In The Lima News, The Buckeye Institute urges the Ohio Senate to make vouchers available to “every child and every family in every community,” writing, “The state has a $6 billion surplus of taxpayer money sitting in its coffers. As the Ohio Senate finalizes the state’s biennial budget, it should direct some of that excess to pay for putting K-12 students and their academic success first.”
In a new policy memo, Put Students First & Expand School Choice, The Buckeye Institute outlined how—by expanding school choice—Ohio lawmakers can help parents tailor learning resources to meet their child’s educational needs. Buckeye offered lawmakers four specific recommendations to “make it easier for families to provide the best education for their children” and pointed out that Ohio’s record-breaking surplus gives the Senate a historic opportunity to expand school choice to every child in every family in every community.;
An analysis by The Buckeye Institute found that even after the increases in the House budget, many working-class families would still be unable to take advantage of an EdChoice voucher. For example, a postal worker and nurse living in Lima with one child earn too much to qualify for EdChoice under the governor and House plans. So would a power-line installer and plumber with two children in Cleveland and a police officer and teacher in the Dayton area.
Rea S. Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center and vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute, commented after the Ohio House of Representatives passed House Bill 33, Ohio’s biennial budget, saying, “The Ohio Senate now has a golden opportunity to enact reforms that will further expand school choice, flatten Ohio’s income tax, reduce government spending, and close tax loopholes.”
The Buckeye Institute commented after Judge David M. Gormley granted Buckeye’s request for a preliminary injunction in Doe v. Columbus, staying the enforcement of Columbus City Ordinance 3176-2022, which—in violation of Ohio law and the U.S. and Ohio constitutions—outlaws certain firearms magazines in the city of Columbus. Judge Gormley also granted Buckeye’s request for its clients to proceed pseudonymously and denied the city of Columbus’s request to dismiss and transfer the case to a different court.
The Buckeye Institute commented on the newly released jobs report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, saying, “In March, Ohio added 9,500 private-sector jobs for a total of 4,819,700 jobs, finally recovering all the jobs lost during the pandemic. And the unemployment rate of 3.8 percent is well below the pre-pandemic rate of 4.6 percent…It has taken three long years for the number of employed Ohioans to surpass the pre-pandemic level, but Ohio still faces challenges.”
The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Finance Committee on the education and tax reform policies in Ohio House Bill 33, Ohio’s biennial budget. “There is still time to amend House Bill 33 to make school choice universally available and make tax reform bolder and better. With just a few changes, Ohio’s budget can benefit every child, every family, and every community.”
Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, issued a statement on Thursday. “As The Buckeye Institute has argued time and time again over the years and well before any present controversies, Ohio simply must avoid the Californication of our state constitution. In order for constitutional republican government to succeed—no matter which party is in the majority at that time or whether a particular and timely issue is politically popular—our state must require supermajority approval before amending our Ohio constitution.”
The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee on some of the policies in Ohio Senate Bill 83 and how to reshape Ohio’s higher education system to meet the needs of the 21st century. Buckeye urged lawmakers to “give vouchers directly to students rather than simply subsidizing colleges,” noting this would harness the “transformative strength of a free market that empowers students and incentivizes universities to compete for students and state dollars.”
The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Missouri v. Biden, calling on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to stop the Biden Administration from “jawboning” social media companies to censor viewpoints the government does not agree with. “The danger of ‘jawboning’ social media companies is not merely that it violates the First Amendment, but that it degrades the free speech and expression as a value worth protecting.”
