Dayton-area lawmakers made a splash this past week with bills passing their chambers and substantial proposals that are sure to garner debate in the weeks and months ahead.
I’ll tell you about some of those, some insight on local police departments, and the rest of the biggest political news this week.
As always, I’m more than happy to take questions, tips, or concerns. I can be reached at [email protected] or on X at @AveryKreemer.
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Local police can soon charge $75/hour for body cam video. But will they?
• The lede: Despite a new Ohio law permitting law enforcement agencies to charge up to $75 an hour for police video records starting April 2, most of the region’s biggest departments are still mulling their own policies.
• Potential impact: Those internal policies will be critical for public records access. In December, the state passed a law permitting, but not requiring, departments to charge up to $75 an hour, but not more than $750 total, for dash cam and body camera footage.
• Intended consequence: As this outlet reported, the scantly-debated law was meant to help departments dissuade, or at least recoup, the labor costs associated with content creators that lodge mass public records requests and post those videos online in search of commercial profit.
• Different approaches: While Dayton Police Department officials say they’re still weighing a policy, a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told us “we are waiting to see if the law itself reduces the number of requests” from commercial enterprises. Others, like the Miami County Sheriff, said they’ll only charge commercial enterprises, while Oakwood told us they’d charge everyone — the public, media and commercial interests — the same.
GOP bill to ban DEI, faculty strikes in public higher ed headed to governor
• The story: The Ohio Senate put finishing touches on a controversial campus reform bill Wednesday that would ban diversity, equity or inclusion initiatives and faculty strikes on public college campuses, among other things.
• What next?: The bill now heads to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who has indicated he’d sign the bill. However, DeWine faces a new pressure campaign from Democrats to exercise his veto power. He’ll have 10 business days to make his decision once the bill reaches his office.
• Student view: Urging a veto, Columbus-area high school student Michele Huang said DEI has been “misconstrued beyond comprehension... What DEI is actually doing, as a student and as a student of color, is facilitating the conversations that need to be had in our public school system.”
• Lawmaker view: Sen. Michelle Reynolds, R-Canal Winchester, spoke on the Senate floor specifically to address Ohioans like Huang who are concerned that ending DEI will turn back the clock on racial progress. “DEI has become a system that sorts us. It sorts us by race, by gender and by identity, creating a culture where we are defined by our categories instead of our characters,” she said. “That’s not real inclusion. That’s division with good intentions.”
• Runoff: Five people who hope to win a seat on the Dayton City Commission this fall shared their plans and priorities if elected to office as they answered questions from community members during a town hall candidate forum. Here’s Cornelius Frolik with the story.
• Open case: A federal immigration case of Jose Antonio Alvarenga, who was arrested March 3 in New Lebanon, has torn a local family apart and left Alvarenga’s wife April pleading for his release. Here’s Jeremy P. Kelley with the story.
• New case: The family of a 19-year-old man with autism who died while incarcerated at the Montgomery County Jail in 2023 filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the jail’s medical provider — Naphcare, Inc. — and Montgomery County, saying he was denied necessary medical treatment. Here’s Sydney Dawes with the story.
State political news of the week
• Plummer pay raise: Ohio lawmakers used the state’s transportation budget Wednesday to set a salary for the newly-created leadership position of House speaker assistant pro tempore, held by local Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Butler Twp. Here’s my story.
• Mental health: A Troy Republican introduced an Ohio House bill that he says would repeal a carve-out in Ohio law that allows Ohioans aged 14 to 18 to receive mental health treatment without their parents’ consent.Here’s my story on the bill.
• Benefits theft: State Rep. Desiree Tims, D-Dayton, is behind a new bill that asks Ohio to pick up where the federal government left off in reimbursing the growing number of food stamp beneficiaries who fall victim to benefits theft.Here’s my story.
• Police harassment: Two local lawmakers — a former sheriff and a volunteer firefighter — serving in the Ohio House want to create a new criminal offense in Ohio law that would outlaw harassing emergency service responders. Here’s my story.
National political news of the week
• Chat fallout: U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, is one of many to voice concerns following a story that found top Trump administration officials were texting with each other about planned U.S. military strikes in Yemen — without realizing that one of the people in the group chat was a reporter who was reading along in real time. Here’s Jamie Dupree with the story.
• Federal dollars: The Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission has approved $28.2 million in funding for 21 projects in the Dayton region that could see construction begin as early as 2030. Sydney Dawes has the story.
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