The governor’s state of the state address often serves as a platform for the administration to unveil new programs, or at least concepts of new programs. Last year, DeWine‘s new initiatives ranged from increased “sin” taxes on tobacco and sports betting, to a program to give out free eyeglasses to young students, to moving drivers education courses back into public schools, and more.
But DeWine had two political advantages in 2025 that he doesn’t have now: time (DeWine, a lame duck, only has about ten months until he’s replaced by his successor) and timing (the legislature was in the midst of budget considerations, which only occurs in odd-numbered years).
It remains to be seen what sort of initiatives DeWine will try to spend his remaining political capital on.
“More to come, if I told you everything you guys wouldn’t even show up for the speech,” he said last week.
DeWine’s address will be streamed on the Ohio Channel website: https://ohiochannel.org/
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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