Larry Householder is expected to take the stand Wednesday in his corruption trial: Capitol Letter
Good Wednesday #GoodWednesday
Taking the stand: Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder will testify in his own defense at trial on Wednesday, his lawyer said. It’s likely to be a major moment in a historic public corruption case. Jake Zuckerman and Andrew Tobias report that Householder and a FirstEnergy Solutions lobbyist – both portrayed in an unflattering and unscrupulous light in testimony from the prosecution’s star witness – will take the stand.
In Householder’s defense: Householder’s defense so far has summoned four Ohio House Republican candidates from 2018 to talk about the legislation at the heart of the trial and what it was like to be on “Team Householder.” Zuckerman reports on one, Rep. Nino Vitale, who played a key role passing House Bill 6, and who FirstEnergy’s top lobbyist called a “good friend and big time [Larry Householder] supporter.”
Frank goes to Washington: Secretary of State Frank LaRose is planning a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday ahead of his appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, where he will be the only elections official to speak at an event called “They Stole it From Us Legally.” Per Tobias, all 10 of Ohio’s Republican Congress members appear as billed guests on the fundraiser’s invitation. They have reason to try to get on LaRose’s good side – he is one of the seven members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission that will redraw Ohio’s congressional districts later this year. At CPAC, a LaRose spokesman said he will focus on the accuracy of Ohio’s elections, and that LaRose has not taken the position that the election was stolen. An earlier version of the event was titled, “Easy to vote, hard to cheat,” a catchphrase long used by LaRose and other Republicans.
Back to school: University of Cincinnati trustees voted Tuesday to create The Portman Center for Policy Solutions, designed to encourage results-oriented public service in the tradition of newly retired U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Cincinnati Republican, Sabrina Eaton writes. “I view it as a way to engage young people in public service, encouraging civility, bipartisanship and finding common ground,” Portman said in an interview.
Bodacious bribery? A Hamilton County woman has been charged with wrongly approving nearly $800,000 worth of state unemployment benefits for more than 40 people in exchange for kickbacks. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, Donesha Shepard found clients via word of mouth and Facebook posts, where she went by the name “Bodacious Booder.” Three others have also been charged with receiving payments from claims recipients and sending it back to Shepard.
Mr. Clean up: EPA Director Michael Regan on Tuesday said he wouldn’t let his children play in East Palestine’s dirt, creeks, or streams that contain rainbow colored chemical residues from a Feb. 3 train derailment as he vowed to hold the Norfolk Southern railroad company responsible for cleanup, Eaton writes. In his third trip to the Pennsylvania border community, Regan said clean up continues at a “rapid pace,” and his agency is awaiting a longer-term work plan from Norfolk Southern that will outline “every single necessary step” to clean up the environmental damage caused by the derailment.
Taking bets: Ohioans wagered more than $1 billion in the first month of legal sports betting in the state. Sean McDonnell reports that bettors won $884 million and lost about $230 million in January, with most wagers being made on smartphone apps. The state’s tax cut is about $21 million.
Take two: A group trying to amend the Ohio constitution to end qualified immunity for police officers has re-filed their proposed ballot initiative. The proposal, now called Protecting Ohioans’ Constitutional Rights, was filed with Attorney General Dave Yost’s office on Tuesday. This is the second time the group has done so – Yost rejected the last submission on Nov. 22, taking issue in part with its name, which at the time was The Ohio Civil Liberties Restoration Act. The campaign’s board members include several people whose relatives were shot and killed by police.
Advanced: The Ohio Senate Primary and Secondary Education Committee voted along party lines on Tuesday afternoon to advance Senate Bill 1, which would put the Ohio Department of Education under the governor. The bill is expected to be on the Senate floor Wednesday. SB 1 would remove most power and duties from the Ohio State Board of Education. Democrats on the committee unsuccessfully tried to make the laws around homeschooling stricter, after an Upper Sandusky couple was outed by anti-fascist researchers for running a neo-Nazi home school channel on Telegram.
Below average: Ohio ranked 37th in the U.S. for the number of women in the General Assembly in 2022. In the Ohio Senate, there were just eight women out of 33 total senators. There were 30 female representatives in the House, out of 99 total. In all, women make up just 28.8% of the representation in the Ohio legislature, according to Rutgers University’s Center for Women in Politics. Ohio has fallen since the previous year, when it was 28th highest in the country in the number of women in the legislature, at 29.5%. The center says it tracks women because their life experiences and challenges often turn into legislation that help women in the state.
Murder probe: House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, and the head of its immigration subcommittee, California’s Tom McClintock, announced Tuesday that they’re launching an investigation into the July 2022 murder of a 20-year-old Maryland woman by a 17-year-old “illegal alien and known MS-13 gang member from El Salvador.” The pair wrote letters to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to seek information related to the alleged murderer’s immigration case file and screening process. The letters suggested Biden administration policies were responsible for him entering the United States.
Pandemic prep: Cincinnati GOP Rep. Brad Wenstrup on Tuesday conducted the first hearing of a new House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic that he chairs by assembling a panel of medical school professors and physicians to examine past COVID policy decisions. “Americans feel that time and time again the government failed to adequately protect the American people and often failed to follow the science,” said Wenstrup, pledging that his committee will put together a report that will help the nation predict, prevent and prepare for any future pandemic.
Refined legislation: The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security on Tuesday approved legislation authored by Bowling Green GOP Rep. Bob Latta that aims to boost energy refining capacity in the United States. A statement from Latta said refining shortages in the U.S. have contributed to soaring energy prices. He said the bill will help identify ways to expand the nation’s capacity.
Full Disclosure
Five things we learned from the March 21 financial disclosure of state Rep. Tom Young, a Republican from the Dayton area.
1. In addition to his legislative income, Young reported receiving Social Security along with dividends and money from the sale of 60 stocks.
2. Last year, he owned stock in Berkshire Hathaway, Adobe, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly Clark, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, United Healthcare, Verizon, Nokia, Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Blackrock, Comcast, Costco, DraftKings, Facebook, Honeywell, Estee Lauder, Lowe’s, McDonald’s, Mondelez, O’Reilly, Salesforce, Sherwin Williams, TJ Maxx, Accenture, Walt Disney and other companies.
3. The House reimbursed him $2,277 for mileage from his home to Columbus and $65 for lodging. The Ohio House Organizational Committee, a fundraising organization, provided him $271 for travel expenses.
4. The Ohio House Organizational Committee also paid for over $100 in meals and beverages in 2021.
5. Young reported holding licenses with the state to sell health and life insurance, as well as several licenses to sell stock and other financial products.
Birthdays
The State of Ohio, awarded statehood March 1, 1803
U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson
Corey Jordan, director of policy and public affairs for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost
Clarence Mingo, former Franklin County auditor
Joe Nichols, director of external relations, Buckeye Institute
Dorothy Pelanda, former director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture
Straight From The Source
“I was subpoenaed. Fact. The bill saves ratepayers $2.3 billion over its life, per the Leg Service Commission. Fact. I didn’t need Householder money to get elected, unlike my ‘fan Club’. Fact”
State Rep. Bill Seitz, in a testy Twitter exchange with state Rep. Brian Stewart. After Seitz testified as a defense witness in Householder’s ongoing corruption trial, Stewart criticized Seitz for “voluntarily trekking down to Cincinnati to testify that it was all okay” given what has been revealed during the trial.
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