(upbeat music) - [Mike] Pandemic health orders in Ohio will be lifted on June 2nd, no more mask mandates.

The state will encourage more vaccinations by using millions in federal pandemic money on a lottery where only the vaccinated are eligible and extra money for the unemployed will soon dry up as Ohio drops out of the federal program that enhanced monthly unemployment checks.

Ideas is next.

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(upbeat music) (bright upbeat music) - Hello, and welcome to Ideas, I'm Mike MacIntyre.

Thanks for joining us.

Pandemic public health orders will be lifted in Ohio June 2nd.

That's regardless of whether the state meets the benchmark originally set by Governor Mike DeWine of 50 cases per a hundred thousand residents, we're at nearly 120 cases now and it is exactly you get a car and you get a car, but Ohio is getting into the giveaway game to encourage people to get vaccinated as demand for vaccines dips.

How about a million dollars or for young people, a full ride to college?

Beats a car, Ohio's unemployed must soon prove they're searching for work as a condition of their monthly benefit checks which will be smaller as Ohio opts out of the federal plan that provides $300 extra per week.

We'll talk about all of that and more of this week's top news on the reporters round table.

Joining me this week Ideastream's Managing Producer for Health, Marlene Harris Taylor, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Karen Kasler and the editor of the Buckeye Flame, Ken Schneck, let's get ready to round table.

- It's been a year.

You've follow the protocols, you've done what we've asked you to do, you've bravely fought this virus.

Now our cases are down and we have a tested and proven weapon in this vaccine.

- As of June 2nd, those health orders will be gone except for in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

After that date, the governor says it will be up to individuals and businesses to decide whether they wish to continue using masks or social distancing.

More vaccinated people will mean fewer case numbers and to encourage more vaccination, the governor is tapping federal money for the big money lottery known as vacci-million or the Ohio chattery, one vaccinated adult each week for five weeks will be selected as the winner of a million dollars, $1 million dollars, the prize for those under 18 college scholarships, you don't have to play to win, but you do have to at least have your first vaccination shot.

Marlene incentives like this, this one was way out there.

I mean, we've heard of food, discount food or beer or tickets for things, but there's a whole other level.

- Yes and the governor got a lot of national attention for this one too, Mike and maybe if I win the vacci-millions I can afford to be down there with Ken and Florida.

You didn't tell me that was an option Mike, to be on the show.

(Marlene laughing) But yeah, this is really crazy and you would think people would be like jumping out of their chairs about it.

I don't know about you though but the folks on social media that follow me or that I've been looking at there's been sort of a tepid response to it.

- Interesting 'Cause I've heard from some folks and I guess it depends on where you are in the state maybe where you are in the city too but they're like million bucks sounds good to me especially if I'm already been vaccinated.

- Well, I mean who's gonna turn down a million bucks, I mean, and people are already starting, how people do the dream and when you like buy a lottery ticket.

Well, when I win I'm gonna do this, people are already doing that.

I had a conversation with my mom and she was like, "yeah, I'm gonna buy this, I'm gonna buy that."

So yeah, people are already thinking about, hey if I win that million bucks and I think it will incentivize some people.

- That's what I was gonna ask you, do you think it'll actually work?

- I think it will.

For some folks, I think, if you are a person who was on the fence already thinking, hey, I may do this.

I may not do this.

Hey, let me make sure I get in this, they have a chance for the lottery.

If you are a die hard person who has some real strong feelings against the vaccine for whatever reasons, I don't know.

- Interesting, Ken, what do you think, do you think that this incentive will actually push people that maybe you've talked to, who won't get vaccinated push them to do it because they might have a chance at a million bucks?

- Are we just gonna ignore the fact that someone in some room at some point came up with the name vacci-millions?

(Marlene and Mike laughing) Are we just moving past that?

And so I just want to put out an open call to the intern who came up with that reach out to us at the Buckeye Flame.

We will definitely do a piece on you.

Yeah, look, I just have a really hard time believing that there is data that supports, that there was some chart or graph somewhere that correlates vacci-million to increased likelihood of getting a vaccine, that said right, I guess we have to go with the idea that if even one more person gets vaccinated which reduces the risk for one more person then this was worth it but it's, I can't get past the name.

I'm sorry.

- I can, I like the name, I like vacci-million.

What about the Ohio chattery, get it, you get a shot?

- Mike, they should have called you instead of the intern you're doing that in the intern like.

- Karen Kasler got a question from Rick, not our Rick but another Rick who says, "do all fully vaccinated Ohioans qualify for the lottery and what proof is required?"

- Well, my Statehouse News Bureau colleague, Andy Chou did a whole piece on this.

It's on our website, www.statenews.org about how it will work.

Those who have been vaccinated can have their name entered into this drawing.

One person is selected each week five people, five weeks, $1 million and it happens through the secretary of state's database, voter database but if you're not in that voter database you're not a registered voter.

There will be a portal that will be set up that you can enter that way, but whatever names are drawn they will be then vetted through the Ohio Department of Health to make sure that they haven't even been vaccinated.

So it's a little bit of a process here and you'll be able to see those drawings as I understand it live with the lottery drawings on Wednesdays, starting on March 26th and that's at 7:29, not March, May Oh my gosh, May 26th.

- [Mike] It's long wait.

- Oh my gosh, it's a been a long week, it's been a long month this week.

So yeah, and then of course don't forget the fully paid scholarships for the kids.

12 to 15, like you just said, this is the first week that kids can start getting the Pfizer vaccine and my son's already signed up.

So, I guess we didn't really need the incentive but that's the real question here is how much of an incentive this really does offer people.

I mean, the reaction of some state lawmakers was pretty quick after this.

Some Democrats, including the House Minority Leader, Emilia Sykes, she said we're obligated to take seriously our duty to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars using millions of dollars in relief funds 'Cause this money does come from COVID relief funds in a drawing is a grave misuse of money.

Republicans DeWine's own party, some of them got even further into that.

My colleague, Andy Chou talked to Representative John Krause, who's been critical of the governor and his shutdown orders.

He was once again hitting on that point saying this is not the best use of the money and then Representative Haraz Ghanbari who's from the Toledo area said he's gonna talk to Speaker Bob Cupp about his concerns about accountability in this and I also talked to the Ohio round table which is an anti-gambling group.

They said they don't think that it's even legal for the governor to do this.

So there's been some reaction here that's been kind of interesting all across the board a lot of support and certainly some national attention but also some criticism here in Ohio.

- One other aspect of what the governor said in his Wednesday address is the idea of lifting these health orders on June 2nd, Karen he set that date for dropping it.

He said it won't have to be that we meet, although we may by then the benchmark of 50 cases of COVID 19 per a hundred thousand in population he stuck to that for a long time.

Suddenly didn't, there's also a deadline looming where the legislature might take this control from him.

- Yeah, I was kind of hinting at that earlier that yeah, the legislature has already started the process and said that they are going to lift the governor's health orders when a law that allows them to do that takes effect in mid June.

So they've already said, they're gonna do this and DeWine, they overrode his veto and there have not been any lawsuits filed against this law to stop it.

Even though the Ohio Hospital Association, other groups were very opposed to this of state lawmakers being able to overturn the governor's health orders, but it looks like he jumped it for, in a sense and announced that everything except for the regulations that are still on nursing homes and assisted living facilities will indeed be lifted on June 2nd.

Even though we are still more than double the number of cases that he originally set in March that 50 cases per 100,000 Ohioans just yesterday it was announced we're right at 119.9, so 120 cases per 100,000 residents, more than double that 50 cases but he still says he's gonna lift that and I think it's because he had started to move toward the whole vaccination idea that rather than looking at cases, looking at the number of people who've been vaccinated and honestly, with the CDC announcing that these vaccines are so effective, that people who've been vaccinated, don't need to be masked indoors or in large groups that really sets the stage for all these things to start going away and for kind of a general feeling that this is lifting the pandemic, that announcement from the CDC may be the moment that people will look back on and say, the pandemic is coming to an end.

It's at an end.

- [Mike] Ken.

- I'm so struck by the governor's tone indeed in the clip that you played earlier, as soon as I listened to it and as soon as I read the words, all that was missing was the big mission accomplished banner, being unfurled.

It just has this tone to it of listen, and he actually said, you've done what we've asked.

We've obviously asked enough of you move on and so that shift in tone doesn't, as Karen just said it just doesn't correlate with the data that's out there.

So same as the vacci-million and just 'Cause I have to say it one more time, these don't seem to be data driven decisions.

- Ken is so interesting that you said that because I was thinking the same thing when I was watching President Biden's press conference that had that mission accomplished field to and all he was missing was the banner and people ha are reacting to this news in a really weird way, because if you think back to when we were thinking the day that this is over we expected what, people to run out in the streets and there'd be celebrations like the calves, "we just won a tournament or something" but instead we get these announcements and people are like, "wait, what?

Just a week ago you were telling us this and that, oh, suddenly it's over."

It just feels so fast.

This is one way of incentivizing vaccines saying, hey we got a million dollars or a college scholarship.

Another way is to find alternative sites and places in neighborhoods where people trust, where you can get a vaccine shot.

Our Gabriel Kramer went to a barbershop, Urban Cuts Barbershop where Waverley Willis was there saying, "hey, come on in" and a number of people came and got shots and not haircuts because they just trusted it as a neighborhood institution.

Marlene, what about that as a strategy and the idea that Waverley would love to happen in barber shops across the city and it's not just that there's the first federal savings and loan.

There's where Karen is.

Karen is pretty much every evening at the Clippers games where they're giving shots there as well but what about that?

- I love that.

I love that idea and I absolutely think it's the way to go and that's actually what we're hearing from public officials too, that at this point convincing the unconvinced will take their friends, their family, their doctor.

So the more personal or intimate you can make those settings I think will make a difference and for people to see that "hey, my buddy sitting in the other chair at the barbershop, just got it and he's fine."

I think that's gonna make the difference and I know folks are working on their own individual family members too trying to convince some of them.

So I absolutely think that's the right way to go.

I love that idea, Mike.

- Couple of more thoughts from some of our listeners on the mask mandates and other issues all the pandemic health orders to be lifted on June 2nd from a fax, I mean a text.

So I can't see who sent it, but what's the plan if we surge after we're reopened, interesting point there, Karen, what's the plan.

- Yeah and actually that was one of the questions I kind of wanted to ask the governor this week and there were just so many questions to try to ask in one press conference, but yeah I mean the J&J vaccine we're supposed to get none of those next week, the governor and the state has refused 80% of the vaccine that we're supposed to get next week.

So what happens if we get a surge?

It kind of seems unlikely in that, as I was mentioning I registered my son to get his first dose of Pfizer had no trouble at all, finding plenty of places that are offering that as a walk-in as well as Madonna and I mean, there are some questions though, that if a lot of people are incentivized either through vacci-million or through just the CDC announcement saying you can get rid of the masks, if you get the vaccine, I don't know what we'll do.

I know that the state has some vaccine doses in storage so that certainly helps, but there are some questions here.

(upbeat music) - Beginning May 23rd nearly all Ohioans receiving unemployment assistance must show proof that they are looking for work to continue to receive benefits.

That was a rule in the past that had been suspended in the early days of the pandemic it's coming back.

The work-search requirement was re-implemented for new claimants in December but this move will impact those who have been receiving benefits prior to that in 2020, Governor Mike DeWine also announced that at the end of June Ohioans will no longer have access to enhance federal unemployment benefits, it'd been 600 bucks a month from the feds, it was lowered to 300 by July, nothing.

Karen, what's the thinking behind that?

- Well, I don't think it's a real surprise here because as of Thursday were 15 States not including Ohio that had already decided that those supplemental unemployment benefits that are paid for by the federal government will stop.

So, and those are all Republican led States.

Ohio is a Republican led state.

So I'm not surprised at all that DeWine made that announcement.

In fact, as he was starting to introduce this during the press conference it was pretty clear where he was headed with this because he says he's heard from businesses that are having trouble staffing their offices and their restaurants and their places of business that they need people and that there's a feeling that these $300 week rechecks are keeping people from seeking employment.

In fact, Lieutenant Governor, John Houston said he's heard directly from people saying that they're making more money on unemployment that they would going back to work.

However, there's a lot of people who say that that is not necessarily the case that in their particular case there are other situations going on.

There's a difficulty in binding childcare, they have immunocompromised systems that can't get the vaccine.

They're worried about being around other people in environments that may not be safe and so there's a lot here going on.

So I wasn't surprised by this at all but this is definitely gonna be something that a lot of people are gonna be talking about.

- Here's the governor talking about what his reasoning was yesterday?

- If you look at why jobs are not being filled, I'm sure it's a multiple reasons but whenever you go in and the market is distorted in that sense, you have certain consequences.

- Governor DeWine was joined in that opinion by Rob Portman, Karen, the Senator from Ohio, the Republican senator.

- Yeah, Portman's actually (indistinct) for a while now saying that he thinks that what used to be the $600 weekly checks now $300 weekly checks should be replaced with signing bonuses for people going back to work and some States have actually chosen to do that.

They're taking the money and instead of distributing it on a weekly basis to unemployed people they're making it signing bonuses or attaching it to some sort of work requirement or some sort of accepting of a job.

So there are ways that individual States can handle this but, I think that there are a lot of workers who feel like, hey we were the people that were supporting things during this pandemic.

We were working in the restaurants, we were stalking the grocery store shelves.

We were doing all these things.

We were working in daycares and there was an appreciation shown for us then where is that appreciation now?

- Marlene thoughts on that?

- Well, I'm just thinking about the workers who have to go back to say working at the grocery store or working as a waitress.

- [Mike] And many of them never left.

- And many of them never left and so now they're in this environment where they're saying, hey you don't have to wear a mask anymore if you're vaccinated, indoor or outdoors and so how do they know the coming in the door whether that person is vaccinated or not.

So they are at risk still in these occupations and I think that, I've heard government officials say that wages are rising but if wages were rising enough, this would not be an issue.

People would go for that, if people can make more working than they can make sitting at home, that this wouldn't be an issue.

So, the other arguments being used at well, people can make more sitting at home, so we shouldn't make them go back out and take the low wage jobs.

How about, isn't it a shame that you can make more sitting at home than you can make working?

What about that argument?

- Ken Schneck.

- Yeah, I mean, you're making solid grounded economic arguments and Senator Portman is saying things like and these are actual quotes, "there is dignity and self-respect that comes from work" and then he followed that up by saying, "I don't think you will see that hesitancy to go back to work if you don't have that opportunity for being able to provide for yourself and your family" and so he's just kind of skirting right around the economic arguments that this doesn't fix the actual system, where the wages are just not enough for people to live on and he's going more for the heart model of you'll just feel better.

Sure, it's not enough money for you and your family to live on, but you will feel better and that feeling better I'm sure pays your rent.

(upbeat music) - The school funding formula fix being considered in the Ohio budget may have a bigger price tag than previously expected the Ohio Senate is working on the budget now.

Karen, how much more are senators saying the school funding will cost and what it was estimated when they put this together in the budget?

- Well, first of all, it should be said that everybody agrees that something needs to be done about school funding that the current formula doesn't work because 80% of districts either get more than what they're supposed to get according to the formula or less than what they're supposed to get and we know that the school funding formula was ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court four times.

So everybody agrees, something needs to be done.

The question is, how much is it going to cost?

And this plan that came from the Cupp-Patterson plan we talked about last year, that passed the House but didn't go anywhere in the Senate.

It's now part of the House budget and for it to be fully funded over a six year phase in it would cost $1.8 billion more than what the state is already spending on public education.

Now this week it was announced the Senate Education Committee Chair, Andrew Brenner announced on a call with people who were supporting passing a school funding formula overhaul.

He announced that actually they were using salary data in the House from 2018.

So teacher and school employee salary data from 2018 to come up with that calculation of an extra $1.8 billion to phase this thing in when you update that salary information to 2020 salary data, you add $454 million more to the cost and so that takes it to about $2.3, $2.4 billion more than the state is already spending on public education and why this is important is because this is a six-year phase and so lawmakers are really kind of pushing this out to future legislators to fund and that can be problematic because if future legislators don't wanna fund it or the money's not there or whatever then once again, we're back in the situation where we have a school funding formula that doesn't work and so that's really been the question here, how do you come up with a formula that works and that will be fully paid for over time so that kids can get what the Ohio Constitution promises them which is a fair and equitable system of common schools, that's the issue.

- As the Senate considers changes to the budget, another change made by the Ohio House regarding language use and adoption law could come back into play.

The governor recommended, changing the phrase referring to an adoptive couple from husband and wife to legally married couple, same sex couples can be legally married, the House though, scrapped the governor's change.

Now there's an effort to bring it back.

Ken, I think you're a single person, right?

- I am a single person.

- I imagine when lightning strikes and you're married you probably would not wanna be referred to as husband and wife.

So the idea of changing this language seems to simply make sense.

- Sorry, I'm still laughing at the lightning strikes (Mike laughing) because I think that's gonna be the name of your matchmaking service, but look, so let's start from the most important piece here right now.

None of this is legal.

So legally in the United States an LGBTQ person can adopt and we have to make that super clear from the start.

Since the Obergefell decision that made marriage equality the law of the land, this isn't reflected in the law.

This is truly the Republicans in Ohio saying, "we want this language."

In fact, they were asked, "why given the fact that husband and wife doesn't reflect the actual law are you insisting on this language, reading husband and wife?"

And the response truly was, "because we want it" and Representative Stoltzfus, who is one of the architects behind it, saying husband and wife, it's no coincidence that he also is behind the Save Women's Athletics, Save Girls Sports whatever they're calling it today.

So I just wanna make it very clear to people that single people can adopt, LGBTQ people can adopt, it doesn't matter what this language says, that said, yeah, I think that these three words do actual harm and so the Republicans have been quoted as saying that this is just semantics and I have been arguing that this is actually quite a bit more than semantics if this stops even one person from considering adopting because they see this language.

If one LGBTQ youth in Ohio says, "oh, okay the love that I feel is no longer valid and so I'm gonna sink into some sort of depression."

There are so many actual effects and let me highlight one more.

If one person from outside of Ohio, Governor DeWine's, whatever the lottery we're calling for trying to get people to move to Ohio.

If even one LGBTQ person from outside of Ohio looks at this and says, "well that's not a state I'm gonna move to."

Then this does actual harm and all of those effects will happen.

It's just, this one is unconscionable just because it has no basis in legal facts.

- And as I mentioned the idea is to try to get that back on the table.

It was originally changed to legally married couple.

Now the House says, "nope, husband wife is just semantics," but there are advocates, Nickie Antonio being one of them, the senator from Lakewood who are really pushing to get this what they call antiquated language out of there.

- That would be great.

Let's also do that Equality Act thing, let's do the Fairness Act that has been stalling for over a decade.

So I suppose perhaps my confidence is not over the top right now in this being restored when there are so many basic rights that we don't enjoy, but can I tell you the one happy thing that came from this?

When I originally reported on this story, when we saw in the proposed budget I contacted an adoption agency here in Ohio and she, just for a quote, for some color commentary and she said I wanna remind your readers that single people, LGBTQ people in Ohio can absolutely adopt.

You don't need to be a member of a legally married couple and so then we got to talking and now my home visit to start the adoption process is next week and it all came from this story.

- Hey, congratulations.

- Thank you very much, there's good stuff.

- There's the lightning.

- [Karen] Yeah, there's the lightning.

Wow, congratulations.

- That's awesome.

- So, there's the one good thing, but no I really maintain that yes, sure my competence is not top-notch that the language is going to be changed back but this husband and wife language that has no basis in legal fact, it really does harm and that they call it semantics is just so misguided and just plain wrong.

(upbeat music) - And that's gonna wrap up our show, coming up Monday on the Sound of Ideas on WCPN, we'll bring you the fifth in a series of conversations about the consent decree aimed at improving practices by the Cleveland Police and its interaction with the community.

This conversation deals with crisis intervention and officer wellness.

I'm Mike MacIntyre.

Thanks for watching and stay safe.

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