Rotunda Rumblings
Coin-op: An Ohio House Republican proposed legislation would allow the state treasurer to make huge investments worth up to 10% of three different pots of taxpayer dollars into cryptocurrencies, nonfungible tokens and other novel and oftentimes risky digital assets. As Jake Zuckerman reports, the legislation comes amid increasing alignment between the GOP and the crypto industry.
And then there were two: The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s nominating council technically sent four names to Gov. Mike DeWine but only voted to support two of them. As Zuckerman reports, the prevailing two are the incumbent Commissioner Lawrence Friedeman and former Greater Cleveland Partnership leader Joseph Roman.
Questions for RFK Jr: Republicans and Democrats on the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee grilled Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on his views about vaccinations Thursday as they weighed whether to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Sabrina Eaton writes. One of the newest members of the committee, Columbus-area Republican Jon Husted, who was sworn in as a U.S. Senator last week, sought the nominee’s assurances that he’d use his post to address chronic health problems like obesity if confirmed.
Sketchy dealings: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed consumer protection lawsuits against two central Ohio automobile dealers, Shahid Meighan of The Columbus Dispatch reports. They’re accused of altering odometer readings, failing to turn over titles to dozens of customers who purchased vehicles, and other violations.
RIP: Jay “Lee” Leonard, a Columbus Dispatch reporter who described chasing down House Speaker Vern Riffe as sport, died Tuesday at the age of 85. Laura Bischoff of The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau talked to a few people around Capitol Square who remembered Leonard fondly, including Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, and Leonard’s former editor Darrel Rowland.
Buckeye Brain Tease
Question: What college or university in Ohio had the lowest student acceptance rate as of the fall of 2023?
Email your response to [email protected]. The first correct respondent will be mentioned in next week’s newsletter.
Thanks to everyone who answered our last trivia question: Which president signed and backdated Ohio’s paperwork admitting us to the union?
Last week’s answer: President Dwight Eisenhower officially admitted Ohio as a state on August 7, 1953.
Capitol Letter reader Joe Dobbins of Painesville responded first with the right answer.
On the Move
Alex Scharfetter is the new state deputy director for Sen. Bernie Moreno. He previously worked for as district deputy chief of staff for Ohio Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup.
Birthdays
Saturday, Feb. 1: Brionna Pinto, legislative aide to state Rep. Sharon Ray
Sunday, Feb. 2: Jeff McClain, ex-state representative and former Ohio tax commissioner; Steven Wolfe, legislative aide to state Rep. Tom Young
Straight from the Source
“He has this sort of beautiful, ornate wooden box on his desk with a red button, and he presses it, and he just kind of looks over at me, and I’m like, ‘Sir, is that something bad just happened?’ And he’s like, ‘No, I just ordered a Diet Coke.’”
–Vice President JD Vance explaining to Fox News’ Sean Hannity how the president “pranked” him with his Diet Coke button. President Donald Trump had a button to order sodas during his first term in office and brought it back to the oval upon his return.
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