Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the state budget 17 days after the constitutionally mandated deadline and 10 hours after a temporary budget expired. And when DeWine signed it, he included 25 vetoes.
Many of DeWine's vetoes dealt with Medicaid policy, including the single pharmacy benefit manager proposal that was in the House budget. DeWine said Medicaid is willing to work on that goal but needs flexibility. And though he vetoed some elements in the budget that required transparency because he didn’t think the details would work, he issued an executive order demanding it from agency departments.
“This is not something we are going to walk away from. This is not something that we are going to say we are not going to do this. We want transparency, but it just has to work,” he said.
DeWine said he vetoed a guarantee on per-pupil funding, saying it would benefit the wealthiest districts. He said the priority of this budget is to help those who need it the most.
