COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine focused almost exclusively on kids and their families Wednesday during his roughly hour-long State of the State address.
“Every moment we waste is a moment that they lose,” DeWine said as he opened his speech.
The governor highlighted Ohio’s expansion of programs that target reading comprehension, mental health care and affordable child care, among other things.
In their response, Democratic state leaders zeroed in on topics they claim the governor neglected, including gun violence and affordable housing.
EDUCATION
DeWine urged colleges and universities to align their teacher training programs with the Science of Reading, a phonetic reading education system.
The governor also urged the legislature to modify existing graduation plan requirements for students to insert career planning.
“The law fails to require maybe the most important thing,” DeWine said. “A plan for students to find a career they love and can excel at after graduation.”
He highlighted investments into career tech programs to ensure students are not stuck on wait lists.
CHILDCARE
The governor announced the creation of a new Child care Choice Voucher Program that would serve families that make up to 200% of the federal poverty level (or $60,000 for a family of four).
DeWine claimed the new program would provide financial support for more than 8,000 children and ensure their families have access to affordable childcare.
He said Ohio is also reallocating federal funding to create new grants to improve and expand existing childcare facilities. The reallocation would dedicate $85 million to the effort.
DeWine also boasted about the success of Ohio PROMISE, a program that helps early childhood professionals learn to care for children with disabilities.
“By doing all of these things, we're helping more families,” DeWine said. “Businesses will find more workers and Ohio's economy will thrive."
EARLY HOME LIFE
DeWine announced the launch of a new pilot program called Family Connects, a program that will make every new mom in 11 Ohio counties eligible to meet with a nurse roughly three weeks after delivering a baby.
The nurses will be able to connect families with community resources and be trained to recognize when families may require additional support.
The governor said he will ask lawmakers for money to expand the program statewide.
HEALTH CARE
The Children’s Vision StrikeForce was introduced as a new initiative to improve vision care for kids, working to provide schools with technical assistance to ensure children in need will receive follow-up eye exams and eyeglasses.
“Ohio sadly has never had a statewide plan to ensure that every Ohio child who needs glasses will get glasses,” DeWine said. “Now we do.”
DeWine also urged schools in Ohio to explore school-based health clinics.
The governor noted the state’s Appalachian Children's Health Initiative, which will help 20 Ohio counties create or expand community and school-based health clinics.
“It works,” he said. “Take a look at it. Talk to your communities about partnering with your local hospital or your primary care clinics, community health centers or children's hospitals.”
The governor also announced a “first-of-its-kind partnership” between Ohio Medicaid, Ohio Children’s Hospitals and the Medicaid Managed Care plan. He said the initiative will refocus sick care to “well care” by prioritizing follow-up care after emergency room visits and better management of childhood conditions and diseases.
MENTAL HEALTH
DeWine said smartphones and social media are “likely number one” on the list of things impacting behavioral health in the country.
“We’re in a crisis, a crisis in this country,” he said. “Our children today are more isolated, more anxious, more depressed and more suicidal.”
The governor said several schools have moved to ban smartphones during the school day, and said he believed it was the right choice.
He pointed to an amendment being efforted by Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-District 19) that would require all Ohio schools to adopt a smartphone policy to minimize phone usage by students in classrooms.
“I encourage the General Assembly to take up this legislation and to pass it quickly,” he said.
DeWine also said the state will increase the availability of immediate mental health support through the expansion of Mobile Response Stabilization Services.
“Our mobile crisis response units will deploy within 60 minutes directly to the youth experiencing distress,” he said.
The program is now available in 38 Ohio counties. The governor pressed the General Assembly to expand it further across the state.
SOCIAL MEDIA
DeWine doubled down in his fight against social media companies and reaffirmed his commitment to increasing parental control on social media laws.
A judge blocked enforcement of an Ohio law that would have required companies to get parental permission for kids on their platforms.
The governor said he believes lawmakers can craft a new law informed by the concerns expressed by the judge.
DELTA-8, MARIJUANA, FLAVORED TOBACCO:
Once again, DeWine urged the General Assembly to pass legislation to ban the sale of Delta-8 to kids.
“Because of a loophole in the law, Delta-8 can be sold as hemp without the warning labels and age restrictions associated with marijuana,” DeWine said.
He also implored lawmakers to better regulate legal recreational marijuana. He voiced concerns about possible consequences of the voter-passed initiative, like smoke drifting into public spaces.
The governor also urged lawmakers to pass a uniform state law banning flavored vaping and flavored cigarettes.
“It will save lives,” he said. “We need to protect our kids.”
It’s an issue DeWine and his party have disagreed on. Lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto on legislation that bans municipalities from regulating flavored tobacco.
DEMOCRATIC CRITICISM
While the governor touched briefly on the state’s investment in crime prevention technology and increased police staffing, Democratic lawmakers in their response argued DeWine ignored gun violence.
“The number one killer of children in this state and in this country is guns,” Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-District 7) said. “The governor spent less than one minute on gun violence.”
Democratic leaders also argued the governor’s plans for improving affordable childcare don't go far enough to fix issues that already exist in the state.
“The real State of the State here in Ohio is that Ohio is one of the worst states for access to childcare,” Russo said.
Democrats also criticized DeWine’s party, which holds the majority in Ohio’s House and Senate, for political infighting at the statehouse.
“The legislature’s inability to get things done this year and last has significantly hampered,” said Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D - District 23). “Meanwhile, the people of Ohio wait for proactive policy decisions.”
ANALYSIS
WCPO asked University of Cincinnati political science professor Dr. David Niven to weigh in on the governor’s address.
Niven worked as a speechwriter for politicians including Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.
“He very actively avoided talking about any of the issues that really take up the legislature's time, or that are at the heart of controversies in Ohio,” Niven said.
Niven said typical State of the State addresses typically provide an overview of pressing issues and make bold proclamations about where a state is situated.
“This was a very focused and tighter speech dedicated exclusively to concerns of children and young people,” said Niven.
