Ohio GOP brings back ‘Right to Work,’ unions prepare to fight: Capitol Letter

Rotunda Rumblings
If at first you don’t succeed: Unions and Democrats worry that the lesson Republicans learned from the defeat of Senate Bill 5 back in 2011 was to pass labor reforms in pieces. Anna Staver reports on how three bills and one section of the governor’s budget would combine to transform Ohio’s collective bargaining laws. Republicans say it’s coincidence not coordination and a total overhaul of union rights aren’t on their agendas.
Conventional thinking: Ohio Republican lawmakers are joining the nationwide effort to convene a second U.S. constitutional convention, with the goal of passing amendments to rein in the federal government. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, a little-known part of the Constitution allows such a convention if lawmakers in at least 34 states call for one (though any amendments would need to be ratified by at least 38 states). Supporters say the move is needed to do things like impose congressional term limits and require a balanced budget, but critics fear it would open the door to a litany of conservative rewrites and further destabilize the nation during a politically volatile time.
First: Houston-based Encino drilled the first well beneath Ohio’s preserved park and wildlife lands, a state official told lawmakers Wednesday. As Jake Zuckerman reports, the well isn’t yet producing any natural gas. But when it does, lawmakers will have a new, beefy revenue stream to fight over.
Haitians lose protection: The Trump administration last week threw out protections that shielded roughly half a million Haitians from deportation, meaning they would lose their work permits and could be eligible to be removed from the country by August, Associated Press reports. The Department of Homeland Security’s decision to vacate the Biden administration’s renewal of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians likely means that thousands of Haitian migrants in Ohio -- who last year were caught in a national political firestorm -- will be forced to leave. The influx of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, became an issue in the 2024 presidential campaign when President Donald Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, JD Vance, amplified baseless rumors of Haitian migrants eating their neighbors' pets.
View from above: Local police can now watch live streaming footage from Ohio State Highway Patrol planes and helicopters. Previously livestreams were only available to police near Columbus and Akron. But the patrol has since expanded the technology statewide, which will help local commanders make decisions when they’re searching for a criminal or responding to a public emergency, Laura Hancock reports.
Steeling themselves: Companies that produce steel in the Cleveland area will likely benefit from tariffs that President Donald Trump is imposing on imported steel, while manufacturers who use it are steeling themselves for increased raw materials prices, Sabrina Eaton reports. The tariffs are likely a good sign for producers like Cleveland Cliffs. Tariffs will drive up the cost of foreign competition to the company, which is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. Other manufacturers who use steel and aluminum, however, face dicier prospects.
List hygiene: Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose touted Ohio’s efforts to fight ballot harvesting, keep foreign nationals from funding ballot issues, remove dead people’s names from voter rolls and to make sure that only citizens are registered to vote during a Friday afternoon panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, D.C. “In states across the country, we need to be working on list maintenance,” said LaRose. “That’s like hygiene, like brushing your teeth.”
Republican pushback? U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson, a Zanesville Republican told a Westerville Area Chamber business luncheon on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders are “getting out of control,” and only Congress can do certain things, The Columbus Dispatch writes. “Congress has to decide whether or not the Department of Education goes away,” Balderson asserted. “Not the president, not Elon Musk. Congress decides.” On Friday, Balderson posted on X that he supported Trump’s agenda.
Advancing Vance: Even as Elon Musk has drawn enormous attention for his slash-and-burn assault on the federal bureaucracy and his partnership with President Trump in the opening weeks of the new administration, quieter efforts are underway to position Vice President JD Vance as Trump’s eventual successor, The New York Times reports. Vance is expected to lead some of the legislative battles over Trump’s agenda, as he is viewed inside the White House as the administration’s chief lobbyist in the Senate.
Full Disclosure
Five things we learned from the May 8, 2024, financial disclosure of state Sen. Kristina Roegner, a Republican from Hudson, about her 2023 finances:
Ohio paid Roegner $78,803.32 for her legislative salary, and she earned $100,000 or more from rental income with Howard Street Associates and dividends from Amcor, a global packaging company. She also earned between $50,000 to $99,999 from the sale of stake in Arconic, a company specializing in lightweight metals engineering and manufacturing; dividends from Magellan Midstream Partners; and interest from the U.S. Treasury. Roegner lost $999 or less on the sale of investments in Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Workday, Tesla and Grayscale Ethereum. The Ohio Senate reimbursed her for $4,767.60 in mileage and $683.64 in lodging. The Playhouse Square Foundation spent $256.65 on tickets for Roegner to see Hamilton and attend a pre-show reception in January 2023.
Wilson Shannon, Ohio’s 14th and 16th governor (1802-1877)
Straight from the Source
“Vivek’s position is just a sugar rush—and a crash is coming when voters know a little bit more.”
-Attorney General Dave Yost taking a swipe on X at his primary opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy. The two men are vying for the 2026 Republican nomination to be Ohio’s next governor. Yost posted that quote with a link to a poll his team conducted on the race.
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