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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 Lawmakers make a surprise return to work to talk gas price relief.

And it's a close contest between two longtime legislators vying for the US Senate.

More on John Husted and Sherrod Brown this weekend.

The state of Ohio.

Welcome to the state of Ohio.

I'm Karen Kasler.

Once again, things look a little different as our studio in the historic Ohio State House is undergoing some renovations.

Lawmakers are unexpectedly interrupting their campaign break to come back to work and suspend the state's tax on gasoline and diesel.

38.5 cents on gas, $0.47 on diesel.

After both major party candidates for governor called for that action, Democratic candidate Amy Acton suggested a gas tax holiday early on Monday morning.

Six hours later, Republican Vivek Ramaswami put forward the same general idea, but with more specifics a 90 day suspension, with the cost of the lost revenue estimated at up to $700 million, covered by unspent Ohio Department of Transportation and General Revenue funds, and the Rainy Day fund if needed.

He also suggested Medicaid fraud money returned to the state could help out, but it's unclear if those funds can be used that way.

It's not the same as a Republican backed bill suspending the gas tax that was proposed in May, when gas prices were even higher.

Ramaswami says his plan could mean $165 in direct savings for a two driver household over the 90 day period, and $1,800 in savings for an independent diesel truck driver.

It was the diesel prices that was really the major spike.

And diesel prices are.

I don't know if you're aware of this.

These prices are the highest they've ever been in history in Ohio.

Is that something you were aware of?

Yeah.

Okay, good.

So that was actually something we were aware of too.

And that's what caused us to take action, because diesel prices are upstream of a lot of the prices on the shelves.

You think about grocery prices.

Grocery prices have been steadily creeping upward, but the baked in cost that diesel is contributing to that is something that's invisible on the face value of it.

But consumers feel in their pocket book.

And so when that spiked and hit an all time high.

There are no fault of Ohioans.

I mean, this is international stuff, right?

You get Russian refinery issues, capacity shortage issues there, conspiring within the gas prices.

That was A12 punch.

And that together on diesel is unprecedented against the backdrop of gas prices that are getting up to where they've been since 2022 or earlier.

And this has been a problem all year.

And it's something we've been talking about for a long time to.

But the diesel prices, I think, were the final straw for us.

And to say that against the backdrop of a budget where we have the capacity to do it.

It made all the sense in the world to see this through.

The bill would have to pass as emergency legislation to take effect immediately.

And Republican Speaker Matt Huffman noted that means it needs 66 votes in the House.

these 66 votes, of course, are going to require some support from the Democratic Party.

And so we're we're talking to folks making sure that they can be there.

You know, when you talk about having a session like this, you know, inevitably somebody has, whether it's a medical issue or something else are not going to be there.

So but we will have a vote when we call session.

This is not going to be well, I'm going to put it up on the floor if we have the votes, because sometimes folks tell me I just can't vote for it, and we put it up and they vote for it.

And that's just the nature of the human beast, if you will.

So likely next Wednesday.

I'm not a the mathematician on the on this first part of your question, but I think the number is somewhere between 640 and $700 million.

This is the third push for legislation that Ramaswami has been directly involved with.

Along with this falls issue three, the constitutional amendment to require in-person voters show photo ID, though it's already in state law, and the crackdown on Medicaid fraud involving home health care workers.

Following a report in a conservative publication that the state has yet to totally confirm.

The press conference was held at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, whose political action committee endorsed Ramaswami, and the speaker stood in front of Ramaswami.

Campaign signs.

Ramaswami, his running mate is Senate President Rob McCauley, and he said these legislative actions have not been done just for Ramaswami campaign benefit.

think the assertion is pretty ridiculous.

Quite frankly, these are all part of our platform that we've been talking about for years, if not months, having nothing to do with any election cycle at all.

We've been in favor of photo identification to vote for years in the Republican Party.

We've been in favor of less taxation for years in the Republican Party, and we have the track record to show it.

And frankly, for us to sit by idly during a time of fiscal emergency for our families, for Ohioans, simply because there's an election coming up that would be an abdication of our duties.

And quite frankly, if the Democrats decide they're not going to vote for this over politics, I think that's an abdication of their duties as well.

Democrats will come into this session with more power than they've had in years.

But Huffman said he has not reached out to Minority Leader Donny Isaacson, who said Ramaswami has not reached out to him either.

Isaacson said Democrats have a proposal to make up that lost gas tax revenue.

we've been very clear.

If there's going to be a gas tax holiday for Doctor Acton's recommendation, it should be paid for in a way that is responsible, that does not endanger the safety of Ohio drivers on roads and bridges.

And to do that, we are calling for the money to come from the $600 million of Ohio's Ohioans on time funds that the Republican legislature has tried to allocate to the billionaire Haslam family for a privately owned sports stadium.

We are saying that is the money that should be used to backfill any hole created in the Department of Transportation funding, so that we can make sure that not only is the funding sustainable throughout, that we continue to make sure there's no gap in funding for any Department of Transportation projects, That proposal got an audible laugh and a direct no from Huffman.

Isaacson said a better way to deal with gas prices would be to end the war in Iran that he said no one asked for and no one needed, and that Democrats will have a resolution calling for that.

Ramaswami said everyone wants the war to end, but quoting here, that's a complex affair that's outside the scope of what the Ohio governor can deliver on end quote.

The path to approval for this emergency gas tax suspension legislation is easier in the Senate, where 22 votes are needed and 24 of the 33 senators are Republicans.

Senate Minority Leader Nikki Antonio said she appreciates Acton's leadership in calling for the gas tax holiday first, but she has some concerns about this plan.

And why hasn't relief that the state could bring for child care, health care and other costs happened?

If the money is there, I believe they got some polling numbers this past week and then suddenly they went into action.

I believe this is a Hail Mary pass on their part in terms of getting trying to get their candidate elected when he's down in the polling.

He sounded very desperate on the press conference today.

Usually the underdog is begging for a debate and that's what he was doing.

So I think they're very, very worried.

I think they're worried about their gubernatorial candidate.

I think they're worried about their other candidates in both the House and the Senate.

And so this is this is an attempt to very quickly put something out there, get it passed, signed by the governor, and then be able to say to people, we got this done no matter what the consequence.

So I have a lot of concerns.

If we have so much money sitting in the general fund, why didn't we lower the cost of child care for Ohioans when we when Democrats asked for it over and over again, why didn't we provide relief for health care when Democrats asked for it over and over again?

Why haven't we fully funded public schools across the state of Ohio, in rural areas, as well as urban areas and suburban?

When Democrats have asked for this, when we actually had a bipartisan bill, but we were told there wasn't enough money.

The gas tax holiday was the big news that this week's Farm Science Review, the agriculture, Trade and education show held in London each September.

Governor Mike DeWine opened the event, and after his speech, he was asked about it and his comment earlier this year that a gas tax suspension would be a very grave disservice to Ohioans who would feel the pain of deteriorating roads later.

both candidates for governor have proposed their gas tax holidays.

So I don't know if this is a Partizan issue or not.

I think, you know, my job as governor is to get the facts and then put those facts, lay those facts before the legislature and the people of the state.

So I'm going to I'm going to do that, and I'm not going to really talk anymore about today until we have the data that I need from the Department of Transportation.

Again, we just found out about this proposal last night.

And once I get that information, also, frankly, once we hear more, more details, you know, the question is how do you how do you pay for.

It's like One of DeWine first acts in office in 2019.

Was to bargain with lawmakers for a ten and a half cent gas tax increase, saying the Ohio Department of Transportation needed more money to pay for costly construction projects, with more fuel efficient cars providing less Gas Tax Revenue Act than had been first with the gas tax holiday, and told reporters at the Farm Science Review.

She had also been thinking about the issue for a while.

the ground.

And that's why we decided we had to leave.

I couldn't understand why the conversation wasn't already happening.

We led on this because we knew the conversation needed to begin.

There's just that little breathing room.

I can't speak to what my opponent is saying.

It's just the same way he did.

Data centers.

We come out on something and then he throws something together.

But we've been thinking about this issue deeply and the holistic impact it has on families.

So these aren't easy issues.

You know, gas tax is very important.

It covers our roads.

It covers our state highway patrol.

So, you know, we're in a tough situation right now where there are a lot of things leading to our families having no breathing room.

That's why we're going to lower taxes for working families.

That's why we're working on medical debt relief, trying to make sure people stay in in this state.

And our tax cut is really for working families.

I can't say this enough.

My opponent has all these ideas that give breaks like, you know, capital gains breaks and, and for for people that are at a million plus every day.

Ohioans need relief now.

It's urgent.

Then, after an event on Friday morning, DeWine was asked again about the gas tax suspension and was a little more direct, saying he thinks it would be devastating.

but the next governor will face a real crisis if that $750 million is taken away.

So I hope was they're preparing the bill.

They do not use that as as the source.

That's just I think it would be not a great idea at all.

I think it's a very, very bad idea.

It's that money was taken, but we don't know where they're going to take it from.

But one of the suggestions was that he'd take it out of out of Odot, and we're already, you know, the next governor is going to face already a serious situation with the money in Odot, one of our banking on you vetoing it.

I'm not going to get into that.

I Two days later, a few hours before Ramaswami press conference on his gas tax plans, acting throughout another first pitch, suggesting that if lawmakers were going to be considering that, they should also take up another key issue in this close race.

Data centers.

Acton's team sent out a press release early Wednesday that read in part, quote, We need to lower costs, which is why I am calling on our state House to pass a conditional moratorium on data centers when they return to session next week.

My opponent is seconding my call to deliver Ohioans emergency relief at the gas pump, but we can't stop there.

While billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy has millions of dollars personally invested in data centers, I am calling on lawmakers from across the aisle to come together and fight against the unchecked development of data centers, driving up costs in our communities.

Quote Acton's campaign team did not make her available for an interview, but Huffman, on site with Ramaswami to tout enacting his gas tax suspension, said that's not a serious plan.

this is, I guess, an example of why Amy Acton would be a very, very poor governor for to put out a proposal which is conditional.

What are the conditions with other items in it, kind of throw it into the room and run out and say, look, I'm doing something.

That's not how governors get things done.

If that was a serious proposal, if it was anything other than electioneering, she'd be standing at a podium like this, answering all the questions from all of you.

But she's not going to do that.

So it's not a serious proposal.

And I you know, I reject the thought that somehow I've got to figure out what it is she's talking about and bring that to our members.

Huffman also noted that there have been more than a thousand bills introduced in the House this session, and some will be taken up during the lame duck session after the election.

Acton unveiled her conditional data moratorium on July 27th.

It includes requiring that they build them with union labor and cover 100% of their utility costs.

On August 6th, Ramaswami unveiled his own, which requires data centers to cover the electricity costs on their utility bills for residents near them.

DeWine signed an executive order in May, pausing the sales tax break on construction costs for data centers.

There's a little over a month until Ohio voters will decide which of two U.S.

senators should go back to that chamber.

The current senator, Republican John Huston, appointed to his seat to replace now Vice President JD Vance, or the former one, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, who lost his seat to Bernie Moreno in 2024.

My Statehouse News Bureau colleagues, Sarah Donaldson and Joe Ingles, have spent time with each candidate learning about his campaign themes and policy plans and what he said about his opponent.

Weeks out from the November election, national attention has once again turned toward Ohio.

Everything indicates the Senate race between the current Ohio senator and the former Ohio senator is a tight one.

One that could determine which party holds or takes power of Congress's upper chamber next year.

This because I'm asking you to get out there and vote this year, to tell your friends and family what you're fighting for, what you believe in, that we stand for America first.

Although Husted has only been in the US Senate for a year and a half, he served in elected office since 2000.

He rose through the ranks at the state House with secretary of state and most recently served as governor Mike DeWine, Lieutenant governor.

Following President Donald Trump's win.

DeWine chose Houston to fill the seat in the Senate left vacant by Vice President JD Vance.

I have worked with him.

I have seen him.

I know his knowledge of Ohio.

I know his heart.

I know what he cares about.

I know his skills.

And all of that tells me that he is the right person for this, for this job.

Almost immediately after taking office, Husted launched his bid to retain office, since he was only appointed to serve out what was left on Vance's term.

Trump endorsed his campaign the very same day, but from the beginning, he's had his work cut out for him with voters who just don't know who he is.

He was asked about that last year.

Having everybody know you as somebody that's been around forever is not exactly an asset.

There are a lot of people that I have to introduce myself to.

That's true.

But if you look inside that data, you'll see that that all of those people are mostly Republicans who will vote for the Republican.

He's positioned himself as the Ohio guy to Democratic former Senator Sherrod Brown's DC guy, even as the one working from Washington these days.

And as recently as this month, 25% of respondents polled by Bowling Green State University said Brown, not Husted, was the incumbent in the race.

Houston defends and often touts the Trump administration's major agenda items on the campaign trail, like Trump's efforts to onshore manufacturing, including by levying tariffs on foreign goods from many countries.

I remember when there were presidents who were saying candidates for presidents that manufacturing is dead, manufacturing jobs are gone.

Manufacturing is not coming back to America.

They were wrong.

We can bring back manufacturing to this great country and the now stalled Safeguard American voter eligibility or Save act.

The Democrats in Washington have opposed it.

Sherrod Brown has opposed it.

And so we're going to side with the voters, the public opinion.

70, 80% of voters think photo ID should be the law of the land.

Attack ads have been flooding Ohioans airwaves since summer.

Brown's attacks on him about data centers have led Husted to recalibrate.

He now says he believes the big sales and use tax break for new construction statewide, something he once fiercely backed, should no longer be awarded.

And he argues a data center needs to build trust locally.

Build your own power.

Build your own infrastructure.

Make sure there's something for the local communities and the residents, whether that's lowering their prices, lowering their property tax, or just sending them a direct check, say, hey, we're in the neighborhood and we want to be a good neighbor.

Beyond that, he says, the federal government has little business in regulating data centers.

Many of the ads for Houston or against Brown hit Brown on immigration issues and transgender issues.

When Washington Democrats needed Brown's vote, he gave it every time.

And those ads are going nowhere anytime soon as the campaigns and outside groups dump money into the race.

According to Washington Post analysis from this week, the Ohio race for U.S.

Senate has been the costliest in the nation this cycle.

Close to $200 million.

Sarah Donaldson, Statehouse news bureau.

And most of them fighting to return to the U.S.

Senate is Democrat Sherrod Brown, who's been hammering home a theme of workers over billionaires in his campaign stops.

We know what's happened.

The system is more rigged than ever before.

John Houston has voted for this war 13 times.

He's voted against putting a cap on premiums 8 or 9 times.

He's simply not a voice.

He's voted for higher electric rates for these data centers.

He was the point man for more than 200 of them coming into Ohio with big tax breaks, with no local input in higher electric rates.

So that's not what people want.

They know that I will stand up.

I'll stand up to big tech.

I'll stand up to the oil companies.

I'll stand up to offer.

Brown has cultivated an image as a champion for working class Ohioans, even setting up the Dignity of Work Institute.

After he lost his reelection race to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024 by less than four points in this campaign to go back to the Senate, he's drawing attention to policies that he says exacerbate the problem of income disparities between the wealthy and everyone else.

The fact is that most people, regardless of where they sit on the spectrum, it really is.

Whose side are you on?

And it's most people want to want to go after those those corporations or the CEOs make 300 times what the workers make.

That's the problem that the rich are getting richer in.

The middle class is shrinking.

And Brown is running on his 18 year record in the Senate, often talking about his past votes like the one he took on his last night in office in December 2020 for the Social Security Fairness Act, which allowed Ohio's public employees to get their full Social Security benefits.

It's a bill he championed for decades, and he says people have told him it changed their lives.

A quarter million Ohioans benefited from that law, including David Mitchell Fresh, the president of the Licking Knocks Labor Council.

Thanks to him, I get my full Social Security.

I'm a public employee also.

So hundreds of thousands of public employees that were not getting their full Social Security will now get them.

Brown has always enjoyed strong support from unions like in Lorain earlier this month.

We're in a pick a side moment in America.

You're either with the Bay in our class and the corporate class, or you're with the working class.

There's only two sides in this fight.

Unions such as the Ohio AFL-CIO and the Ohio Conference of Teamsters are endorsing Brown.

But Republicans note some unions that have backed Brown before are endorsing Ustad.

Brown has also talked a lot about health care access, holding roundtables about health care costs, and blasting Republicans and interviews.

It's hard to say that he or others are interested in bringing prices down when they've done not one bill to bring prices down.

They're taking health insurance literally from one half million Ohioans.

Literally half the half million Ohioans could fill.

People who have lost their health insurance because of John Huston's vote could fill higher stadium almost five times over.

That's how many people will lose their health insurance.

That's a hell of a lot of people.

The prices, the premium costs are going to go up first of the year.

And John Huston, so I've introduced a bill, but he's voted nine times to to not keep those costs.

He could vote any one of those votes.

He could have voted to put a lid, put a cap on what people are paying them for their insurance.

Brown has been an advocate for workplace equality and abortion rights, which has made women a core demographic for him.

He's worked at that with his wife.

Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Connie Schultz, who has no interest in becoming a politician herself.

I mean, I've been an opinion columnist for too many years.

I'm used to saying exactly what's on my mind, and I'm not good at taking instruction on how I should talk.

Perhaps the biggest blows Brown has landed have been on Houston's support of data centers.

He's been called the face of data centers in Ohio.

Brown's painting of use, dead as the face of data centers in Ohio, has become so concerning in this close race that the National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a memo, quote, data centers are the anchor hanging around ustedes neck, unquote.

If Brown wins, he'll be only the seventh person to lose an election and then be returned to the Senate.

Joe Ingles, statehouse news bureau.

We will continue to bring you extended interviews and detailed information about the candidates who will be on the ballot in November, including a series of conversations with the candidates for the statewide executive offices of Attorney General, auditor, Secretary of State and treasurer starting October 9th, and my interviews with governor candidates Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton are in our archive.

You can find that at State News.

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 you can find us online by searching State of Ohio Show.

You can stay in the know by registering for Ohio State House alerts through this QR code, or by texting state news to this number.

You can also hear more from us on our podcast, The Ohio State House scoop every Monday morning, and please join us again next time for the State of Ohio.

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