Hicks-Hudson Letter to Constituents

This week, the Senate completed its work before our summer recess. In this last session, the Senate addressed some important pieces of legislation, like capital budget fixes for the 27-28 fiscal year. Two important items included were to help Ohioans who qualify for homestead exemptions and funds for first-responder trauma treatments. Though there was work done to make sure that all our Ohio communities are taken care of, the budget process was not conducive to thoughtful and intentional dialogue. Thus, the need to make corrections to the capital budget, which was just passed two weeks ago. Beyond the budget, the Senate addressed topics ranging from healthcare regulation to rules regarding civil litigation. Other bills also changed provisions related to school boards, traffic violations, and violent crimes. 

Some of the legislation this week provides fixes to issues that our state faces, but not all. For example, there are serious concerns related to absentee voters sending personal identification to validate their mail-in ballots. H.B. 472 was initially proposed so that individuals experiencing homelessness would not be required to pay state ID and birth certificate fees. This was a good and necessary bipartisan bill. However, the bill was amended with provisions that will confuse the voting process and pose serious personal identification security risks to Ohioans that use mail-in ballots. 

From the FY27-28 capital budget, we are bringing more than $5.7 million to Lucas County in new funds and more than $7.4 million including redirects back to the county for this biennium. Before the General Assembly concludes in December, it is my hope to find additional funding for the projects that are not being funded but are critical to our community.

Please contact my office at 614-466-5204 or hicks-hudson@ohiosenate.gov if you need additional information, have questions about these pieces of legislation, or if you need any other assistance. Lastly, be on the lookout for announcements to meet and talk about state government throughout the summer!