Ohio Governor Mike DeWine Delivers State of the State Speech

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine delivered the 2025 State of the State address Wednesday in front of a Joint Session of the Ohio General Assembly.

During his speech, DeWine focused on several priorities, including jobs and the economy, child health and education, plus his proposal to raise the gaming tax to help pay for the construction/renovation of Ohio’s professional sports facilities.

“The state of our state is strong,” DeWine said to open his address. “Ohio has the highest number of jobs in its history. We have added more than 81,000 private sector jobs and have nearly 5.7 million Ohioans employed in our workforce.”

The governor noted that the jobs figure doesn’t include new employment opportunities that are coming to Ohio with economic development projects that are in progress, including Sherwin-Williams’ new global headquarters in Cleveland and its R&D center in Brecksville, plus Ford’s expansion in Avon Lake.

Here were additional points that were brought up by DeWine during his address:

DeWine announced that Ohio’s tax rates are the lowest they have been in over 50 years.

“Companies are coming here because of Ohio’s exceedingly business-friendly regulatory environment. We have sliced more than 930 Ohio regulations from the administrative code, and our proposed budget will delete 3,200 additional unnecessary rules. Ohio has successfully fought the federal regulatory process to get energy to Ohio businesses and homes faster,” he told lawmakers. 

The governor also announced the creation of the Ohio Workforce Playbook that will be led by new Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel. The mission will be to “retain homegrown talent, recruit new talent into Ohio, and rally our existing workforce.”

“With so many incredible economic opportunities in Ohio, we are acting with great urgency to fill these jobs,” DeWine stated.  

In order “to better incorporate several subjects into the curriculum of Ohio’s schools,” DeWine announced that the state plans to make the following changes:

• Embed social studies content directly into materials used to teach reading and writing skills 
• Require instruction on Ohio history in every grade, starting in kindergarten 
• Emphasize the development of essential practical life skills Integrate career planning into existing high school graduation plans 
• Put driver’s education back into high schools

DeWine highlighted that the state’s report card showed “significant improvement” in English Language Arts proficiency among elementary school students. Data shared by the state revealed that third-grade scores went up 2.2%, fourth-graders improved by 5.2%, and fifth-graders went up 3.1%.

The governor also announced that high-achieving schools across Ohio will soon be honored through the new Governor’s Science of Reading Recognition Program. More than 40 schools statewide have been selected for the award in its inaugural year.

During his remarks, DeWine also announced the creation of the OhioSEE Program, which will ensure all students in grades K-3 receive comprehensive eye exams if screenings indicate a correction is needed. 

“And if they do need glasses — they will get them,” DeWine added.

School-aged children in Ohio are required to receive vision screenings at school, yet the governor says only 1/4 of the students who need additional vision care actually receive it. More than 33,000 Ohio children are expected to be served by the new program over the next two years, DeWine announced. 

Last year, DeWine signed House Bill 250, calling for public schools to restrict cellphone use during learning hours. While many districts across the state, including the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, have banned students from using their phones, DeWine is now calling for legislators to make that a law in Ohio.

“Many school districts that have banned cellphones say that kids are more focused in the classroom, student engagement has improved, and so has attendance. It’s time to ban cellphones in all Ohio schools,” DeWine announced. “I ask the legislature to approve the language in our budget to put an end to cellphone use during school hours in all Ohio school districts to give the precious time during the school day to our kids so they can learn — and teachers can teach.”

During his rollout of the budget for fiscal years 2026-27 last month, DeWine announced his plan to double the sports gaming tax in Ohio to 40%, creating the Sports Facilities Construction and Sports Education Fund in the process. 

He spoke of the importance of the plan during the State of the State address Wednesday.

“The way the state has historically assisted these facilities means that that money competes for dollars with education, mental health, and many other vitally items in our budget, vitally important things. We now, with the budget I presented to you, have an opportunity to stop using our general fund dollars to build or renovate ballparks and stadiums,” DeWine said. 

The proposal from DeWine comes as the Cleveland Browns are seeking state assistance to build a new domed stadium in Brook Park. Specifically, the Browns are asking the state to issue $600 million in bonds that would be paid back in tax revenues. On Tuesday, the Haslam Sports Group (HSG) indicated to state lawmakers that they are prepared to offer “up-front cash” to alleviate any concerns about the bond.

HSG Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel Ted Tywang told the House Arts, Athletics and Tourism Committee that the Browns owners “applaud” DeWine’s “creative stadium funding mechanism.”

“The language in our budget proposal is truly a win-win. I’m asking you to take a hard look at that. I’m asking you to do it. It is a win for everybody,” DeWine told the Ohio General Assembly. 

During his remarks about workforce development, DeWine talked about the importance of getting jobs for those Ohioans who have been incarcerated. As an example, he highlighted EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute, the nonprofit in Cleveland that offers formerly incarcerated adults training and hands-on work experience in the culinary and hospitality industries. 

DeWine said EDWINS “is doing some incredible work and it’s really a model, not just for Ohio, but for the nation.”  

Brandon Chrostowski, the founder, CEO and president of EDWINS, was present for the State of the State and stood for applause after being prompted by DeWine. 

You can watch Gov. DeWine’s entire State of the State address below:

It’s been a busy year for DeWine already. In February, he appointed a new lieutenant governor after selecting Jon Husted as Ohio’s newest U.S. Senator when J.D. Vance was sworn in as Vice President in January. 

DeWine nominated former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel to be his second-in-command. Both chambers of the Ohio General Assembly quickly confirmed him. Less than a month since his swearing-in, Wednesday marked Tressel’s first State of the State as Ohio’s lieutenant governor.

Since the GOP holds the majority in both the Ohio House and Ohio Senate, much of the Joint Assembly was likely to be in agreement with the Republican governor’s message on Wednesday, especially when it comes to budget priorities.

But, Democrats are ready to have their say as well, as discussions continue at the Ohio Statehouse, focused on the next steps in the budget process.

“In the House, we’ve been working on those for quite a few weeks now,” said State Representative Allison Russo, House Minority Leader, in a meeting with local media earlier in the week about the State of the State. “Looking through it, there are things in the budget that the Governor introduced that we really like — investments in childcare, for example, more investments in mental health and behavioral health, continued investment in taking care of our most vulnerable. But, obviously, some other things that we would like more of, or the addition of.”