Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoes 67 state budget items. Will lawmakers override?
He rejected lawmakers' plans on property taxes, school elections, culture war items and more. Now, legislative leaders are poring over the 67 vetoes and strategizing which ones, if any, they want to override.
Already, Republican state representatives took to social media to express support for overriding the DeWine vetoes. State Rep. Dave Thomas, R-Jefferson, said on X that he believes legislators will override DeWine's four vetoes on property tax changes.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican running for governor, said on X: "Ohioans are clamoring for property tax relief. They deserve to get it."
State Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, simply posted "#OneBigBeautifulOverride."
Over the past seven years, lawmakers have overridden DeWine's vetoes several times, including on a bill that block gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
This budget marked the largest number of vetoes DeWine has issued since becoming governor in 2019. His previous record was 44 vetoes in 2023.
A veto override vote must start in the chamber where the bill originated. In the case of the state budget bill, that's the Ohio House.
Each override vote must have at least a three-fifths majority vote in the House and Senate. That means 60 votes in the House and 20 in the Senate.
Legislators can take an override vote on any veto at any time during the current two-year legislative session, which ends Dec. 31, 2026.
State government reporter Laura Bischoff can be reached at lbischoff@gannett.com and @lbischoff on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mike DeWine vetoes 67 items in the state budget bill. What comes next?
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NBC News
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New York Times
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Indianapolis Star
15 minutes ago
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New Indiana IREAD law sparks parent concern as student retention set to rise
Parents are stressed, and kids are coming home crying. These are the emotions more families say they're experiencing this summer because of a new law that will likely mean more third graders are kept from progressing to the fourth grade. The law that is affecting this year's rising fourth graders will hold back students who do not pass the state's standardized early literacy test, or IREAD, by the end of the third grade and don't meet one of the mandated exemptions. Some parents were left confused this summer as their second- or third-graders were told they have to go to summer school to improve their reading due to the new law; others think holding them back will do more harm than good. One parent who spoke to IndyStar said that their rising third grader is dealing with stress and anxiety over passing the test, especially while trying to get the proper help for their severe dyslexia. 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Educational experts often cite third grade as a pivotal point in a student's life, where, if foundational reading skills aren't mastered, it could lead them to be academically behind for the rest of their lives. Final scores for this year's IREAD results won't be released until August, but schools are already anticipating the need to adjust staffing and classroom sizes as more students are held back. Indiana schools have historically had the authority to hold students back if they don't feel that they're ready to advance, but the state has been increasingly promoting students over the past decade, according to state data. According to the Indiana Department of Education's third-grade literacy data, in 2012, the state promoted just 4.7% of its third graders who didn't pass IREAD, but in 2023, that had grown to 17% being promoted. This trend also follows national data, where from 2000-2016, retention rates have been dropping. Wayne Township schools for the 2023-24 school year saw about 65% of its third graders pass IREAD, the third-worst proficiency rate among Marion County's 11 school districts. However, in the 2022-23 school year, they allowed 29% of third graders who didn't pass IREAD to continue to the fourth grade. Under the law passed last year, if a student meets one of these exemptions, they can move on to fourth grade: Some English language learning students will also get an exemption from being retained, at least for the next two school years. This year, House Bill 1499 was passed, which allows schools whose third-grade population is comprised of at least 50% English language learners can register those students as exempt from retention if they are unable to pass IREAD. However, this exemption will only last until the start of the 2027-28 school year. This could impact an estimated 550 third-grade English language learners across 25 public schools in Indiana, according to the bill's fiscal note. For this upcoming school year, Wayne Township anticipates needing additional third-grade class sections at two of its 11 elementary schools. 'All students who don't pass IREAD this summer will participate in targeted instruction and intervention next year,' said Jeannine Templeman, Wayne Township's chief communications officer. Indianapolis Public Schools saw the lowest IREAD proficiency rates among Marion County's districts in 2024 at 59%. However, IPS Communications Director Alpha Garrett told IndyStar that they are not concerned about overcrowding in its third grade classrooms for the upcoming school year. Garrett said they are concerned about how IREAD has become more 'high-stakes' in nature and what kind of impact it will have on students' and staff's experiences. One IPS parent whose son did not pass IREAD in second grade told IndyStar she felt misled because of the school's emphasis on getting students to pass it before being held back is required. 'They made it seem like it was mandatory that they pass in the second grade, when really they're testing them on things that aren't even in his grade level yet,' the IPS parent said, who is not being named over concerns that their child would be bullied. 'They made it seem so scary, and didn't explain it well enough that it would be OK if he didn't pass this year.' The IPS parent's son has been getting extra help in summer school this year, but continues to feel anxious about what this test will mean for him heading into third grade. Garrett said that students who are retained in third grade will be placed with a teacher state evaluations show is a "highly effective" educator. Mandatory summer school for third graders who don't pass IREAD was also included in the legislation that requires retention, along with two other chances to pass the test before fourth grade. However, for the next two years, the state will be working with less money for summer school as the budget for 2025-27 allocated around $17.4 million for both years, which is around a $918,000 annual decrease from the 2023-25 budget. In total, Hoosier students now have five chances to pass the test throughout the second and third grades. If students pass IREAD in the second grade, they do not have to retake it. The Indiana Department of Education said schools will be given priority reimbursement for summer school based on how many second- and third-grade students they're serving. Republican leadership in the House and Senate also point to the $170 million from the Lilly Endowment given to the state in 2022 to specifically help with early literacy, as well as a new $100 million allocated to the state department under the 'Freedom and Opportunity in Education Fund' for the 2025-27 budget. Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said during the session that some of the $100 million could go toward summer learning. But there is competition for that money, since Jenner also plans to use it for expanding ILEARN checkpoint testing, teacher recruitment efforts, student data tracking efforts and literacy training for teachers, among other things. The Indy Summer Learning Labs is another tool more schools across the state are using for summer learning, with now over 140 sites across the state serving over 12,000 students. The learning labs support five weeks of free or low-cost summer school during June and July for rising students in first through ninth grades. The labs dedicate the morning hours of the day to learning math and English language arts, and the afternoon is open for extracurricular activities. Liberty Grove Schools at Elder Diggs School 42, an IPS innovation charter school, is one of those learning lab sites this year. The labs are supported by funding from the state's Learning Recovery Grants and are run by the Mind Trust. The Indianapolis-based education organization is typically known for its work around curating charter schools, but it also provides the curriculum and other financial support for lab sites. Liberty Grove founder, Morrise Harbour, wishes they could invite all 250 of their K-6 students to summer school, but they could only afford to offer it to 75. 'We have to offer as many opportunities to our students as possible," Harbour told IndyStar. "Now, they don't have to be mandated to come, but what we're saying is 'if we can afford for you to come, then come.'' Harbour said additional staffing to support retained students may be needed, but they won't know until IREAD results are finalized. This summer, they had 17 third graders retaking IREAD and therefore had to attend the mandatory summer schooling, but 19 other third graders chose to join them at the summer learning lab. Since Liberty Grove Schools opened on the west side in the 2022-23 school year, they've been able to raise their IREAD scores from 29.3% proficient in 2023 to 41% in 2024. The school says they've been using the "science of reading" practices in the curriculum since the start, so adjusting to the retention law has been easier for them than maybe other schools. Every school in the state was required to adopt an early literacy curriculum that supports the science of reading from the state-approved list for the 2024-25 school year. The science of reading is a body of research that focuses on how brains learn to read, with a heavy emphasis on phonics and phonemic awareness, along with teaching fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Harbour thinks that, along with more money, more time to get districts adjusted to the law would help schools like his that serve predominantly low-income students. For the 2024-25 school year, all of Liberty Grove's students qualified for free and reduced lunch. 'Any change of this magnitude where it almost seems like it's all or nothing, in a lot of ways, it takes time,' Harbour said. 'So, obviously, just some time for schools to adjust.' While the state will see more third graders being held back starting this year, Indiana overall has seen growth in its reading proficiency rates in recent years. Overall, statewide IREAD proficiency rates have been steadily increasing since scores dropped in 2021, which is a different story than the 10 years prior, which saw scores steadily declining since the test was first administered in 2013. Last year's scores showed that 82.5% of third graders were reading at grade level, which is still far off from pre-COVID levels of 87.3%. Indiana's fourth-grade reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the "nation's report card," also showed good results, with Indiana's average score improving for the first time since 2015. Indiana ranks sixth in the nation in fourth-grade reading proficiency. Some Indianapolis parents are even taking the chance to become trained in the kind of curriculum that educators are using to teach reading to young students. Elisah Smith is a parent to a rising fourth grader in Warren Township and also participated in the RISE Indy Freedom Readers program, which trains parents for 16 weeks on the science of reading practices. Smith's daughter was able to pass IREAD, in part she says, because the teachers at her Warren Township elementary school were transparent about the specifics around the test. "I think the more transparent you are with parents, the less stress it is for the kiddos, and letting the kiddos know that this is their opportunity to take it, but there will also be other opportunities, too, if you don't pass it," Smith told IndyStar. Smith plans to volunteer in Warren Township to help other young readers once the school year begins. Advice that she would give other parents who have a child struggling to read is to seek help. "Don't be afraid, and don't keep that a secret," Smith said. "There are literacy programs out there and we are not here to judge the parent. We are here to make sure that the student is successful."
