(Columbus, OH) House Republicans want to merge three state departments into one.
Talk around the Ohio Statehouse over the next three months will focus on joining the state departments of education, higher education, and the governor's office of workforce transformation into one cabinet-level mega-agency.
Tiffin Republican Bill Reineke is pushing the merger as a way to better prepare today's students for tomorrow's workforce. The emphasis is to get two-thirds of Ohioans by 2025 to have some type of workforce certificate or higher education degree.
Under the proposal, Ohio's governor would have a lot more direct power over education policy.