Ohio governor to make 4th primetime coronavirus speech

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican Gov. Mike DeWine planned Wednesday to give his fourth primetime speech to Ohioans about the state’s progress against the coronavirus pandemic, as case numbers continue to fall but the number of people seeking vaccinations also drops.

In remarks scheduled for late afternoon, DeWine was to discuss “where we are in our fight against the coronavirus and our progress towards reaching the end of the COVID pandemic,” his office said in a release.

In a March 4 primetime address, the governor said he would lift remaining mandates once the state hit 50 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people for two weeks. At the time, the figure was 179 cases per 100,000 people; it has dropped to 140.2 cases as of this week.

DeWine’s Wednesday speech comes only a few weeks before fellow GOP lawmakers can vote to immediately remove all mandates according a bill passed earlier this year over the governor’s veto. That legislation takes effect June 23. House Republicans signaled their intention to introduce a resolution Wednesday in preparation for a June 23 vote.

House Speaker Bob Cupp, a Lima Republican, noted that DeWine could lift the health orders earlier than June 23 under the standards previously set by the governor. But the Legislature plans to act no later than that date, he said.

“There’s a strong sentiment that the health orders need to be dissolved,” Cupp said Wednesday.

Senate President Matt Huffman, also a Republican from Lima, agreed, saying he wants to hear DeWine announce an end to mandates, including the statewide mask mandate, as soon as possible.

“Ohioans care about getting their businesses open and doing other things that will allow some freedom,” Huffman said.

DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney wouldn’t provide details ahead of the governor’s speech. He did confirm that employees of executive branch agencies — who have been working almost exclusively from home — would return to their offices in stages beginning July 6.

DeWine implemented the current mask mandate in July as case numbers rose. That followed a mandatory mask order in April 2020 that he rescinded just a day later under intense criticism that the directive was “one government mandate too far.”

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Ohio did not increase over the past two weeks, going from about 1,522 new cases per day on April 26 to 1,207 new cases per day on May 10, according to data collected by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

More than 4.2 million people in Ohio had completed the vaccination process as of Tuesday, or about 36% of the population. But the number of people seeking vaccines has dropped in recent weeks, with an average of about 16,500 starting the process last week, down from figures above 80,000 in April.

In addition to his daily or weekly midday briefings, DeWine previously addressed Ohioans about the pandemic in primetime speeches Nov. 11 and July 15.

Also Wednesday, a federal judge denied Republican Attorney General Dave Yost’s request for a temporary order preventing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen from enforcing a provision of the American Rescue Plan Act that says states can’t use their recovery dollars to offset tax cuts or credits.

Judge Douglas Cole said Ohio has a strong chance of proving the tax rule unconstitutionally ambiguous. But the judge also found that granting the order against Yellen wouldn’t provide Ohio the relief it seeks, because Treasury’s rules for the money are still being worked out, the state hasn’t yet received its money and Yellen has not yet tried to recoup anything.

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Associated Press Writer Julie Carr Smyth contributed to this report.