Wednesday, March 4th, 2026

On this day in 1841, Cincinnati native William Henry Harrison was inaugurated as the ninth U.S. President.

A new form of voting is taking the state by storm, but people in the statehouse are already working to stop it. Find out what it is at the Top of The Fold.

In a massive win for the city, Toledo has been selected to host the U.S. Women’s Open for 2027 and the Men’s Open in 2045. Read more about this on Page One.

First Brands Group, a global automotive parts and manufacturing supplier, filed for permanent closure of four facilities amid bankruptcy proceedings and federal fraud charges against former company executives.

The company filed WARN notices indicating planned permanent closures of its Toledo Molding & Die facility in Tiffin, affecting 407 workers, and plants in Bowling Green, affecting 302 workers, Greenville, 302 workers, and Cleveland, 110 workers.

First Brands Group cited ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the filings as the primary reason for the closures.

Federal fraud charges against former executives have compounded the company's financial troubles, accelerating what officials describe as an unavoidable collapse of operations across the state.

Twenty-two Ohio sports franchises and operations have requested a share of a $1 billion fund set aside for sports and cultural facilities in the state budget, according to information compiled by the Ohio Office of Budget and Management.

The list includes the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Guardians, FC Cincinnati, and Columbus Clippers, as well as minor league clubs the Toledo Mud Hens and Dayton Dragons.

The fund is drawn from the state's unclaimed funds account, the same source tapped to help finance the Cleveland Browns' new stadium in Brook Park, and remains the subject of an ongoing court battle.

Of the $1 billion total, $400 million is currently available for distribution.

The Ohio House approved a measure 65-27 on Wednesday that would ban ranked choice voting statewide and strip Local Government Fund dollars from any municipality that adopts the system.

Senate Bill 63, introduced by state Sens. Theresa Gavarone, R-District 2, and William DeMora, D-District 25, passed the Senate 27-5 last May before clearing the House with support from two Democrats, Reps. Lauren McNally of Youngstown and Daniel Troy of Willowick.

Under the bill, no state election may be conducted using ranked choice voting, a system that allows voters to rank candidates by preference rather than selecting one, a process Ohio last used in the 1960s.

The measure now heads to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature.

Two Ohio lawmakers have introduced House Bill 706, mirroring an American Electric Power tariff approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in July that requires new data centers to commit to covering at least 85% of their projected energy use and prohibits utilities from shifting data center costs onto other ratepayers.

Rep. David Thomas, R-Jefferson, and Rep. Tristan Rader, D-Lakewood, said the AEP model has successfully filtered out uncommitted demand and should be expanded statewide, noting that multiple communities in Thomas' district have already enacted moratoriums on data centers amid concerns over grid strain and rising energy costs.

The legislation comes as Ohio lawmakers separately failed in the 2026-27 budget to eliminate a 100% sales tax exemption on data center construction materials, a move Gov. Mike DeWine blocked after the Chamber of Commerce warned it would cost the state $500 million in revenue by 2030.

For years, Ohio contractors have faced a costly problem: paying taxes on money they never actually pocket.

Under the state's Commercial Activity Tax, contractors are taxed on gross receipts that include payments passed directly to subcontractors that flow straight through to another business without ever padding a contractor's bottom line. That's not a gray area. That's a flaw.

State Sen. Tim Schaffer's S.B. 325 fixes it. The bill would exclude subcontractor payments from a contractor's taxable gross receipts, ensuring businesses are only taxed on what they actually earn.

The math makes the case. The CAT applies a 0.26% tax on gross receipts above $6 million, and subcontractor payments typically account for 15% to 30% of a project's total value. Strip out those pass-through payments, and Ohio's construction industry could save an estimated $26.7 million to $53.3 million annually, which is money that can be reinvested in bids, workers, and growth.

Lower tax overhead means contractors can bid more competitively, potentially driving new projects across Ohio's $81 billion construction sector. Homeowners, businesses, and municipalities could all benefit from lower costs on renovations, commercial builds, and infrastructure work.

There are short-term trade-offs. The state would see a reduction of $25 million to $52 million in the General Revenue Fund. Those are real numbers and shouldn't be dismissed.

But removing an unfair tax burden from one of Ohio's fastest-growing economic sectors is an investment, not a loss. The long-term returns would be in construction activity, job creation, and downstream tax revenue, and that will outweigh the short-term gap.

Businesses should be taxed on what they earn, not on money that passes through to someone else. S.B. 325 is a straightforward correction that aligns Ohio's tax code with economic reality.

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