Buckeye Reporter

The Institute for Legislative Analysis (ILA) has released a comprehensive scorecard evaluating Ohio legislators and Governor Mike DeWine. This system, touted as the first of its kind, assesses the Executive Branch based on bill signage and veto actions.

According to the ILA report, Governor Mike DeWine's record revealed a "Limited Government Rating" of 68.63%. In comparison, the average for Ohio Republicans stands at 79.59%. While DeWine was praised for his crime-fighting efforts and regulations reductions, achieving perfect scores in these areas, he lagged in the Tax and Fiscal (36%) and Healthcare (0%) sectors.

The state legislature also showed struggles in similar categories. Republicans supported the limited government stance on Tax and Fiscal issues 42% of the time, while Democrats averaged 10%. Notably, Republicans averaged a mere 25% in the Healthcare policy sector, a surprising figure as it's lower than the Democrats' 27%.

The ILA's ranking system, which scales from 100-0, honored five State Representatives with the "Champion of Limited Government" award, all scoring 90 or above. These include Reggie Stolzfus, Jena Powell, Ron Ferguson, Darrell Kick, and Kris Jordan. Additionally, 36 legislators received the Defender Award for scores of 80 or higher. On the opposite end, Sherrod Brown and Marcy Captur were labeled "Big Government Extremists," scoring 2 and 3 respectively.

Former Congressman Jim Renacci hailed the scorecard's release, stating it will "provide accountability in our state government." Renacci emphasized that Ohio taxpayers deserve transparency regarding their representatives' actions and choices.

In a broader context, the ILA's analysis, which covered almost 8,000 votes cast by Ohio lawmakers at both federal and state levels in the past year, revealed that Ohio's lawmakers lean conservative when it comes to reducing regulations. However, they have more liberal voting tendencies concerning tax, fiscal, and healthcare policies.

Ryan McGowan, CEO of ILA, commented on the findings, particularly criticizing the state's healthcare policies, linking them to the aftereffects of Obamacare. He stated that increased governmental mandates in healthcare lead to higher costs and limited consumer choices.

The ILA's scorecard also recognized 47 federal and state lawmakers who achieved limited government ratings of 80% and above, while 21 lawmakers earned the "Big Government Extremist" label for ratings of 10% and below. The ILA has its roots in CPAC and the American Conservative Union, having previously developed a 50 state legislative scorecard.