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And from the 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 A constitutional amendment on voter photo ID suddenly comes forward for the fall.

And a final chat with Attorney General Dave Yost as he departs.

That's this weekend.

The state of Ohio.

welcome to the state of Ohio.

I'm Karen Castle.

Photo identification for in-person voters is required on Election Day in Ohio and has been since 2023.

But state Republican leaders say the law they fought to get to governor Mike DeWine desk three years ago is not enough, and they're moving quickly to get it into a constitutional amendment and onto the fall ballot, when voters will also decide on a new governor and a big U.S.

Senate race.

The idea of this constitutional amendment surfaced in an op ed by Republican candidate for governor, Vivek Ramaswami, on Monday.

By Thursday, Republican leaders had introduced the language for the amendment and started hearings on it.

Ramaswami is running mate.

Senate President Robert Hawley explained why they say it's needed now.

voter confidence in our election system is lower than it's been in a while, and I think it's important that we offer the voters the opportunity, despite the fact that this is already in Ohio revised code, we offer the voters the opportunity to decide for themselves whether they want to put this in the Constitution, offering at the highest possible level of protection to secure the system that they have in place, to secure the fundamental right of voting and maintain that confidence in our election system in Ohio, not just for the near term, but for generations to come.

the lawmaker said while the amendment would ensure future legislatures couldn't repeal voter photo ID without taking it to voters, the language does allow for future legislatures to add documents that can be used for photo ID.

Democrats say this is a strategic election year move, and Republicans are concerned about how they'll do in the midterms.

It doesn't impact the decision at all.

When you look at when you look at the data around this, and it's widely, publicly available, when I said this is broadly bipartisan and it's support, it's over 70% of Democrats support this.

And so for something that been and over 80% across the board.

And so for something to get that high of polling numbers across the board.

It has to be bipartisan.

And that's backed up by party identification.

So seeing this as a as a turnout juicer or anything like that, it's not really backed up by the polling data.

So if that popular what are you concerned that people will appeal because they've repealed in other states The last time Ohioans voted on races for governor and U.S.

senator was 2022.

That year, Republicans also proposed a constitutional amendment to codify something that was in state law that only citizens are allowed to vote in Ohio.

That passed with 77% of the vote, and to win one reelection in the second largest landslide for governor in Ohio history.

And JD Vance won the Senate seat left open by the retirement of Rob Portman, keeping it in Republican control.

The Republican candidate for governor has unveiled a plan he says will fight back against billions of dollars in Medicaid fraud in Ohio.

That was first reported by a national conservative outlet.

But along with the criticism he and his supporters have leveled at governor Mike DeWine, a fellow Republican.

There are a lot of questions about the specifics in his plan.

Vivek Ramaswami says his crackdown will benefit all Ohioans, including the 3 million people in Ohio.

Medicaid.

Ramaswami says he'll bring in $3.1 billion by asking the federal government to allow Ohio to keep $0.65 of every dollar of Medicaid fraud found, instead of $0.35 now.

He said he'll cut down bureaucracy that's caused annual spending on Medicaid to go from $27 billion to $47 billion in ten years.

He said money goes to as many as ten state agencies with overlapping responsibility and two little accountability.

And he says the fraud that will be found will be prosecuted.

it.

The easiest solution that we can deliver for you as leaders.

The easiest solution that I will be able to deliver to you in the first six months of my leadership of this state, will be to crush Medicaid fraud by the billions, and to put that money back in your pocket where it belongs, through copay assistance, through bringing down premiums, through expanding the value of your health savings accounts.

We need to be taking steps now.

This is an emergency.

We will treat it as an emergency when we take office in January.

though Republicans have run state government since 2011.

Speaker Matt Huffman, auditor and candidate for Attorney General Keith Faber and Ramaswami say this is a priority because DeWine vetoed some budget provisions they say would have prevented fraud.

And he appointed former Medicaid director Maureen Corcoran, who they say didn't follow the law.

The governor has a line item veto.

The governor can issue executive orders, the governor can make thousands and thousands of appointments.

And none of those appointments are more important than the cabinet members who he appoints in the current situation.

The former now former director, only a few months former director, ran this department for 6 or 7 years.

Those decisions that she was making internally allowed many of the things to happen that were just described to you in scores of other similar things.

This is what happens when you have a department that thinks it's more important to get benefits out the door than it is to make sure the right people are getting those benefits.

It is a moral issue, certainly on the part of the criminals.

It is also a moral failure of a government that refuses to go after it, a government that goes after it slowly rather than quickly.

That, too is a moral failure.

It's important to note that the federal government keeps $0.65 of every dollar of Medicaid fraud found because the feds pay 65% of Medicaid costs.

And Ramaswami is compared what he wants to do with Medicaid in Ohio to what Tennessee has done.

But that state is one of the ten states that is not expanded Medicaid, which Ohio did in 2014.

The investigation that launched his plan, done by the right leaning Daily Wire, based on information released by the Department of Government Efficiency or dosage focused on home health providers.

While the report identified companies that have claimed to run home health operations that are run by people with criminal records and some that appear to be empty offices.

Home health providers in Ohio also include thousands of people who have gone through the waiver process to get into structured programs that pay them to care for family members.

Two days after Ramaswami event, DeWine appeared at the Columbus Metropolitan Club for discussion with my Statehouse News Bureau colleague Joe Ingles.

He was asked, both on stage and afterward, about the comments made by his fellow Republicans about Medicaid fraud happening under his leadership.

DeWine wouldn't directly respond to the criticism, but said the goal is always to provide service and to keep people in their homes and out of expensive nursing homes.

We are generally in sync with the legislature.

You know, the one complaint about some of my vetoes, look, the one bill I vetoed would have prohibited us from using GPS coordinates to check on fraud, to make sure that the person who is delivering the service is actually in that woman or man's house.

So we had to veto that.

So we may have some disagreement, maybe some how the language was written, but overall we're all on the on the same page.

And Ohio has always been diligent in regard to fraud.

Sadly, there's always people out here who want to commit fraud.

But, you know, when I was attorney general, we got 1100 people convicted.

Same thing has happened since I've become governor.

That 15 year period, I think we've had 22,300 people convicted.

And so we're going to stay stay vigilant.

We're also aligned, frankly, very closely with what Doctor Oz wants us to do.

We're talking with them.

I got text the other day from him.

We're going back and forth.

We're doing the confirming that every one of these people are qualified should be qualified.

They're doing it the right way.

So we all have the same objective.

And Ohio is not not a place, you know, it's going to tolerate any kind of problem.

So are they wrong when they say these things you have to talk to them.

You know what they what they say.

But you know, again, one disagreement we have the legislature is they gave me a bill and they complained that I vetoed it, but I vetoed it because it would have taken away a tool.

We had to fight fraud and a very important, important tool.

Ramaswami Democratic opponent Doctor Amy Acton was mentioned in his press conference, with Huffman saying he had the same concerns about Acton's actions during the pandemic as he had with Corcoran's actions at Medicaid.

DeWine has said Acton's orders to shut down nonessential businesses and schools were done at his direction, Acton's campaign spokesperson said in a statement, quoting here as governor, Doctor Amy Acton will prioritize rooting out Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse while ensuring that Ohioans can access affordable, quality health care.

Doctor Acton is fighting to lower health care costs, protect Medicaid and Medicare access, and end the rampant corruption in Ohio State House, which is allowed fraud, waste and abuse for far too long.

No matter how many scam policies he rolls out.

Ohioans know that the vague Ramaswami is an out of touch billionaire who thinks Ohioans are lazy and mediocre.

Calls affordability a buzzword and says Medicaid and Medicare is a mistake.

End After a quarter of a century, Dave Yost is leaving elected office in Ohio early next month for a job with a conservative law firm.

The Ohio attorney general went from a career as a journalist at the now defunct Columbus Citizen Journal to the administrations of Columbus Mayor Dana Buck Rinehart and Governor George Voinovich.

In 1999, he was appointed Delaware County Auditor and then elected county prosecutor.

From there, he won two terms as state auditor.

After dropping a run for attorney general against Mike DeWine in 2010.

In 2018, Yost won his first of two terms as AG.

In that office, Yost has launched multi-agency operations against sex trafficking and antitrust investigations into Google and Facebook.

He filed multiple lawsuits against actions by the Biden administration and joined other Republican AGS in supporting the Trump administration, including a brief challenging the results of the 2020 election.

Yost has defended Ohio's six week abortion ban, following the approval of the Reproductive Rights Amendment that he opposed, and drew national attention when he raised questions about the legitimacy of the story of a ten year old rape survivor who had to go to Indiana to get an abortion when the procedure was illegal in Ohio in 2022.

He is also known for his musical performances at the Republican National Convention and at rallies and other events.

I talked to use this week, a few days after one of his last public appearances, the annual conference for victims advocates, known as Two Days in May.

So how long has it been in the works that you were talking to the Alliance Defending Freedom or looking for other opportunities?

Well, I've known that for a long time.

I've known the people there for a long time, and it hasn't been a secret that I am going to be out of work come January next year, no matter what happens.

So I've actually had multiple people approaching me about doing this or that, and.

I've declined most of those things.

When this came in, I was like, that is the perfect thing for the final chapter in my professional career.

Why is that?

I mean, I know that they really deal with issues that you've talked about in office.

You know, trans athletes and girls sports, religious related matters.

Why specifically that group?

Well, it's the largest Christian nonprofit in the world.

It is also a legal firm.

It's also done absolutely amazing work.

They've won 18 cases that the United States Supreme Court in the last 15 years.

The people there are some of the most brilliant constitutional lawyers in the country, and the opportunity to work with them on First Amendment issues is just outstanding.

And, you know, Karen, I hope you'll think beyond the headline of the facts.

I mean, the thing that the Supreme Court only takes a few cases every year.

And so they tend to be hot button kinds of issues.

The thing that attracts me to them is the principles behind them that protect freedom and rights of conscience.

And many of the cases that some of my friends on the progressive left or the news media find to be disappointing are actually already being cited in different places by the progressive left to defend their rights of conscience.

In states that where there are views are not popular.

That's the idea of the Constitution.

It protects all of us in red state or blue state, our right to live free.

That's ADF slogan so that all may live free.

You know, there are people on the progressive left though, that view.

This is a hate group.

Well, I know that the SPLC, the discredited SPLC, has issued that that lie.

But I know the people and I have to say that I have not yet met a hateful person amongst them.

You're leaving in June when your term would end in January.

Did you ever consider staying through the end of your term and maybe leaving to go to?

That was my dream.

That was my plan.

Why leave now then?

Because I had this great opportunity and it was time to take it.

It just.

But you really had thought that you were going to stay through your whole term.

Yeah.

I love this job.

I love these people.

It's been.

All of the goodbyes have been bruises on my heart.

You saw my speech Monday.

I'm sitting up there thinking, this is the last time I'm going to speak to these people that I've worked with.

And I'm looking out, and I recognize her, and I know I've been to her nonprofit, I recognize him, and we've talked about a child rape case that she worked through.

And, you know, that's not easy.

Well, you also did your last peace officers memorial ceremony, right?

Almost at the same time that it was announced that you were leaving.

So that was your last one honoring police officers who died in the line of duty?

Yeah.

And that was a hard day.

It's always a hard day.

But that one especially.

What will you miss about this job?

I mean, obviously, those kinds of things.

Is there anything else that.

Oh, everything.

If I had been allowed to run for a third term, I probably would have.

And given the voters a chance to give me a thumbs up or thumbs down.

This has been a great job.

I have loved the opportunity to every day go out and, you know, decide what to the best of my ability.

I believe the right thing to do was and to pursue it.

You know, your average lawyer doesn't get to do that.

Your average lawyer shows up at the office, looks at the files on his desk, and, you know, serves the people who, you know, paid him to make an argument whether he thinks the argument is any good or not.

Would you have wanted to see Keith Faber appointed to this position, knowing that there would be potentially this cascading effect through all the statewide executive offices?

Was that in the back of your mind when you did decide to leave?

Well, I would not have wanted Keith to be appointed.

Now, make no mistake about it, I have supported Keith.

I am helping him in his campaign.

I think he'll be a great attorney general.

But the electorate is in a foul mood.

You might have noticed.

And it was my judgment.

And I expressed this to the governor when I tendered my resignation, that the.

Ascending to the incumbency through an appointment would not help us in difficult year.

And so I think he acted very wisely.

And I think Keith is going to be a great A.G.

in January.

Andy Wilson, Department of Public Safety director, will be stepping in.

How what does what's that transition going to be like?

Well, it's already started.

I had Andy in to meet with the executive staff.

He sat through one of our regular executive staff meetings and participated.

Got to hear the argument.

I have sworn him in as a special assistant attorney general.

So he has access to confidential law enforcement information and, you know, privileged information.

As he prepares for taking over on June 8th.

We've got a good relationship and have for years is former prosecutor.

So you know Clark County, Delaware County.

But we have a lot of commonality in the way we see the world.

Do you get the sense that he's going to go forward with the things that were already in progress?

I mean, specifically the first energy executives retrial in Akron, but other things, do you get the sense that the operations that you started, the lawsuits that you started will continue?

Well, I'll let him speak for himself, but based on several conversations I've had at this point, he wants to do his due diligence and make sure that he believes that things are going in the right direction.

But he also recognizes that with seven months.

Can't turn an aircraft carrier on a dime, and so that there's going to be limits to his ability to change everything.

I don't doubt he'll make his mark, but I also think that it will largely be in a consistent direction to the one we've had.

You were running for governor and ended up dropping out after Vivek Ramaswamy got the Republican Party's early endorsement.

He had already lined up legislative leaders, President Trump.

Do you feel that you've been betrayed by the party in some way?

Do you have any ill feelings in that area?

I don't have any ill feelings.

You know, I support primaries, I support competition, you know, it's kind of funny.

Republican politicians in particular love to talk about how competition makes us better.

It makes us faster, smarter, cheaper.

You know, in our services and our products.

And they will preach that until the cows come home, until they might get competition in a primary.

And then it's, you know, practically the end of the world and a Judas kiss.

I support primaries.

I've had a couple in my in my career and think that this one would have been helpful to Ohio and to the party.

It didn't happen.

And I had the trifecta of a billionaire self-fund, or a Trump endorsement in a state where he wins by ten points.

And then finally, the party ended up following along with him.

And, you know, it just wasn't meant to be.

But you still consider yourself a Republican.

You went from being a never Trump or to being very supportive of President Trump's ideas.

You were going to run for governor as a Republican.

You were the auditor, as a Republican attorney general, as a Republican, you still are a Republican.

I'm still a Republican.

All right.

What do you hope your legacy will be?

That people will remember your work?

I mean, you were a county prosecutor again.

You were the auditor, your attorney general.

What's your legacy?

If I have a legacy, it will be determined by what follows me and by the people I served.

The and arrogance of the political class is one of the things that has gone seriously wrong with our country.

And I remember the first time ever heard about, you know, a politician's legacies, worrying about his legacy was at the end of Bill Clinton's term.

You didn't really hear about Ronald Reagan trying to define his legacy, or FDR worried about his legacy.

The statesman, the elected leaders job is to be the servant of all, to be the least important who is working for everybody else.

And we've lost that sense of of service somehow.

And we now have people competing for attention.

And I think that it's not that politicians were ever a bunch of selfless.

You know, Mother Teresa's, but we at least nodded to the idea that humility was virtue.

We at least nodded to the idea that if you were going to self promote, you needed to do it softly.

Now it's just every day, all day long, everywhere, all at once.

And I think that it's rotting the foundation of our society by having a rulership governing class that acts like that.

Wow.

So that's why I don't want to talk about my legacy.

I'm trying to I don't usually dodge your questions, and I felt I owe you an explanation.

Yost's final day in office is June 7th.

He'll join the Alliance Defending Freedom as its vice president of strategic research and innovation.

And one more quick note.

A week ago Thursday, Democratic Senator Willis Blackshear started walking from his home in Dayton to the statehouse.

His 72 mile walk ended on Monday.

He took the track to raise awareness for mental health needs, especially among kids.

Blackshear has a bill that would allow K-12 students to take mental health days off from school.

And that is it for this week for my colleagues at the state House News Bureau of Ohio Public Media.

Thanks for watching.

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

We'll keep you up to date via Ohio State House alerts if you register through this QR code or text state news to this number.

You can also hear more from my colleagues Joe Ingles and Sarah Donaldson and me on our podcast, The Ohio State House scoop every Monday morning.

Have a peaceful Memorial Day weekend, and please join us again next time for the State of Ohio.

We leave you this week with images from the annual Memorial Day wreath laying ceremony at the statehouse.

Wreaths and.

Does the door of my soul.

So we we.

Scored.

My heart good in me.

Support for the Statehouse News Bureau comes from 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 Wright.com.

Porter Wright.

inspired every day.

And from the 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