Policy Matters Ohio responds to the State of the State
Posted April 10, 2024 in Press Releases
Author: Ben Stein
Gov. DeWine raises more questions than he answers
Gov. DeWine delivered his annual State of the State address
in
In today’s State of the State address, Gov. DeWine gestured
toward some policies that may do some good for some
In response to
Will the program have dedicated, permanent funding from the
General Revenue Fund?
Will the Department of Education & Workforce and/or the
Department of Children and Youth see their funding reduced to pay for these
vouchers?
Why cap eligibility at 200% of FPL when the full value of
private tuition vouchers for school-age children is available to households
with income up to 450%, with no eligibility cap for partial vouchers?
The governor’s proposal to expand
The governor’s focus on expanding access to services and
treatment options for people living with sickle cell disease is an exciting
addition to the governor’s agenda. While new gene-editing based treatments for
sickle cell disease are now available to the public, the actual cost of the
treatment could be anywhere between $2.2 million and $3.1 million. Expanding
access to these treatments and coordinating care services for patients can
improve health care equity, particularly because sickle cell primarily affects
Black Americans. Does the governor have any other plans to address racial
health disparities?
As an example of a new focus on “well care,” the governor
said his OAK Learning Network would “reward and incentivize our healthcare
system…to focus on asthma prevention.” How will the governor’s proposals
address the root causes of asthma, including the disproportionately high
pollution burden on Black, Latine and Asian communities?
Though the Intel project has been his administration’s
signature economic achievement, the governor did not mention it once, leaving a
long list of unanswered questions we raise in this release by Research Director
Zach Schiller.
The governor's speech included several policy proposals that
will require funding — but he made no mention of additional revenue streams.
This comes as
Every Ohioan deserves a government devoted to making life
better in our state. The governor has a great deal of power to do so, and some
proposals that might. We hope the DeWine administration can offer answers that
demonstrate a commitment to making