COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine will deliver his State of the State Address Wednesday afternoon in front of lawmakers from both the Ohio House and Senate.
DeWine's 2024 State of the State Address will lay out his priorities and what he believes Ohio should target.
What You Need To Know
- Gov. DeWine previously focused his speech on children and education
- DeWine also spoke about economic investments in the state like Intel and Google
- The governor is also expected to address property taxes
“A State of the State Address is a way for the leader of a state to not only tout their accomplishments and what they’ve gotten done over the previous year or really previous several years in governor DeWine’s case,” said political science professor David Cohen from the University of Akron. “But also a chance to set the agenda in the near term.”
“This is a ceremony, and it’s a symbolic exercise,” said Jonathan Entin, a professor of law at Case Western Reserve University. “Symbols can be important, but I don’t think we should expect a lot of really big news to come out of the state of the state message any more than we necessarily expect.”
In 2023’s State of the State Address, the governor focused on improving childhood development and education. DeWine also placed a large emphasis on helping mothers, seeking to repeal the state’s sales tax on infant supplies. Democratic Statehouse leaders told media outlets they want the governor to continue his push to help mothers with child care in Ohio.
“I think if you look at what people are feeling in terms of child care cost, we still lag behind in infant mortality,” said State Rep. Allison Russo. “We’re still one of the highest in the country for particularly for Black babies.”
The Democratic leaders said no matter what the governor says in his speech, the Republican in-party fighting has caused a major ripple effect in Ohio.
“Tax policy, education, child care, living wage for workers,” said State Sen. Nickie Antonio. “All of those things that we should be addressing right now that we are not.”
Republican Political Strategist Terry Casey said he expects less legislation due to 2024 being an election year. He also noted there could be less groundwork to get bills passed this year, which could lead to a bigger State of the State Address next year.
“The big State of the State is going to be next year,” said Casey. “The governor’s going to present his next budget. And next budget might be a tough year because the COVID money will all be spent by then. And, there’s a very good likelihood sometime in the next 24 to 36 months we’re going to have some kind of an economic downturn.”
The 2024 speech is expected to touch on several economic investments in the state, like Intel and Google. It is also expected that DeWine will address property taxes and other strategies for how the state can continue to move forward.