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Some positive news with fewer positive Covid cases in Ohio, Republicans propose a bill to bring taxpayer paid vouchers to all kids who want to attend private school.

And a long shot bill seeks to turn Ohio's energy policy more green.

All this week in the state of Ohio.

Welcome to the state of Ohio, I'm Karen Kasler.

Finally, there was a hint of good news in the Covid numbers this week.

Ohio Department of Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff said on Monday the cases appear to be peaking and beginning to point to a decline.

And he's expecting that hospitalizations and deaths should soon follow.

The daily confirmed case average for September was four thousand eight hundred and forty nine.

The daily confirmed case average for October so far is three thousand seven hundred and sixty.

There have been fifteen hundred and thirty deaths in Ohio in the last month compared to three hundred and seventy seven in August and one hundred and eighty five in July.

A bill to create broad exemptions to Covid vaccine mandates that wasn't brought up for a floor vote at the end of last month in the House has been moved to a new House committee.

And this week, the panel held several hours of hearings on the bill, which would allow all students and employees and the public and private sectors to claim COVID 19 vaccine mandate exemptions, including for reasons of conscience.

And as has been seen with other bills on the subject, there was a lot of misinformation that came out during those hearings.

Republican leadership has said it wants to move the bill soon.

About 35000 Ohio K through 12 students currently receive state funded vouchers to attend private schools under the Ed Choice program.

Well, there's a new bill that would make it possible for all of the state students to get vouchers if they want them to go to private school.

But that universal voucher or so-called backpack, bill, because a voucher would travel with a student, would come with a huge tab for the state.

State House correspondent Joe Ingles reports.

Columbus resident Ben Douglas says his second grade daughter was suffering from debilitating anxiety that kept her from even getting out of bed.

So he removed her from the public school she was attending and enrolled her in a private one with a voucher from the Ed Choice program.

Her test scores are incredible.

Her happiness is great.

Emotionally, academically, even spiritually, she's just flourishing and feels so comfortable where where she's at, because his daughter's public school building was considered failing and because his family made less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

Douglas qualified for the Ed Choice program.

But many Ohioans don't because they make too much money or live in a school district that's too high performing.

Republican Representative Rearden McLain's says his bill to create a universal voucher program changes that we want to fund students, not systems, and empower parents to make the best decision for their children.

Representative Marilyn John says the way it stands now, some students get left behind in public schools.

And she says that's unacceptable.

One size fits all doesn't work.

It doesn't work for most things.

It certainly does not work for education.

And the backpack bill solves that problem.

The Center for Christian Virtue, which calls itself Ohio's largest Christian public policy organization, supports the bill.

Its president says the bill will allow parents to choose schools that align with their values.

For example, he says parents in the Upper Arlington School District who were upset when the schools implement a gender neutral bathrooms had no recourse but to accept that decision.

All of their high schools and I believe their middle schools as well, decided they were going to have single sex bathrooms.

So boys were going to have to be allowed to use the stalls right next to a girl through those developmental times of life.

And all of those children in Upper Arlington were forced to now use those restrooms, whether the parent liked it or not, and they had no option to go elsewhere.

Most of those families were not eligible for any choice.

A bill like this would be able to say, look, upper Arlington, if this is what you want to do, if this is the policy you want to have, OK.

But now we're going to take those families are allowed to go elsewhere.

Backers of the bill say vouchers up to 7500 dollars would follow each child to the private school they choose.

But even though one hundred sixty four thousand kids in Ohio attend private schools, along with sixty thousand that use some sort of state paid voucher.

Supporters of the bill claim that won't take a lot of money away from public schools.

The value of their choice vouchers was increased in the most recent state budget.

And analysis of that increase by the Ohio Education Policy Institute, which does research for the major public education groups, shows those increases could cost the state nearly two hundred eighty three million dollars over the next two years.

And this bill would add to that Bill Phillips is a long time public school advocate whose lawsuit over the property tax based way of paying for schools got the system declared unconstitutional in 1997.

The state has been trying to come up with a way to fund schools fairly ever since.

Phillips says the goal of this bill is to dismantle common public education.

It's a global attempt to take stuff away from the public and put it into the private.

And when that happens, people end up with the short end of the stick.

Phillips says any way you cut it, this would take money away from public schools.

If Abraham Lincoln is getting two thousand dollars from the state and it takes 7500 for a high school student to go to a scholarship that's taking money out of the state pool.

That's not going to be available across the state to do the other districts.

This idea that isn't going to cost any more is just a sham.

In fact, if the bill becomes law, it could cost the state more than a billion dollars to cover all one hundred sixty four thousand students and private schools now.

Some of those kids are already in one of the state's five voucher programs.

But the new state budget requires direct funding of those vouchers rather than the money being removed from school districts budgets.

If all one point seven million public school students were eligible, the cost would explode.

And Phyllis says the money will be ripe for misuse and abuse as opportunists quickly set up Fly-By-Night schools to turn a profit.

Give parents the opportunity to homeschool and give them about a voucher for home schooling.

There will be a proliferation of that sort of thing going on.

And instead of using the money for education, some of the parents now we we we have great confidence in most pairs But some of the parents would be buying off track four wheelers as opposed to providing the money for education.

We know that there are those parents out there that resist this whole compulsory education idea.

Supporters of this bill say the state will have oversight of those dollars, but that's no consolation to Phyllis.

We know that the state doesn't really monitor.

You know, Econ.

is a good example.

The state doesn't really monitor these private operations.

It can't go caught court with a 60 million dollar fraud one year.

Well, they were operating that same way for 15 previous years, and the state had no clue about it or they chose to have no clue about it, that this bill would not cover students who want to go to a different public school.

So it wouldn't require school districts that don't allow open enrollment to do so.

Joe Ingles, Statehouse News Bureau to help.

Governor Mike DeWine spent two days this week at the US southern border with Mexico in Texas.

Six hundred miles from the Ohio State House meeting with Ohio National Guard members who were deployed there nearly a year ago.

The winds at an updated it on Facebook that he met with the one hundred and thirteen Guard personnel offering non law enforcement support to US Customs and Border Protection, saying the border is a thoroughfare for the opiate fentanyl blamed in most of Ohio's deadly opioid related overdoses.

Duane also joined Texas Governor Greg Abbott and nine other Republican governors and calling on the Biden administration to require asylum seekers to remain in Mexico and to finish building a wall on the border.

Republicans across the country have seized on immigration as a key issue going into the twenty twenty two elections.

DeWine, who has said he'll run for reelection but hasn't officially launched his campaign, is facing a primary in May.

He'll be up against central Ohio farmer and businessman Joe Blystone and former Congressman Jim Renacci as state lawmakers try to figure out what's next with the sweeping and controversial energy law that bailed out nuclear power plants till those subsidies were taken back.

Democrats have a suggestion.

Representative Stephanie House and K.C.

Weinstein of prose, but they're calling the.

Energy, Jobs and Justice Act, among other big things.

It requires that all electricity generated in Ohio by 2050 would come from renewable sources and clean energy development will be directed toward communities most harmed by current energy policies.

It would also make building wind and solar projects easier, give regulators more audit and investigation power over utilities, and create an office of energy justice to oversee decisions of the Public Utilities Commission.

I talked with Representative House, a term from Cleveland about her bill.

I think there are a couple of things.

We are in a global society.

Right.

And for those people like myself, I live in Cleveland.

And when we talk, you know, this whole thing about is are the actions that are and the things that are happening in our environment, changing our climate.

No one in their right mind can say no.

I'm in Cleveland.

Ohio is October 5th.

It's seventy four degrees.

Seventy four degrees.

Now I enjoy it, now I'm fully enjoying having, you know, not having to put a book book, you know, my my, my, my coat and boots, what we know historically, this is not good for us .

Right.

That's just on a real environmental stance when we look economically.

For those who believe in the free market enterprise, we are so subsidizing energy generation, which is not helpful for the environment and it is not competing in the free market enterprise.

OK, so we have to transition is hard, is duplicable is, you know, what is necessary.

And then I think about just Ohio in general, where we are right where our population is growing.

We know Ohio is not growing like other states.

This could be positioned us to be more forward thinking, to become more attractive to younger peopl When you look demographically on what young professionals want, they care about the climate.

So you might not be, you know, Mr. 30 year professional in the utility industry.

That might not be your thing.

But what you want Ohio to thrive and grow the next generations do.

And so I think this really results in a why we have this vision in this focus.

It's really trying to help change the conversation about where we need to go into the future.

Right.

We want people to know that Ohio is an actual viable place, not just in Hollywood in action.

And when we look at the interview, Jobs and Justice Act is providing a vision of what we truly can have on partnering with communities that have not been connected to for far too long, as well as making necessary economic investments so that we can move forward, have access to affordable energy, as well as doing no additional harm to our environment, because we ever with this data is telling us we are we are on this, this, this, that this tipping point of where we might be in a place of no return.

And we are absolutely are going to have to do some aggressive things to make a difference so that we can ensure that literally the next hundred, two hundred years will actually be a real thing here in our state.

When you talk about aggressive, your bill is really aggressive on the renewable energy standards.

They go even further than the ones that were just pulled back.

And House Bill six, your bill would have 100 percent of electricity generated in Ohio by 2050.

To be renewable would be carbon free.

Is that even doable?

Is that possible?

Why not?

I guess that's the thing.

There is brilliance, there is opportunity when we think about what we actually could do.

We can do it.

You see them saying you have a movement that is working in partnership, not only with business, but our people to the future.

We can accomplish a lot of great things.

Right.

We we send people to the moon.

Right.

Right.

We now have every day new moon.

Right.

That are now embarking on an adventure going to the moon.

Why can't we have 100 percent renewable portfolio in Ohio?

It is very doable.

We're talking about getting it done in a generation that is very doable, is very doable.

Why not go for changes on House Bill six first, for instance, rolling back subsidies on coal fired power plants instead of another big sweeping bill?

Why not do more incremental changes to get to that overall goal?

When we think about what is currently happening with our health, with our economics, I don't think that the incremental change will help to the real actions that need it that is needed and required to ensure that we have healthier lives.

There are things that are happening specifically when it's like one in 12 Ohio children are having these ads make asthma, asthma episodes, which, you know, the the ramification that happens for that, just the stress economically, people are being put in not being able to cover their utility costs.

We are in a real state of crisis.

And when you are in a state of crisis, I don't think that we have the luxury to say incrementally, because incrementally use usually benefits those who are who have consistently benefited from a system and not really looked at structurally changing things so that those who have not benefit from it, specifically those who are low income people of color, that they just have been suffering.

And so we will actually need to, like I said, take a stance and say that we can.

We can serve people better than we are.

And it is not easy, is going to take courage, is going to be uncomfortable.

But that is the reason why we don't feel like we need to do incremental change.

Unfortunately, we are in a legislative body that for whatever reason, just refuses to act right.

And so I feel like just leaving it to chance, people will never get what they truly deserve.

If you just leave it to, oh, we're going to make this one change, we're going to just take this one step.

Roll this thing that we just won't do it like that.

The the right now, the legislative and political will is not there.

And so our true goal is to set out a vision for Ohioans because Ohioans want war more.

They may not necessarily know what it looks like, but we feel like this is a true and a good pathway to begin to fill in the blanks for Ohioans.

They know they want an opportunity to better jobs.

Right.

They know that utility bills are going up, but don't know how how the puker works.

You know, we're trying to lay out that vision.

So it's digestible for people.

And people could start specifically advocating for things that will benefit them and not just benefit utility companies and corporations.

With that legislature in mind, you pretty much have to have some Republican support, some bipartisan support to get this bill through.

Have any Republicans expressed an interest?

No.

No, they're not.

I mean I mean I mean, I think we are very realistic where we are and the here and now people have not.

And our counterparts on the other side have not expressed any interest in our intent.

Hopefully, we can begin to have some conversations.

But we know right now we are in a congressional redistricting and health mandates.

So we know it's not necessarily top of priority of even having some substantive conversations.

We wanted to specifically focus on putting a vision out for everyday Ohioans to be able to equip themselves when they are are our interaction with their local legislators to say this is a vision that we want.

How can you make this a reality?

And we do feel that this will be an opportunity kind of from the ground up, presenting things to legislators like this is what we want you to do on the behalf of Ohioans.

And that that really is the strategy here.

So you don't have any hope that this bill is going to pass.

You're hoping it just as an inspiration for local officials to do.

It's not.

I will say this.

It's not going to pass today in this General Assembly.

Right.

So are you are you always as a legislator, you have to be in mind for the long game?

We always know Democrats will not always be in the super minority.

You see them see saying, so we are planting seeds for the next General Assembly.

Know when you actually have legislators, regardless of political affiliations, who will come to the table and understand that climate change is very real, know the economic uncertainty and instability that are happening so far.

Too many Ohioans, you know, is a very real thing.

And this is an opportunity to change that trajectory for everyday people.

We all can benefit, right?

It doesn't have to be this thing where utility companies benefit and the people suffer.

It doesn't have to be that way.

It doesn't have to be where communities that have the reliance, their economic activity has been centered around the coal industry, that they have to be left in a state of devastation like communities like Cleveland, when the steel, the the the huge steel industry left.

We don't have to have that option for people.

Right.

And so what would it look like when you partner with communities who are reliant on the coal industry to truly invest in them and not leave them high and dry?

That's what we are talking about, because coal industry, that coal industry is not going to be the future is not it's not sustainable economically, economically or environmentally.

It is the responsibility of legislators to be courageous and help people even when they can't see a partner and invest with them so that we can.

People don't have to suffer.

We know what will happen when you leave people high and dry.

We're still living with the ramifications of that.

You're right, Mahoning Valley, people are still we know what that looks like.

Why not try something else that can truly prove to be beneficial and create womyn opportunities?

Some provisions in there that would keep some of the things that have apparently happened after House Bill six from happening again in terms of kind of lessening some of the influence that maybe some of these utilities have and boosting an office of energy policy to oversee some of the BUCHO commissions never ruling.

Oh, you know, I think it's vitally important that we had like three main policy pillars.

Right.

When we talked about is equity, carbon emissions reduction.

What you talking about?

And this part that you are highlighting the truth with transparency and accountability.

We have to be able to strengthen the ability of our state regulators, state regulators, to audit and investigate any potential like malfeasance that's happening.

It should be after the fact.

It's when things that are brought to our attention, people should be put in a position to go and do their job and do the work.

And then having a public utilities commission not have this undue influence which has been demonstrated.

Currently, there is this intertwining where the people that are supposed to be looking out for Ohio's interests has really been hijacked by the people who you're supposed to be following.

You know what I'm saying are going to be taken care of and there has to be some separation, has to have some true independence where people can do their work.

Right.

I have a philosophy trust, but we have to shore up and have insurances and actually.

REINStill some hope that the state of Ohio is positioning our utility utility companies and our commission, which people have lost faith in, that is going to do his job right.

And so this creation, the Office of Energy Justice, I think could be an additional layer as some security that that we are keeping a watchful eye on people that are supposed to be serving as serving us and making sure that people are not exploiting people financially and otherwise here in our state when it comes to receiving energy.

And finally, would it be accurate to call this, say, Ohio's Green New Deal, even though that is a name that some people don't necessarily like?

Other people really like it.

You know, I this is absolutely I wouldn't say this is the Green New Deal for us.

It is really centered, like I said, energy, jobs.

And just as we are talking about, this is a very Ohio centered plan, because, again, you don't know what will happen in D.C. We can only be assured from our work in members of the Ohio General Assembly of what we are going to do for Ohioans, and that is what we are focused in on.

You know, like I said, the pillars that we have, equity, carbon emissions and transport, transparency and accountability to put forth a new pathway when it comes to energy consumption here in our state while partnering with communities that really have been impacted health wise and economically for our future.

This week, there was also a status update on the House bill six corruption case lawyers for Republican and former House Speaker Larry Householder, former Ohio Republican Party Chair Matt Baugus and the US attorney for the Southern District of Ohio agreed to a 90 day period to review more than fifty thousand pages turned over by Energy Harbor.

The former first energy subsidiary that owns the nuclear power plants First Energy admitted bribing householder and former Public Utilities Commission chair Sam Randazzo in a plea deal in July.

Borgas, who appeared on this show in August, says he will file motions to dismiss the case.

Householder also continues to maintain his innocence.

And that's 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 dot org.

And you can follow us and the show on Facebook and Twitter.

And please join us again next time for the state of Ohio.

Go, go, go, go, go, go.

Support for the state wide broadcast of the state of Ohio comes from medical mutual.

Providing more than one point four million Ohioans peace of mind with a selection of health insurance plans online at Medd Mut.

dot com slash Ohio by the law offices of Porter Wright, Morris and Arthur LLP.

Now, with eight locations across the country, Porter Wright is a legal partner with a new perspective to the business community.

Moorad Porter Wright dot com and from the Ohio Education Association, representing 100 24000 members who worked to inspire their students to think creatively and experience the joy of learning online at Ohga dot org.