Week in Review: Jan. 7, 2024

BALLOT ISSUES

Backers of a proposed "Secure and Fair Elections" constitutional amendment that would guarantee a right to vote in the Ohio Constitution said they plan to refile their petition after it was rejected by Attorney General Dave Yost, and are aiming to get it before voters in November. The proposal would guarantee a person who is a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years of age by the date of the election, an Ohio resident, and registered to vote in their county of residence the right to vote. It would also enshrine certain voting procedures in the Ohio Constitution, including in-person voting, military and overseas absentee ballots, early in-person voting for at least 28 days before the election including the Monday before the election, automatic voter registration, same-day voting registration and registration changes, and no-excuse absentee voting. Yost rejected the first submission of the proposal, saying his office "identified omissions and misstatements that, as a whole, would mislead a potential signer as to the actual scope and effect of the proposed amendment."

FY25-26 CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS

The House is starting work on the capital budget much earlier than the Senate, both chambers' finance chairs told Hannah News. House members are being asked to submit community projects by Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, House Finance Committee Chair Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) said. Meanwhile, Senate Finance Chair Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) said Senate proposals are due by Monday, April 8. The operating budget, HB33 (Edwards), included $700 million for a One Time Strategic Community Investments Fund that will be used as part of the capital budget. "It's kind of a different capital budget with this mega fund, or super duper fund. ... We're getting a ton of questions about it. We're getting a ton of interest from around the state, which is good," Edwards said, noting community leaders' proposals were due to the House by Monday, Dec. 18. Dolan said the Senate's timeline is also due to the $700 million in community project funding included in HB33.

ECONOMY

Ohio's minimum wage increased Jan. 1, 2024 to $10.45 per hour for non-tipped employees and $5.25 per hour for tipped employees. The minimum wage applies to employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $385,000 per year. The 2023 minimum wage was $10.10 per hour for non-tipped employees and $5.05 per hour for tipped employees. The 2023 Ohio minimum wage applied to employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $372,000.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) announced before the holidays that Ohio's unemployment rate for November was 3.6%, unchanged from October, as the state lost 5,300 jobs over the month. ODJFS said unemployment went from a revised 5,658,600 in October to 5,653,300 in November. The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in November was 212,000, up from 207,000 in October. The number of unemployed has decreased by 25,000 in the past 12 months from 237,000. The November unemployment rate for Ohio decreased 0.5% from 4.1% in November 2022. The U.S. unemployment rate for November 2023 was 3.7%, down from 3.9% in October 2023 and up from 3.6% in November 2022.

For the second straight year, economist Bill LaFayette is predicting job growth will fall under the national average for Central Ohio, citing workforce and housing issues as potential barriers. LaFayette delivered his annual "Blue Chip Economic Forecast" to the Columbus Metropolitan Club Wednesday, and also participated in a panel discussion with Ben Ayers, a senior economist with Nationwide Insurance, and Joyce Chen, a professor of economics and women's, gender and sexuality studies at Ohio State University, which was moderated by Columbus Dispatch business reporter Mark Williams.

ENVIRONMENT

Five communities recently were awarded a total of $3.75 million in Residential Public Infrastructure Grant funding for improvements to their local water and wastewater treatment facilities, according to an announcement from Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik. The second round of grants, funded through the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), will allow these communities to improve their provision of safe and reliable drinking water and proper disposal of sanitary waste for more than 12,500 residents.

GAMING/GAMBLING

Ohioans placed $864.2 million in sports bets in November 2023, the second highest handle since the first month of legal sports gambling. January 2023's total was $1.1 billion. Sports bettors wagered $746.4 million in October 2023, $690.4 million in September 2023, $378.8 million in August 2023, $331.1 million in July 2023, $362.1 million in June 2023, $446.2 million in May 2023, $520.6 million in April 2023, $737.2 million in March 2023 and $639.1 million in February 2023. Taxable revenue for November 2023 was $68.2 million, down from October 2023's total of $80.6 million.

TECHNOLOGY/AEROSPACE

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted recently announced students can now enroll in the High School Tech Internship program, which provides them with valuable work experience while helping businesses find needed talent. In 2023, 510 students participated in internships with 141 employers as part of the program. Enrollment requires school districts or individual students to contact their regional intermediary to be connected with a hosting business. The intermediaries include Junior Achievement of Northwestern Ohio; Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) in the northeastern region; the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio; the Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) in the western region; the INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati; and Building Bridges to Careers located in Southeast Ohio.

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Ohio's public employers will pay nearly $8 million less in workers' compensation insurance premiums to the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) in 2024 thanks to a rate cut that went into effect Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. According to BWC, "This 3.9 percent rate reduction was made possible by declining injury claims and relatively low medical inflation costs by Ohio's counties, cities, public schools, and other public taxing districts."