Kent Smith News

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) issued the following statement after the Ohio Senate voted to accept conference committee changes to House Bill 96, the state operating budget.

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) criticized the Ohio Senate's passage of Senate Bill 172, a bill that threatens the due process rights of immigrants living in Ohio.

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) issued the following statement in response to the Ohio Senate's passage of Senate Bill 4, which undermines local governments by establishing a partisan Election Integrity Unit under the Secretary of State.  

Today, state Senators Hearcel F. Craig (D-Columbus) and Kent Smith (D-Euclid) celebrated the passage of Senate Bill 85, their legislation to create the Ohio NAACP license plate. 

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) voted against House Bill 96, the Senate Republicans' version of the state operating budget.

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) issued the following statement in response to reports of a man burning 100 library books from the Beachwood Public Library. The books, mainly about subjects such as Jewish history, African American history, and LGBTQ+ education, were burned in a series of social media posts, as reported by Cleveland.com.

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) commended the Ohio Senate's passage of House Bill 15, which makes significant changes to Ohio's energy policies to protect consumers, increase power generation, and improve the state's electric grid. House Bill 15 largely mirrors Senate Bill 2, which was unanimously passed by the Senate in March.

Today, Senate Democratic Whip Kent Smith (D-Euclid) and Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) introduced legislation that calls on state and federal legislators to support an amendment to the United States Constitution that would eliminate corporate personhood and the legal doctrine of money being equated with political speech.

Today, Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood), Senate Democratic Whip Kent Smith (D-Euclid), and state Senators Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) and Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) sent a letter to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio urging them to carefully consider the recent FirstEnergy layoffs when evaluating personnel costs in their ongoing rate case.

Today, state Senators Hearcel F. Craig (D-Columbus) and Kent Smith (D-Euclid) gave sponsor testimony on Senate Bill 85, which would create the Ohio NAACP license plate.

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) commended the Ohio Senate's passage of Senate Bill 2, which makes significant changes to Ohio's energy policies to protect consumers, increase power generation, and improve the state's electric grid.

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) commended the Ohio Senate's passage of House Bill 54, the state's two-year transportation budget. The budget invests $11.5 billion over the biennium into Ohio's roads, bridges, airports, and railways, with nearly $200 million being invested in public transportation.

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) released the following statement after the passage of Senate Bill 56, which overhauls the adult-use recreational marijuana laws that the majority of Ohioans voted to approve in 2023.

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) issued the following statement after the Ohio Senate voted to pass the highly controversial Senate Bill 1:

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) issued the following statement in response to former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and senior vice president Michael Dowling being charged in federal court for their role in the H.B. 6 corruption scheme:

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) held a press conference to discuss the values that will guide his work in the 136th General Assembly, the "Rules for the Road Ahead."

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) took the oath of office to continue serving in the Ohio Senate during the 136th General Assembly as Democratic Whip. 

This week, the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus voted on and announced caucus leadership for the 136th General Assembly, beginning in January 2025.

Today, members of the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus responded to the results of the November 5 general election on Issue 1.

"A recent report indicated that Ohio ranked third among states with the most customers affected by power outages per capita. However, it was not due to excessive demand on the system, because Ohio ranked 24th for total electric consumption. If outages are occurring without unusually high demand, then we have a problem in the system.  It is a problem that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, our state's utility watchdog agency, should have caught. But maybe they were not trying to catch problems before they happened. Because maybe the master they were serving was the utility, not the customer.  So, if you were one of the many Ohioans left without power after the August 6 storms, you might be wondering why it took so long to get your power back. Part of the answer to that question is Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted..." Read the full column via The Columbus Dispatch.

This week, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) and state Representative Jamie Callender (R-Concord) announced new legislation to bolster small music venues and the creative arts economy across the state.

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) publicly criticized the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for the deal made this week with FirstEnergy, the company embroiled in corruption charges including the infamous House Bill 6 scandal. The deal allows FirstEnergy to avoid further state criminal prosecution in exchange for a $20 million fine.

In Senator Smith's ICYMI: Statehouse Edition this week, he discusses his summer reading recommendation. Find them here.

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) commended the Ohio Senate's passage of the state's capital budget (House Bill 2), which includes $7.5 million for 22 projects within Ohio's 21st Senate District and over $100.5 million for Cuyahoga County as a whole.

Today, Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) and state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) provided sponsor testimony on Senate Resolution 180, which calls on state and federal legislators to support an amendment to the United States Constitution that would eliminate corporate personhood and the idea of money as speech.