Restrictions on student smartphones, Delta 8 highlighted in Ohio governor’s State of the State address

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A potential law regarding students’ smartphones in schools and a renewed push against Delta 8 were among the topics Gov. Mike DeWine touched on during his Wednesday State of the State address.

In his annual speech, given from the House Chamber at the statehouse, DeWine is expected to reflect on the past year of governance while laying the groundwork for actions he hopes the legislature takes in the next few months. The governor began his speech with a focus on the youth in the state and education, as well as new benefits for their families and well-being.

As part of an initiative for early childhood success, he unveiled a new “Childcare Choice Voucher Program,” which opens up financial support for families that make up to 200% of the federal poverty line. A family of four would qualify if they make up to $60,000 a year.

“Not only that, we will also be re-allocating federal funding to dedicate $85 million to create new childcare access grants to improve and expand existing childcare facilities,” DeWine said. “By doing all of these things, we will help more families. Businesses will find more workers.”

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Later in the speech, he revealed the creation of the “Children’s Vision Strike Force,” which he said would “ensure that every Ohio child who needs glasses will get glasses.”

“This group will work with vision care professionals in every corner of Ohio to scale proven models statewide and provide schools with the technical assistance they need to implement these very important programs,” DeWine said.

In the party’s response to the speech, Democrats called on the governor to do more for publicly-funded childcare.

“The real state of the state here in Ohio is one is that Ohio is one of the worst states for access to child care, and we certainly heard a lot from the governor about child care,” House Minority Leader Rep. Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said. “But while the number of children benefiting from publicly funded child care in Ohio has plummeted over the past several years, in fact, we are lower than we were pre-pandemic, even with some of the efforts that we’ve done here in the General Assembly.”

But DeWine also announced support for new restrictions in schools as well. He highlighted an amendment cooking from state Sen. Andy Brenner (R-District 19) that would require all Ohio schools to adopt a policy “minimizing phone usage by students” in classrooms.

“If you don’t believe me, talk to a teacher. Talk to a principal … They will all tell you how distracting phones are in the classroom and how negatively they can impact a child’s mental health.” DeWine said. “A number of Ohio schools have made the decision to eliminate smartphone use during the school day, and I believe, clearly, that’s the right decision,”

The governor asked the legislature to take up the bill and pass it “quickly,” and complained about a judge who blocked the state’s new law requiring parental consent for children under 16 to use social media. He expressed concerns that the companies behind these platforms were “targeting our kids, addicting them and then monetizing that addiction.”

Russo said that while the Democratic caucus hasn’t had much discussion on the matter, as a parent, she does see the issue needs to be addressed.

“I will tell you, as a parent, I have three kids, two of whom have cell phones, and, you know, from my experience, it [having phones in school for safety purposes] is certainly an issue and a concern that I and many other parents have,” she said.

While keeping a narrative on the impact to kids, the governor then turned his attention to tobacco and marijuana. DeWine previously called for a ban of Delta 8 products, which he called “intoxicating hemp” in January, and made clear Tuesday that he hasn’t changed his mind. He has taken issue with a lack of regulation around Delta 8, which he said makes it “easily accessible to kids in gas stations and convenience stores.”

“Just in the cases reported to the Ohio Poison Control Centers, there were over 100 Delta-8 poisonings last year, and of those, 40 were involving children aged five or younger,” DeWine said.

DeWine did not name any lawmakers’ pending bill like he did with smartphones in schools, but asked the Ohio General Assembly to ban the sale of Delta 8 to children without other specifics. He was similarly vague when addressing recreational marijuana, which he opposed before it was recently legalized in November by Ohio voters.

“I doubt if very many people who voted yes on Issue 2 wanted their kids breathing in marijuana smoke while walking in a public park or on a sidewalk,” DeWine said. “We owe it to our families to change that, and you, members of the General Assembly … I ask you to exercise that power.”

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The governor also took the side of Ohio cities, which filed a lawsuit Tuesday to fight bans on their local tobacco regulations. He previously vetoed a bill from the statehouse that let state authority trump city tobacco laws, but Ohio lawmakers overrode him.

Before being overruled by state law, Columbus was set to block the sale of flavored tobacco altogether in January. DeWine openly supported this without naming the city in his address. But rather than encouraging cities’ local ordinances, he called for a statewide ban on flavored products.

“Here’s a statistic: nearly 81% of youths ages 12 to 17, who have used a tobacco product, reported that the first product they ever tried was flavored,” DeWine said. “I understand the desire for uniformity statewide, and so I am asking you to pass a uniform statewide law banning flavored vaping and flavored cigarettes.”

Russo said Democratic support for such a ban is longstanding, but said the party would not offer support without seeing the fill first.

“I don’t want to speak in hypotheticals yet until we see it, but I think the history of where the Democratic caucuses in both the House and the Senate have been, we would likely support it, but we’d like to read it first,” she said.

DeWine’s address made no mention of Sam Randazzo, his formerly appointed chairman to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio who died just one day prior. Within the past few months, state and federal prosecutors indicted him on dozens of felony charges connecting him to Ohio’s biggest corruption case in its history. DeWine has previously denied knowledge of his pick’s motives, and the governor’s office also declined to comment in the immediate hours after his death.

Watch a recording of DeWine’s entire State of the State address in the video player above.

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