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Lawmakers propose action to deal with the state's housing crisis, and a bipartisan coalition of mayors pushes back on legislation they say hits them where they live.

That's this week in the state of Ohio.

Welcome to the state of Ohio.

I'm Karen Kasler.

There's a housing crisis in Ohio and across the country created by a shortfall of affordable housing, combined with high mortgage rates and rising rents.

There's a shortage of about 270,000 affordable and available rental units, meaning there are only 40 affordable units for every 100 Ohio households.

According to a report last year from the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

State lawmakers and governor Mike DeWine have said they want to do something about that.

The two year budget includes a $100 million low income housing tax credit for developers, estimated to create 4000 affordable rental units, and a $50 million single family housing tax credit program that seeks to help first time buyers.

This week, faith leaders and realtors were in town for a legislative lunches as state lawmakers unveiled several bills addressing a lack of affordable housing and more.

And my Statehouse News Bureau colleague Sarah Donaldson has been following this.

Tell us more.

Yes.

So, State Senator.

Michelle Reynolds describes it as a tale of two Ohios, although an affordable housing crunch exists statewide.

Reynolds says the demand issues in growing urban cores like Columbus differ greatly from those in shrinking rural communities like Marietta.

Everybody deserves to have a place to call their own.

Kelly Burkhart has been volunteering with transitional housing organizations in rural northwest Ohio for nearly two decades.

To Burkhart, also an Evangelical Lutheran housing offers someone help health.

It offers them dignity.

The clients she works with aren't always visible, she says.

They may not be on the streets, but serving couches.

She says she believes more and more Ohioans can afford less and less as home rental and buying costs soar simultaneously.

She's watched the need for assistance.

Well, to.

Truly, I just know that over the past few years, and especially since Covid, the lists are getting longer.

Michael Jones is a longtime realtor in Columbus.

Jones says he sees the market as strong and robust, but not for everybody.

We have to figure out how do we help the first time homebuyers, people with limited means and resources become homeowners?

We know for a fact that homeownership is the single path towards financial wealth and independence, and we want to help more people be able to do that.

It's caught the attention of some state lawmakers, who this week brought forward a slate of proposals to address a laundry list of housing issues.

People, I think, intuitively understand the need for more housing, but they also have a lot of issues like, well, I don't necessarily want, you know, a lot of this new housing in my backyard.

So that, you know, it's become more of a state issue because of that.

Senator Bill blessing, a Republican, says it largely starts in 2007 with the great Recession, for one.

Since then, homebuilders haven't been building nearly enough units, let alone diverse ones, to meet demand.

LED by Reynolds, also a Republican blessing and a cohort of other senators on a bipartisan select housing committee zigzagged the state over the last six months, putting together a cohesive profile on Ohio's housing environment.

With nearly two dozen action items, now they're rolling out the legislation.

Reynolds and Democratic Senator Hershel Craig introduced four bills Tuesday, totaling more than 1300 pages.

They deal with everything from tackling anti build zoning to expanding the Department of Development to the Department of Housing and Development.

Republican Senate President Matt Huffman says changes like this should have come long ago, but it's an election year historically, leaving lawmakers less an office time between now and the end of the legislative session in December.

I don't think that's enough time to have the hearings, do something comprehensive or even not comprehensive.

He says it's the start of something with months out and years out goals.

A day before the Senate's announcements.

Republican Representative Adam Matthews and Democratic Representative Danny Isaacson proposed awarding local governments grants for passing and implementing at least three pro housing policies.

The state would set the standards, funding it by eliminating a non-business tax credit for property owners not living in the property.

If it's a property you don't live in, then it's probably not a non business and shouldn't utilize a tax incentive that was meant to boost homeownership.

Blessing tried to make that tax credit stricter during last year's budget cycle but was blocked.

Sarah Donaldson, Statehouse News Bureau.

A judge in Franklin County has put a short term pause on House Bill 68, a statewide ban on gender affirming care for trans minors that would have taken effect in less than two weeks on April 24th.

Judge Michael Holbrook said in his 15 page ruling that he found the arguments from the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio more persuasive than the states.

The ACLU filed the lawsuit last month on behalf of 212 year old transgender girls and their families, one from Hamilton County and one from Franklin County.

And the ACLU argues that they would lose critical, medically necessary health care under HB 68.

The ACLU said it would continue to fight for a permanent injunction.

Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, whose office defended the law, said in a statement that he's confident that it will stand and that, quote, this is just the first page of the book.

We will fight vigorously to defend this properly enacted statute, which protects our children from irrevocable adult decisions.

The season for elected officials to give their yearly state of the speeches is wrapping up.

Governor Mike DeWine did it last week, and mayors around Ohio have been doing so as well.

They've been talking up business growth, new housing and infrastructure projects, but also sharing their concerns about public safety, addiction, immigration and environmental issues.

The bipartisan group of 30 mayors of the state's largest cities, known as the Ohio Mayors Alliance, said in a statement after DeWine's state of the state speech that they were encouraged by his emphasis on kids and added, quote, we must work together to address some of the most serious issues facing our youth, such as gun violence, addictive tobacco products, mental health, and early childhood education.

I talked to two of those mayors this week after their annual luncheon event with state lawmakers.

Let's start with Home Rule.

It's come up with the ban on flavored tobacco bans that the legislature passed.

It's also been in lawsuits over local gun restrictions, traffic cameras, marijuana budgeting.

I want to ask you both, how do you feel about your relationship with the legislature and it comes to home rule?

So, Mayor, let's start with you.

Sure.

You know, we have been, over the course of time, we have our standing with the legislature relative to home rule has been in different places at different times.

So in 2017, Dublin was the lead on, litigation with the legislature regarding easements and our ability to own, operate fiber in those easements and who could place what in easements.

So we had the good fortune of partnering with, I think there was 114 different entities that conjoined with the city of Dublin on this litigation, and we were fortunate that it was ruled in our favor.

And so, I think that that gives us a little bit of a voice of the legislature to say, you know, these are the things that fundamentally we should be permitted to do.

These are home rule issues.

You know, relative to the charter of the state of Ohio.

That already outlines what we can and can't do, the subject matter.

And so, but, you know, as of recent, you know, we've had the setback with, Tobacco and Dublin as part of that.

We are part of that law, that, legislation.

And so is Toledo.

Yes.

And so, you know, that is one that really the I think the state set out to try to protect young people, perhaps, but maybe didn't realize that there was already greater protection in some municipalities than what they were providing.

And so really, it stripped away our rights to protect our young people and to regulate that in our community.

So it's certainly ebb and flow.

Well, let me bring you into this conversation here.

Your thoughts, especially since you're a Democratic mayor dealing with a Republican dominated legislature.

Well, my thoughts would be the same if, regardless of what my party would be.

And actually, one of the things that mayors believe is that ours is a fundamentally apolitical job.

There's a great line from Fiorello LaGuardia, the old mayor of New York City, that potholes aren't Partizan.

In other words, there's no Republican Party way to plow snow.

There's no Democratic Party way to to fill a pothole.

Mayors see problems, and we just have to solve them.

it's sometimes is places like Columbus or Washington where ideology can get the better of us.

And in this case, that's what I worry is happening.

frankly, since you mentioned the Partizan, makeup of our current legislature home rule and the notion of government, the best government being the government closest to the people, is a fundamentally conservative.

It's not Republican idea.

The the quote I just referenced is Thomas Jefferson.

the government closest to the people is that which best serves the people.

And we only have home rule in the state of Ohio because of the actions of Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, who in 1912, while running for president as a bull moose, came to Ohio as part of that convention and made sure that that conservative principle was embedded in our Constitution.

So somehow this bedrock conservative value has been usurped, I guess, by more, by different, partizan values.

Regardless, that's water under the bridge.

What, what we believe, what I believe is that, we need partners to solve the problems that cities face.

sometimes we need partners and the the legislature can be a great partner.

But sometimes.

And this actually is not even a criticism.

Sometimes the legislature tells us no funding is going to go down.

Everyone knows local government funds have been cut drastically just in Toledo in the last 15 years.

We haven't been reduced thousands or tens or hundreds of tens of millions of dollars cut from our local government fund.

And to that I say, okay, that's fine, provided you then let us, solve our own problems with our own creative solutions.

You can't come at us both ways.

You can't cut tens of millions of dollars of local government funds and say, nope, you're going to have to solve your problems with your own, you know, creative, pluck and stick to itiveness and then also take away our ability to solve our problems locally.

It really is.

it's not a very intellectual term.

It really is just unfair.

And so mayors who fundamentally aren't Partizan, we're fundamentally just trying to solve problems.

We need help solving problems.

And this encroachment into home rule makes it difficult.

I want to transition from that to marijuana and how voters approved issue two.

So marijuana sales could potentially start as early as June.

I want to ask you both about your concerns and questions about marijuana policy in your communities.

Should the legislature do you want the legislature to make some policy on this?

Do you want the legislature to increase the tax rate?

Let me start with you, mayor.

My, I mean, going back, anyone, watching or listening old enough to remember William F Buckley?

you know, the father of what at one time was modern conservatism.

I remember him debating, I believe it was Gore Vidal on this very issue on a 1960s Meet the Press.

And from the very beginning, the whole notion was, if you're going to legalize this, you ought to tax it.

I mean, those essentially ideological forces who were typically anti-tax when it came to, marijuana or other drugs baked into their argument for why it should be legalized was the notion that it should be taxed.

I actually personally am strangely ambivalent on this question.

I really, you know, I'm I'm a you know, my dad was a cop and I just, you know, this is hard for me.

but the voters have spoken.

And if they have spoken and if the understanding literally from day one was that the that, you know, you ought to legalize this so it can be regulated and taxed and yes, there should be a tax and it should be, in my judgment, rolled into programs that can make sure that, more dangerous public safety outcomes are not attained.

And that could mean a number of different things.

But I know in Toledo we've already done some back of the envelope math.

We think there could be $47 million of legal cannabis sales inside, just the Municipal Corporation of Toledo when this gets up and running.

Y a, half a percent tax, sales tax on that, and then that's $600,000.

You put a 1% tax.

And that year over $1 million, $1 million.

Not to sound like ever, Dirksen.

$1 million here, $1 million there.

Pretty soon you're talking about real money that can be folded into real programing that benefits people, making it easier on those who might be having a hard time with this change of law.

Well, let.

Me ask you, mayor, what does your view on this look like from Dublin?

I mean, do you do you want the legislature to change the law and tell you where that that tax money should go, increase the tax money, anything like that?

Well, you know, it has yet to be determined what we would actually receive.

So and who the recipient of those those dollars are going to be.

You know, if, if in fact those go to the state.

You know, we saw with the lottery and we've seen with, gambling and we've seen other things where they set up funds to try to treat the, what comes along with this kind of behavior.

And so if they're going to genuinely do that in a meaningful way, I would we would be supportive of the tax in that space.

I don't know that we're anticipating having dispensaries in our community.

So at the point of sale, I don't know that that would be something that would would move the needle in the city of Dublin.

But, you know, we're I'm very hopeful that the, the powers that be are looking at what's going to come out and what's the totality of the, of that issue.

And so if you're going to have addiction services, if you're going to have other mental health helplines, whatever those might be, I just hope that they spend the money and I would trust that they would put it in the right place to actually meet the needs of the, you know, as the mayor said, you know, it is a hard one for me to as a parent of, of children and things like that.

It's not something that I readily welcome into my home.

So I it's not something that you really want to welcome in your community so much.

But the people have spoken.

So, we will abide we will abide by what it is that they let us know that we need to do, but we would like the control to be able to make those decisions for ourselves, much like in, in your, you know, in any individual's home, they would have the ability to make those decisions as well.

On the subject.

Oh, go right ahead.

It's just just to put a final bow on this.

This is an interesting one for cities in particular, because cities in Ohio, and I didn't realize how rare Ohio was in this regard until recently.

But there's been only 4 or 5 states that, whose cities rely primarily on an income tax for their funding.

Most other states in this country, sales tax, property tax.

We are unfortunately unique in that we rely on an income tax.

So part of the reason that I worry that cities are going to be on the short end of the stick on marijuana, potentially, is that unless it is creating a lot of jobs, which the industry is unlikely to, you know, open a dispensary or to get 3 or 4 people working if you're not creating a lot of jobs in this probably won't, then that tax money is going to go elsewhere, to the county, to the state, etc.

this is not likely to generate a lot of income tax, which from the perspective of the cities who have to hire police officers, for instance, that's where we receive the bulk of our revenue.

So this this is a tough one for cities.

I want to ask you about the tax question.

And over time, the legislature has done state income tax cuts and other tax policy has really shifted taxes away from the state level down to the local level.

And let me ask you about Dublin doesn't get a whole lot of tax money from the state, but has that tax shift been a concern for you as you're trying to pay for all the things that cities have to pay for?

I think a city like Dublin, we try to keep our eye on the ball right.

The ball is economic development.

It is providing opportunity for the people that call the state of Ohio home.

So I would say that we are very fortunate that our cities are income tax driven, because that drives us to create jobs and that drives us to create opportunity, and that drives us in a direction that is really beneficial for for everyone.

so, you know, it is unfortunate that the, you know, the obviously the local government fund has diminished over the course of time.

that is what it is, the state wanting to lower taxes.

I, I want to be friendly to businesses and to investment in the state of Ohio because I believe that Ohio State is a wise investment.

And so to attract people to invest here, I believe, is a good thing.

however, you still need to take care of the things that you need to take care of.

And the cities are really the heartbeat of our state.

the heart, the the rural areas is the soul, right?

And you need the heart and the soul.

And, so whatever happens, we need to make sure that our cities remain vibrant and active in a place of employment and opportunity, and that our rural areas have the opportunity to be what it is that they have their vision for themselves.

On that note, there was a case before the Ohio Supreme Court on whether remote workers had to pay income taxes to the city where their office is located.

Your side won that case, but I imagine that's something you're concerned about over time, because remote work is here to stay, and some companies are hiring exclusively remote workers.

So how do you view this?

Do you want there to be legislation that would protect cities ability to keep that tax money in the cities, and is that even something you think is likely?

Well, of course that is something that we would like.

Unfortunately, I don't think it is likely.

In fact, the lawsuit you referenced, the mere fact there was a lawsuit that didn't happen in a vacuum, that was a lawsuit to an action taken by the legislature.

so that that answers your question right there.

In terms of what the appetite the legislature is, I, I just just generally speaking, and maybe this is a moment in time, maybe it's because of gerrymandering.

But, I do worry that our, our legislature generally is hostile to the interest of cities.

And that's a shame, because 85% of the GDP, of the state of Ohio was generated in the cities.

Almost 90% of the economic activity and jobs generated from cities.

and yet not only have we seen a massive reduction in, local government funds, the they're getting this the other way, too, by not allowing us to to, by encroaching on home rule and not allowing us to solve our own, problems, that this issue only exists because the legislature, again, was, I would argue, unnecessarily trying to make life a little more difficult on cities on my worst days.

I wish that the state legislature would just stop thinking about cities.

I've long ago given up hope that they would help us.

I just would rather they never think of us, which would be an improvement of what I believe is happening, is that they do think of us, and they actively plot and plan to make our lives more miserable.

And this is gallows humor to some extent.

But you look at the stats, it's it's it can't be argued that more and more decisions, and financial burdens are being thrust onto us.

And while when you are running for president or statewide office, it is delightful to run around and say how the state has a, you know, who knows how many billions of dollars a rainy day fund.

We're cutting taxes.

And those cities, meanwhile, are, I think anyone who watches a midterm election commercial, will know that there is a worldview that cities are where there are homicides, homelessness, and, I don't know, some other word that starts with an H hopelessness.

That's not an accident.

And in fact, you can perpetuate that reality which serves you politically by taking power away, adding burdens.

And, you know, it's no matter what else happens in the state legislature.

I don't think any of it happens by accident.

And I believe cities would be better off if they literally stopped thinking about us.

I got it.

The opposite of what's happening.

I got to bring you in on this because there are Republican mayors, and certainly there are cities that don't fall into what the mayor is describing here.

I got to ask you about that.

You know, I believe that most conflict is a conversation you have to be had.

And I you know, one of the things the Ohio Mayor Alliance is talking about is introducing this House bill, through some really good legislative moves to develop a commission that would, I think it's House Bill 304 that would help this conversation move along.

I don't think there is, such a nefarious action in place.

I think that you should pay your taxes where you work.

I think it makes cities try to get better for us in Dublin, the Metro Center was one of our, just huge economic drivers of our community.

The payroll that was coming out of that, you know, I think it's 384 acres or something along those lines was really moving, and it's making it's making us challenge ourselves on how do we invigorate that?

How do we reimagine that?

How do we pump new life into that?

And really, at the end of the day, what that's going to do is that's going to make jobs, which is what is going to help people in the long run.

Because if you have a good job and you have a good education and you have a good place to live, you can have a really good life.

And so, you know, I, I am sympathetic to my friends in the bigger cities because their problems are exceedingly more complicated than in the middle tier cities like the city of Dublin.

So we have to work.

Listen, a good Dublin is a good Toledo makes for a better Dublin.

A good Columbus makes for a better Dublin.

A good Grove city makes for a better Dublin.

A good Whitehall makes for a better Dublin.

And so I want to hear what my peers in these other cities have to say.

Of what?

Well, how is it that can be most helpful to you?

And how can we work together so that we can achieve our end goals?

And that is it for this week, for my colleagues at the Statehouse News Bureau of Ohio Public Radio and Television.

Thanks for watching.

Please check out our website at State news.org or find us online by searching State of Ohio Show.

You can also hear more from the Bureau on our new podcast, The Ohio State House scoop.

Look for it every Monday morning wherever you get your podcasts, and please join us again next time here for the State of Ohio.

Support for the Statehouse News Bureau comes from a medical mutual dedicated to the health and well-being of Ohioans, offering health insurance plans as well as dental, vision, and wellness programs to help people achieve their goals and remain healthy.

More at Med mutual.com.

The law offices of Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur LLP, Porter Wright is dedicated to bringing inspired legal outcomes to the Ohio business community.

More at Porter.

Right.

Com Porter Wright inspired Every Day and Ohio Education Association, representing 120,000 educators who are united in their mission to create the excellent public schools.

Every child deserves more at OHEA.org.