economic output, with projected tax revenues of $800 million and $1 billion in in-state labor income.

Saying they knew they introduced the bill too late last General Assembly for it to pass, bipartisan co-sponsors of legislation that would create a sustained stream of funding for brownfield remediation said they plan to reintroduce the bill and hope to make it a part of budget negotiations. Reps. Thomas Hall (R-Middletown) and Bride Sweeney (D-Westlake) joined a webinar hosted by Greater Ohio this week to discuss their plan. Greater Ohio has made sustained funding for brownfield revitalization its top policy priority for this session.

ECONOMY

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce Tuesday hosted experts on what 2025 may bring for the state and national economy, along with remarks from Office of Budget and Management (OBM) Director Kimberly Murnieks about the state's biennial budget and a panel discussing how to navigate economic uncertainty. Ohio Chamber President and CEO Steve Stivers opened the event, saying there is optimism around what the year could bring and his hope is it will meet that excitement.

EMPLOYMENT/UNEMPLOYMENT

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday the nation added 256,000 jobs in December, while the unemployment rate saw little change at 4.1 percent. Employment increased in health care, government, and social assistance, with retail trade also seeing an increase after losses in November.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) announced Thursday it had adopted new rules enabling Ohio employers with multiple businesses to file their unemployment tax reports through a single primary account, a practice known as "common paymaster reporting." The change was made effective Jan. 1, and online processing is slated to launch by late January. Before this, employers with multiple locations or subsidiaries had to file a separate quarterly wage report for each entity with ODJFS in regard to unemployment taxes. ODJFS sought a change to the Ohio Administrative Code by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) to enable this combined filing in response to business feedback. The change adopts an Internal Revenue Code provision.

TAXATION

A report released recently by Policy Matters Ohio (PMO) raised concerns about what planned data centers may cost Ohio in state and local sales tax revenue, as well as the potential for increased electric rates. If state sales tax breaks are applied to all data center investments by Amazon, Google and Microsoft that have been announced in the past two years, PMO said nearly $1.6 billion could be lost. The report further noted "artificial intelligence demands enormous amounts of electricity" and said that could mean higher rates for the public.