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There was no shortage of political news in 2017. And here in Ohio several big stories received a lot of attention –– from lawmakers and voters alike. In this installment of PoliticsOhio, WYSO’s Jerry Kenney speaks with Jo Ingles at the Ohio Statehouse News Bureau. Ingles highlights some of the biggest political stories of the year. And she gives us a taste of what we may be seeing at the statehouse in 2018. In WYSO's PoliticsOhio, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news.

As Election Day nears, advocates continue to lobby for and against a ballot measure that would limit how much Ohio could pay for prescription drugs. After months of political ads on both sides, some voters are confused about how the passage of Issue 2 could affect their health-care budgets. For more details about the proposal, WYSO's Jerry Kenney spoke with the Ohio Public Radio Statehouse News Bureau’s Andy Chow. Chow says if passed, Issue 2 would tie the cost of prescription drugs purchased by state agencies to the price paid by the Veterans Administration. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each Friday during All Things Considered, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news.

Both of Ohio’s United States senators weighed in this week on the latest Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. For this week’s PoliticsOhio, WYSO’s Jerry Kenney speaks with Jo Ingles from the Ohio Public Radio Statehouse News Bureau. Ingles says – despite ongoing partisan rancor in Washington over health reform – Ohio’s two senators are in agreement that some parts of the existing Affordable Care Act need to be changed. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each Friday during All Things Considered, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news.

Gov. John Kasich has until midnight Friday to sign the $65 billion state budget that would not only fill a revenue shortfall, but also make some major policy changes. On this episode of PoliticsOhio, Statehouse News Bureau correspondent Andy Chow details what's in the budget proposal. And he tells WYSO's Jerry Kenney there’s at least one item in the budget that could set the stage for a veto fight. We also hear from Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who has been outspoken about her concerns over the budget's potential impact on residents and services in the city of Dayton. In WYSO's PoliticsOhio, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news.

In the last edition of PoliticsOhio , we focused on the Ohio governor's race. This week, we hear about some other political contests underway across the state. Karen Kasler from the Ohio Statehouse News Bureau provides updates on some other state races underway. In this interview, Kasler tells us who Frank LaRose is. The Republican state Senator just announced that he'll run in a Republican primary for Secretary of State. Democrats have their first official candidate in that race as well . Representative Kathleen Clyde of Kent is the first to announce announce her bid for Secretary of State in 2018 Kasler also updates us on the Ohio U.S. Senate race. Josh Mandel hopes to take Senator Sherrod Brown’s seat. We'll hear what challenges he faces. Finally, we wrap with some comments Governor John Kasich made at a town hall event recently when asked about his thoughts on impeaching President Donald Trump. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each

The 2018 elections are still months away, but the race to replace outgoing, two-term Gov. John Kasich already has more than a few candidates. The Political landscape so far: On the Democratic side, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley will go up against Sen. Joe Schiavoni, former Congresswoman Betty Sutton and former state representative Connie Pillich. Four Republicans will face off in the GOP primary: Secretary of State Jon Husted, Congressman Jim Renacci, Attorney General Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor. In this edition of PoliticsOhio, Wright State assistant political science professor Lee Hannah tells WYSO the mix of experienced candidates already in the race should make for an interesting election cycle. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each week, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news.

President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget blueprint calls for a more than 13 percent cut to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The budget would also eliminate the $3 billion Community Development Block Grant program. T he potential cuts have some Ohio officials worried about how to make up for the lost funding. For more on what eliminating the Community Development Block Grant Program could mean for people across the Dayton area, WYSO's Jerry Kenney spoke with city commissioner Matt Joseph. For this week's PoliticsOhio, Joseph starts by explaining some of the history of the four-decade-old program.

In this week’s PO, Karen Kasler talks about legislative initiatives on opiate presciption regulations, Green energy standards being talked about at the statehouse and, up first, passage of the Ohio transportation budget which happened after some compromises in the house and senate were hammered out. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each Friday during All Things Considered, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news. Find more episodes at wyso.org. There you can subscribe to our podcast, which is also available on iTunes and Google Play

The Republican bill that was to begin the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, was pulled from a congressional vote on Friday. The bill did not have the support it needed to pass. In this week’s PoliticsOhio, WYSO's Jerry Kenney spoke to Karen Kasler of the Ohio Statehouse News Bureau on where some Ohio legislators fell on the issue. Also in this conversation, this week the Ohio Senate passed legislation providing more than $7.8 billion to fund construction and maintenance of the state's transportation system. Reportedly, the bill features some safety enhancements, and could put tens of thousands of Ohioans to work. Kasler say the budget bill is somewhat different than the one proposed by Ohio Governor John Kasich . PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each Friday during All Things Considered, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news.

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has signed more than two dozen executive orders. Some have provoked mass protests across the United States — including Trump’s order on immigration. With so much talk about executive orders in the news we thought it was a good opportunity to ask -- what are executive orders anyway, and how do they work? WYSOs Jerry Kenney spoke with University of Dayton Assistant Professor of Political Science Christopher Devine, who says presidential executive orders are often misunderstood. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each Friday during All Things Considered, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news.

With just one week under his belt as president, Donald Trump has issued several executive orders regarding immigration - one designed to kick-start the building of a wall between the U.S. / Mexican border. The other would limit immigration from countries with known terrorist ties. In this week's Politics Ohio, WYSO's Jerry Kenney speaks with Glen Duerr, assistant professor of international studies at Cedarville University to discuss local impact. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each Friday during All Things Considered, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news.

Today, President Donald Trump was officially sworn-in as the nation's 45th President. On this episode of Politics Ohio, we speak with Wright State Assistant Political Science Professor, Dr. Lee Hannah about the transition of power from President Barack Obama to Trump. We'll also get his take on what Trump's historic win in Montgomery County last November could tell us about what we may see in four years. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each Friday during All Things Considered, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news.

Veteran Washington journalist - Sid Davis - has witnessed many of the most pivotal events in recent American political history -- including the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and the swearing into office of Lyndon Johnson on Air Force One immediately after. In the latest edition of Politics Ohio, Davis previews what he’ll talk about in an up coming speech to the Dayton Council on World Affairs and offers some advice for President-elect Donald Trump. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each Friday during All Things Considered, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news. Journalist Sid Davis accompanied President Kennedy to Dallas on November 22, 1963 as a pool reporter. He served with the US Navy, 1946-1948; White House correspondent Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, Washington, 1959-1968; chief Washington news bureau, 1968-1977; Director news NBC News

For this week's Politics Ohio, WYSO’s Jerry Kenney spoke with David Pepper, Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. Pepper says -- despite devastating losses in November's elections -- for Democrats, there could be a silver lining to Donald Trump's victory. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each Friday during All Things Considered, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news.

The 2016 election season has officially come to a close. In today’s Politics Ohio WYSO’s Jerry Kenney speaks with Secretary of State Jon Husted about fears of voter fraud that never materialized and new developments in voter registration. In the interview Husted reveals that big changes are coming to the state’s voter-registration rules. Beginning January 1st, Ohioans will be able to register to vote online. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted says the new online registration system is designed to provide Ohio voters with more convenient registration options. “Online voter registration does three important things. It makes it easier for people to register. It makes it more security because we can instantaneously determine a voter’s eligibility - to make sure only truly eligible voters are on the voter roles. And thirdly, it saves millions of dollars by creating efficiencies in the process,” he said. Husted has long contended that Ohio is one of the easiest states in which to register.

Ohio Governor John Kasich Tuesday took action on two bills restricting abortion in the state. One measure, known as the heartbeat bill, would have banned abortions at a fetus' first detectable heartbeat, which could come as early as six weeks for some women, who may not yet realize they are pregnant. The governor vetoed that bill, saying it would never survive a court challenge and would cost taxpayers thousands of dollars. But Kasich did sign a second bill into law outlawing abortions after 20 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest. Existing Ohio law bans abortions after 24 weeks. For Politics Ohio, WYSO's Jerry Kenney spoke with Robert Vaughn, assistant professor of criminology at Cedarville University, about how the 20-week bill changes the current abortion law in Ohio and what potential legal challenges may lie ahead. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each Friday during All Things Considered, the WYSO news department talks with

On this episode of Politics Ohio, we take a look at some of the ballot measures and races Miami Valley voters will decide on Election Day. To learn more about the issues that are important to the Miami Valley this election, check out the Election 2016 page of our website. PoliticsOhio is a wrap-up of the week's important political news in the state. Each Friday during All Things Considered, the WYSO news department talks with political reporters and experts from across Ohio about local and statewide news.

The two major party candidates - Trump and Clinton - have dominated the daily news cycle since receiving their party's nominations in July. This week we spoke with Dan Zink, development coordinator for the Ohio Libertarian Party in Montgomery County about their presidential hopeful, Gary Johnson.

Wittenberg University Political-Science Professor Rob Baker joins WYSO's Jerry Kenney to talk about shifting poll numbers for the presidential candidates, the continuing republican divide leading up to the election and the challenges facing libertarian and other 3rd party candidates. In the interview, Baker says polling accuracy can be difficult but should not be discounted. Below are some links to some of the latest polling data on the presidential election: RealClear Politics offers polling numbers from the presidential election, including the battleground states. With simple adjustments to their polling variables you can find the latest numbers on down-ballot races, including the race between Republican incumbent and Democratic candidate, former governor Ted Strickland. Follow this link to Bloomberg's polling on non-voters this year. The New York Times offers daily updates (as available) on a variety of polls from sources including; Quinnipiac University, Monnouth University, and

All eyes are on the upcoming presidential election, but in this week's Politics Ohio we've got more of a local focus. The League of Women Voters of the Greater Dayton Area has several initiatives underway in the next few weeks to help voters get informed. Today we hear from Ana Crawford, Programs Director, with the league to talk about those initiatives. Upcoming Events provided by LWV: 27 Sep: National Voter Registration Day , 10 am - 8 pm, Dayton Metro Library. 27 Sep: Electoral College panel discussion , 6:00 - 8:00 pm, Wright State Univ. Student Union, Rm 186. 11 Oct: Voter registration deadline for fall election . Additional information from the League about voter registration: Over 32,000 voters in Montgomery and Greene Counties were purged from the voter rolls last year, a process allowed by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to clear the databases of inactive voters. League partners at the Ohio Unity Coalition set up this easy-to-use web portal where you can verify