A potentially historic deal is now before Ohio voters on a new process for drawing maps for Congressional districts in the future – especially after the next census, when Ohio is expected to lose one of its 16 seats in Congress. Statehouse correspondent Jo Ingles has details.
And with the May ballot filing deadline over, the campaign for that ballot issue is underway, along with all the executive statewide offices and US Senator. The filing deadline came down to the wire for some gubernatorial candidates, and as Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports, it’s shaping up to be a tough primary for the Republicans, and a difficult and crowded primary for the Democrats.
Wednesday’s execution for Raymond Tibbetts has been put off till October 17 because of a letter from a juror asking Gov. John Kasich to spare Tibbetts’ life. And the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled the state can shut down Toledo’s only abortion clinic for not having a required transfer agreement with a local hospital, and it also declined to rule in a closely related case, saying Cleveland’s Preterm clinic didn’t have legal standing to sue over the abortion restrictions in the 2013 state budget.
Almost ten years ago, state lawmakers passed a crackdown on payday loan businesses and voters upheld that law. But nearly a decade later, 1 in 10 Ohioans has taken out a payday loan from among the more than 650 quick-cash lenders operating here – and charging interest rates up to 591%, the highest in the nation. A bill to cap payday lending rates was proposed last year, but has had only two hearings. Now, a group of advocates and faith leaders say they’ll take the idea of capping interest rates at 28% to this fall’s ballot.