In this week's episode of Snollygoster, Ohio's politics podcast from WOSU, hosts Mike Thompson and Steve Brown talk about how some legislators want to stop the impending gas tax hike as the price at the pumps continues to climb.
Stuck in traffic
Election boards are still waiting for The Ohio Supreme Court to rule on the maps that will determine who our state reps, state senators, and congressional reps will be.
Until that is settled, really nothing is happening at the statehouse.
The Supreme Court has the third version of the state legislative map. The first two were thrown out for illegally favoring Republicans. The third version still has bias as all of their districts are safe, while many of the Democratic districts are competitive.
And the court is still considering the congressional map which gives a clear advantage to 10 Republicans.
In both cases, Republicans argue they have met the court’s and the constitution's requirements. Democrats and voter rights groups disagree and they have filed their objections.
Running on empty
There’s a new bill from Senate Republican Matt Huffman to repeal the 10.5 cent gas tax hike approved as part of the 2019 state transportation budget. He thinks the money should stay with drivers especially since the state is set to get a large infusion of federal funding.
Gov. DeWine is still defending the tax increase he fought so hard for.
Huffman’s bill would also suspend the $200 annual registration fee for electric vehicles and the $100 yearly fee for plug-in hybrids.
It has a lot of support. About two-thirds of Senate Republicans are listed as co-sponsors and no Democrats.
Snollygoster of the week
Gov. DeWine has politely declined to debate his opponents in the Republican primary. He didn't give a reason why but it seems clear that he'd have little to gain.
Send questions and comments to snollygoster@wosu.org.