Rotunda Rumblings

They like Mike: With Gov. Mike DeWine set to announce his plan today for reopening Ohio’s economy beginning Friday, he’s in a great position when it comes to public support for his response to the coronavirus, a new poll shows. As cleveland.com’s Rich Exner and Andrew Tobias report, DeWine got the timing right on when to impose restrictions, has support for his stay-at-home order and is viewed far more favorably than President Donald Trump, according to the Baldwin Wallace University Ohio Poll. But many are cautious about reopening businesses too quickly, the poll found. You can read all of cleveland.com’s coverage of the poll, and past BW polls, here.

More testing, tracing: Ohio’s coronavirus test-kit assembly is set to ramp up from about 3,700 per day right now to 22,000 kits per day by late May, DeWine said Friday, allowing people in nursing homes and homeless shelters (and, after that, grocery store workers) to be tested. As cleveland.com’s Jeremy Pelzer reports, DeWine also announced that Ohio will become one of the first states in the nation to launch a large-scale “contact tracing” program to find and isolate people who have been exposed to coronavirus.

What Senate Dems want: Ohio Senate Democrats urged DeWine in a letter Friday not to reopen Ohio’s economy before several conditions are met, including expanding coronavirus testing capacity, gathering adequate data on how far the virus has spread in Ohio, procuring enough sanitation and personal protective equipment, publicizing precise guidelines for businesses, setting up whistleblower protections and childcare accommodations, and ensuring employees can still work from home who are able to do so. “We oppose any plan that disproportionately prioritizes the economy over people’s lives,” the letter stated.

Help for foster kids: DeWine has announced protections for Ohio foster children who are about to turn 18 during the pandemic, cleveland.com’s Evan MacDonald reports. The state is providing money to keep those children in foster care because the pandemic could make it difficult for them to find jobs and new homes, or pursue higher education, DeWine said.

Weekend numbers: By Sunday, 15,963 people had been infected with the coronavirus, and 728 of those had died. On Saturday, there were 15,587 infections and 711 deaths. On Friday, there were 15,169 coronavirus cases and 690 deaths. Exner has the latest map and graphics showing the trends.

Don’t forget about Election Day: If you want to vote in Ohio’s nearly all-mail primary Tuesday, your ballot should be postmarked no later than today, or it should be dropped off at your board of elections drop box by 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. But what if you applied for a ballot and didn’t get it? There’s an option for in-person voting, and boards of elections are preparing for it. Cleveland.com’s Seth Richardson has details.

Let’s get fiscal: Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said last week Ohio might have to spend its $2.7 billion rainy day fund twice over to balance the budget over the next 15 months. We asked DeWine’s Office of Budget and Management: Does that mean Ohio has a $5.4 billion budget deficit? OBM spokesman Pete Lupiba said in an email: “Several economists have estimated that due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, states (generally) could face shortfalls over several fiscal years that could more than double the shortfalls of the Great Recession of 2007-2009. If shortfalls were to be more than double those of the Great Recession, that could be close to double the state’s Rainy Day fund. This should not at all be interpreted as Ohio having a [$5.4] billion deficit.”

Private prison concerns: “A pulmonary doctor said in a court filing that a privately owned prison in Youngstown is not doing enough to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among inmates and staff, putting both groups in danger,” writes cleveland.com’s Eric Heisig. The doctor wrote that inmates at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center are still housed in pods with up to 64 people and continue to socialize with other inmates outside and in close contact when eating and getting medicine.

On ICE: The ACLU of Ohio sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement, hoping to secure the release of inmates who have medical conditions that make them vulnerable to coronavirus, cleveland.com’s Laura Hancock reports. This suit was focused on Butler and Morrow county jails; a previous suit seeks to release inmates from Seneca and Geauga county jails.

Back online: “State Rep. Nino Vitale’s Facebook page was taken offline Friday because of suspicious outside activity, not because of anything the conservative Republican posted, Pelzer reports. Facebook told Pelzer Saturday it had restored access to the page.

Antiviral technology: Cleveland’s NASA Glenn Research Center is collaborating with a Kent-based company called Emergency Products + Research (EP+R) to develop a fogging system that can be used to decontaminate rooms and ambulances for the coronavirus, writes cleveland.com’s Sabrina Eaton. NASA engineers who specialize in aerosol physics are working through a regional economic development program to revamp an existing product sold by the company for use fighting COVID-19.

Hope it doesn’t go to his head: The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum has unveiled a collection of governor bobbleheads, including one for DeWine, cleveland.com’s Troy Smith reports. They cost $25, and a portion of the purchase price goes toward the production of coronavirus masks. The other bobbleheads are for Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Andrew Cuomo of New York and Tony Evers of Wisconsin.

Full Disclosure

Five things we learned from the Feb. 7, 2020 financial disclosure of state Rep. Cindy Abrams, a Hamilton County Republican:

1. In addition to her legislative pay of $14,227, Abrams disclosed receiving $1,000 to $9,999 from two sources: as a Harrison city council member, a position she left when she was appointed to the state legislature last year, and as a sales representative for The Pampered Chef.

2. She owns at least $1,000 in stock in Facebook and Procter & Gamble, as well as in a variety of electronically traded funds and mutual funds.

3. At some point in 2019, she owed at least $1,000 to Kemba Credit Union, Fifth Third Bank and Union Savings Bank.

4. She disclosed no debts.

5. She received no gifts requiring disclosure.

Birthdays

State Rep. D.J. Swearingen

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther

Ex-President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885)

Straight from the Source

“I’m finding that being home with my very active 4, 6, and 8 year old daughters isn’t exactly conducive to doing live radio interviews. Thank God for Lauren handling school from home while I work from ‘my studio’ in the driveway.”

-Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, in a tweet that included a photo of the inside of his car.

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