Keeping it Brief

Local 

Kettering rezones land, renews one-year ban on shared scooters

  • The Kettering City Council recently voted to “extend a citywide ban on shared mobility devices for another year while it seeks to regulate the vehicles”.

    • “The rezonings — which both take effect Feb. 23 — include 3.3 acres at the VIllas at Kettering Pointe on South Smithville Road and about 6 acres at the Forrer Pointe Business Park, city records show”.

State

State education testing shows declines, may be waived in new legislation

  • HB 40 was recently introduced this week by Rep. Lisa Sobecki and Rep. Jeffrey Crossman

    • “The bill would waive state testing for the 2021-2022 school year and direct the Ohio Department of Education to seek a waiver for federal testing, as well as holding school districts harmless on state report cards which determine funding levels and eligibility for EdChoice private school vouchers and academic distress commissions”.

      • The purpose of these actions is to support students who fell behind in school during the COVID-19 pandemic.

      • The bill has bipartisan support


Legislation seeks to provide internet access in unserved areas of Ohio

  • “The Ohio Senate voted unanimously to pass a bill to finance new broadband infrastructure projects”. 

    • This legislation “would allocate millions of dollars toward a new “Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program.” Private broadband providers would apply for grant funding to pay for expansion projects in underserved areas of Ohio”. 

      • The grant will not fund the whole project, but will fund areas that would not be funded without the grant.

      • Priority would be given to areas where households have no internet.

  • “Under this legislation, a board of county commissioners can solicit project applications from broadband providers to benefit their area of the state”.


Ohio bill targeting health dept. authority may be unconstitutional, Statehouse researchers say

  • SB 22 was recently introduced by Sens. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, and Terry Johnson, R-McDermott. This bill aims to provide  “the Ohio General Assembly authority to rescind any public health order from the Ohio Department of Health by passing a concurrent resolution. Lawmakers could similarly strike down any executive order or emergency declaration issued by the governor”. 

    • Gov. DeWine plans to veto this bill

  • The bill has recently been found to be unconstitutional because since it is a resolution it aims to sidestep the Governor’s approval for the bill.

    • A resolution does not require approval by the Governor. 

  • The courts have yet to comment on this issue.

Federal

President Biden continues to sign numerous Executive Orders. Check out this source to learn about the ones he has signed so far. 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/08/joe-biden-executive-orders


Guest User