From the Statehouse to Your House – March, 2026

Join us for OMBA’s bi-monthly advocacy update, From the Statehouse to Your House, where we bring legislative insights straight to you.

In this interactive 30-minute session, OMBA Executive Director Rich Swerbinsky sits down with OMBA’s lobbyist Matt Redfield to talk through the latest policy and regulatory developments impacting Ohio’s mortgage industry. 

This is your opportunity to stay ahead of the curve, understand the policy landscape, and engage directly in the advocacy work that protects and strengthens our industry.

Originally aired live on March 10, 2026.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Rich Swarbinski. I'm the Executive Director of the Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association here for a regular podcast series that we do here at OMBA from the State House to your house, where uh I get a chance every month or two to uh connect with our excellent lobbyists down in Columbus uh to get the latest and greatest what is going on in the state house, um, particularly obviously as it pertains to mortgage lenders and mortgage consumers. And uh I want to thank you for uh joining us today. And uh today I am pleased to be joined by our excellent lobbyist from Government Solutions Group, Matt Redfield. Matt, great to see you. Thanks for making the time today.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Of course, good to see you, Reg. Hope everything's going well.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Yeah, going good. And you we know we got a little curveball because uh President Trump is in Ohio this week, and I think it moved uh some things around at the statehouse. Uh so thanks for being able to accommodate that and uh still join us today.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Of course. Yeah, it's a it's a busy week down here in Columbus with uh the President Trump coming in on Wednesday, and the governor gave his state of the state today. Um, so it's always a busy time of year around the state house.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Tis the season, yeah. And uh the midterms all of a sudden, you know, less than six months away. It's hard to believe. So it is always election season, it seems like everybody's always uh trying to get elected to do something. So exactly. Well, good stuff. And today's edition of uh from the statehouse to your house, very well timed because we're gonna be at the damn state house tomorrow. So excited about this. Uh, the Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association future leaders program uh concluded, it's actually like concluding like right now, actually, our final virtual day. And then uh tomorrow, the fourth and final day of this curriculum, an in-person day, we're gonna have about 40 uh future leaders grads, another 10 or 12 of us from the OMB OMBA board. Matt, uh your your sidekick Adam. We're gonna have a group of about 40, 50 people tomorrow at the state house. And uh, how many of these have you done with OMBA now, Matt, personally?

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Uh I think this one will be my third. Yeah, third one. Uh uh. And so, you know, it's always always a busy day. There's gonna be a lot of other groups, not just the mortgage bankers that probably having their day at the state house. So there's gonna be a lot of hustle and bustle and uh things trying to get done, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Love it. And uh, you know, I'd love it if you could just walk our listeners through um that they won't be able to join us tomorrow, or um, maybe those of us that uh are going tomorrow. I just want a little inside baseball on what to expect. Uh, you know, what is this day like? Like we're gonna have about 50 people, I think, in six groups. Yep. Um, you and and you you and Adam have set up for us a bunch of meetings with politicians. If you could talk about the process on like which politicians that you select and just the more broad process of getting the day set up like this for OMBA.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Yeah, so a lot of scheduling calls and emails uh go into this, especially with the state of the state and uh President Trump coming in has been uh a little bit hectic, but I think we got it all worked out. We have over 20 meetings for everybody to go uh and meet with their legislators. Most of them will be from the areas that they're in, or at least tried to line it up as closely as possible. Um, you know, we really focused on the committees that hit the industry the most day to day, which are ways and means, which is where all the tax uh property tax and things like that go through, and then financial institutions is the other one that will really touches mortgage banking day to day. So we focused on um those two committees and thought leaders, um, especially around the property tax. Um, there's a few members in uh in these meetings that it's kind of in their bailiwig, and this is what they're focusing on is property tax relief. Um, and so we focused on a lot of on a lot of those folks um to talk with and to meet with, and just to kind of share um what we're seeing in the in the industry and uh become a resource for them.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Love it. And yeah, had some big wins in the state on property tax already, more in the hopper, and uh we'll get into that a little bit more in a moment. But uh, you know, back to the the state house they what are what are these meetings like look and feel like? A group, uh I'll be leading the group, I think, of about seven or eight people tomorrow. If you could explain to the listeners, um, you know, how the meetings look and feel.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Yeah, so um it's gonna depend on who you're meeting with. All the state representatives are in the Rife building, which is across the street from the state house. Um, that's a little bit more of a commercial office building feel. The offices are a little bit smaller, um, a little bit cubicle style, but not cubicle style. Um, and you know, we'll go meet in um in their lobbies of their floors. You go to the front desk, check in, say, hey, we're here for the mortgage bankers uh at this time with this representative, they'll hang out in the lobby, their staff will come grab uh the group, do a you know, light round of introductions, and then um really, you know, they're here and want to listen to us, and so they'll probably dive in um pretty quickly into conversation with how busy they are. Um, I think that the more that we can have a real conversation with them instead of kind of QA is uh the kind of the way to go.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Love it. And then what do the legislators and their staffers like actually respond to? Like, we've got a lot of questions from people going tomorrow, like, oh, you know, I don't want to, I don't know what to say. I mean, you know, I've been just kind of telling everybody on email, like, don't worry about it. They initiate a lot of the conversation. You're gonna have a couple leaders in each group that are gonna be able to kind of move the needle. And you don't talk if you uh don't want to, but uh any advice for you know anybody out there as to what you think the legislators like to hear from the masses?

SPEAKER_00 6:01

You know, they really like to hear what's going on in the communities. Um, they want to hear the struggles that your clients are having, um, some of the wins that you might have seen, that's some changes that they've made that have made some of their your jobs easier. Um, those are really the day-to-day kind of stories of what Ohioans are going through to try to you know become a homeowner and some of the obstacles that they're dealing with. And so they really want to, they view us as a a resource, and that's what we want to be for them. So when they are trying to make these decisions, that they can lean on the association, or we can, you know, connect them with someone in the industry that's local to them, and so they can really hone in on what's going on in their neighborhoods. And I think that's what they would like to hear the most is true stories from Ohioans and what the struggles and successes are.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Love it. And you know, it really is, you know, it's like politics and politicians in general, you know, never, never high approval ratings, but it's been some years since I've been to the state house. But it really is amazing seeing the political and the legal process just in action. And and, you know, sometimes, you know, what we see on TV, you know, may give negative connotations, but the system that we have here in America and seeing it in action in person, it's always for me just been it really just drives home at the end of the day what we're all doing.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Yeah, I think uh folks will understand that everyone that we're meeting with is here because they want to help Ohioans. They think what they're doing is the right thing. We might not all agree on what the right things are, but uh truly um all the legislators are here to try to make a difference and to make Ohio a better place. And so once everyone um comes at the from that perspective, I think that's when real work can get done.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

And this has got to help you guys, right? Is our is our you know, our lobbying firm that we've worked with for many years, when when we send a contingent of 40, 50 people there, right? Like uh your people that you're representing, I mean it it it moves the needle these.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

It does. It does. You know, they they hear from Adam and I a lot, and uh it helps that they can talk with people that are day-to-day practitioners and really dive down into the issues, um, not just at a higher level, but um it is helpful for us that you know it shows that the industry cares and that we're here to make a difference.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Love it. This is from the state house to your house. I'm Rich Swarbinski, the executive director of the Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association. If you listen to this on the OMBA Podcast Network, be sure to check out the live version. We do all these shows live on Zoom. So uh you can put faces with names, go to ohiomba.org and just go to our event calendar. You can get registered for anything. So now this is I think the biggest group of future leaders. Is it is this is the this is probably the biggest group you've seen. Do you know absolutely the biggest group that we've brought down? Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

I mean, we had to rent out the state room over at the statehouse instead of uh meeting in our office like we usually have. So, no, this has been great to see of everybody that's uh joining, and it's gonna be a good crowd, and we're we're excited. It's I think I think last year could have been around 2025. So we're we're definitely close to doubling it up.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Yeah, it this stuff is so important. I just a quick aside here for for those listening. I mean, it is days like tomorrow really impress upon you how important it is for us to stay involved in our industry. Nobody's gonna speak up for you if you don't speak up, and if you're always counting on others, others to do so. And uh really, really, really is important, not just Matt, for legislation that we want to see, like property tax relief that we saw in Ohio last year, but prevention of bad bills from getting passed. I mean, that's been the biggest being in this executive director role now for about nine months, that's been the biggest, not surprise to me, but you're playing a lot of defense, you know, more defense than you think. And if you could just explain that dynamic a little bit for the listeners.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Yeah, you know, the the offensive side is, you know, kind of gets all the uh attention and things, but really the bulk of the work is the defense, like you said, Rich. A lot of people have ideas um that they think could be helpful that maybe they haven't talked to their industry leaders in mortgage banking and they don't understand some of the pitfalls um that they could be walking into. And so really us being a resource helps us play that defense because once they're they bounce ideas off of us. Hey, what are your what do your guys think about this? What what's going on with this? What would happen if we did this? What are the repercussions? And so that is a big a big thing for us and it is super helpful.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Love it. Good stuff. Uh moving on to things going on at the state house right now, and and Matt, if you could, uh we we've alluded a couple times to some of the property tax wins that uh we've had here in Ohio over the course of the last several months. If you could start by just uh generally recapping, you know, some of the some of the property tax legislation that is already passed.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

Yeah, so a lot of it has to do with um capping to make sure that there aren't these huge spikes on the property tax assessments, um, making sure that the inside millage is able to be voted on and have the county boards have some insight into just where all the tax dollars are going, if all of these taxes have been voted on or not voted on, and really helping protect homeowners and seniors in uh specific of helping these folks. I think House Bill 124 and House Bill 129 were probably the two biggest uh impactful ones with House Bill 129 um tying that to the rate of inflation. So you're not gonna see all these these crazy spikes that we have been seeing every three years, and uh, you know, giving the uh tax uh agency the ability to um defend uh some homeowners on what the county auditors are saying that they're assessing, and so really giving the uh state a little bit more power in um what's going on locally so we can address things as a state because home rule is great in in Ohio until it's not, and so sometimes um you know we have to figure out ways to box everything in as a state and not just in local communities.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

And then there's some chatter uh down at the state you know about uh people that want to abolish property taxes altogether, you know, being like realistic, like that's probably highly unlikely. But if you could just explain, I guess, that kind of growing dynamic in discussions.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Yeah, so obviously there's been a lot of frustration with how property taxes and the affordability of that. And so uh, you know, all politics is local, and so there's a group of people that form together and uh want to put a ballot initiative uh in front of the Ohio voters to abolish property tax. You know, it sounds good in practice for a lot of people, but then when you you dive down in the details and realize we're probably gonna need a sales tax of 24% plus, uh, what's gonna happen with everybody that lives on the borders? They're just gonna go across state lines to go buy all their goods. A lot of other things that that go into it. And you know, we're not sure if it's gonna reach the ballot yet or not. Um, they have not gotten the required amount of signatures to uh get on the ballot, and so everybody's keeping a close eye on if uh they'll be able to reach that. And that's also an interesting process. Um, you have to have so many signatures uh that are good by valid Ohio residents, and right now um I don't think that they're um having the best luck of validating all of the signatures that uh they've gotten in so far. So it's something to keep an eye on. It's definitely something that could possibly be on the ballot. Um, but there is a chance that I think some people are probably starting to see through the the veil and understand that there's probably some repercussions if that happens.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Like to see the state income tax. That would be my my my first one to see uh go bye-bye. That would be that would be fun. But uh I'm a fan of getting rid of the municipal taxes, but you know, that's just me. Yeah. Um, and what we know will be on the ballot this November, Matt, is a ton of huge races in Ohio. Oh my god, national implications, obviously. Uh John Husted and uh Sherrod, former Senator Sherrod Brown, duking it out for that's what JD Vance's Senate seat, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

Uh the departed Senate seat. Um we've obviously got the governor race, Vivek versus Amy Acton. Poll's still very tight. Uh, and but we've got treasurer, we got secretary of state. I mean, this is uh it's a loaded year at the belt. How does that change the dynamic, you know, for for individuals like you that are in the in the belly of the beast?

SPEAKER_00 15:17

Yeah, you know, sometimes um policy is the focus, and other times campaigning is the focus. Um, and so, you know, some there's been some walls um and then some busy periods, depending on what the calendars look like for everybody. Um it really just condenses the calendar for us. It it gives us um, you know, a short window in the spring, then they'll go out and campaign for the summer leading into the election after their primaries, and then there will be a robust lame duck in the fall of people trying to get all of their uh legislative priorities across the finish line until, like you said, there is kind of a full house uh cleaning going on, and there's gonna be people in new positions, there's gonna be a new Senate president as well, and so there's a lot of different dynamics that people want to try to get their priorities and some things off of their plate heading into the next General Assembly with new leadership.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Some of the projections on just the money that's gonna be dumped into Ohio into political antsy's next six months with a Senate race that is massive for both sides. Obviously, governor is huge for both parties nationally. Um, so uh gonna be gonna be an interesting next six months here in Dubuckeye State.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Yeah, I think we'll probably break some uh records of money spent for campaigns this time around, is what it's looking like.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

And they're all close, you know. Like, I mean, they are Amy Acton have been neck and he had a big lead now. They've been neck and neck really since November. Uh Husted and Sherrod Brown are pretty tight in the polls. They are yeah, so it's gonna be it's gonna be action-packed.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

So yeah, it'll be it'll be an interesting November and primary season. There, you know, there's a lot of folks that still have tough primaries. Yep. And so it'll be um interesting to see who ends up being the the person to to run against the other side. Yep, without a doubt.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Yeah, to your yeah, good point. Still some primaries that are very heated that have to be contested this spring. So good stuff. Matt, what else? House Bill 58. Uh tell our listeners about what's going on with that.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Yeah, House Bill 58 that passed out of the it's in the, I think it passed out of the Senate. It's in the House now, or no, I'm sorry, it's in the Senate now, passed out of the House. And it is an interesting bill, actually. Um, it has to do with the recovery housing and the state certification program for that. So it's gonna really not um the reliance on the accrediting organizations is not gonna be there. You're gonna have another avenue to to get that taken care of.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

Excellent. And then uh House Bill 443, uh, also uh of some interest to our members, the latest there.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Yeah, House Bill 443 is one that um I have heard that in the House caucus is starting to gain some steam. Of like I mentioned, they're trying to protect uh senior citizens in Ohio. Um, this bill would prohibit the enforcement of delinquent property tax uh liens uh against folks that are 65 years or older and homes that are under 75 or$750,000.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

And then, you know, we hear so much nationally and in the state just about zoning reform and that being a big part of just being able to create more affordable housing. So much of that is at the local level. Uh any movement traction on Ohio zoning reform issues?

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Yeah, you know, you've seen a lot of municipalities uh going and rolling out some new zoning and uh reforms. Uh the one hot topic that's been coming up down in Columbus a lot that folks have probably uh heard of is data centers. Um there's a lot of talk about getting rid of the tax abatements and tax credits for those projects so that it wouldn't have as much of uh fiscal strain on the local communities, and uh there might be some more money coming into the coffers for property tax and things like that to help alleviate some of the pressures that that homeowners are feeling. So that would be something to keep an eye on and is definitely a local issue that is arising to the state, the state level as people are getting um upset that they might be having this uh coming to their uh communities, or they want to have it come to their communities. It's kind of both sides of the coin. Got it.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

What else, man? Any last takeaways for the listeners on other happenings uh down in Columbus?

SPEAKER_00 19:50

You know, not a whole lot. I'm I'm excited to see everybody in person and and get to know everybody and just have a have a good day of talking about the industry and how we can be helpful and how we can move things forward for Ohioans. It's gonna be exciting. And I would just say to everyone coming, make sure you ring your photo ID because you'll have to go through some security. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

And uh hopefully I'll see you in person for the first time, actually. Yeah. Three hours for a beer, if you could still do that. So yep, I'll be around. Ah, love it. All right, sounds good. Well, I want to give a big thanks to Matt Redfield of Government Solutions Group uh for joining us uh as uh he and uh Adam Hute always do, uh, giving such great updates on everything going on down in Columbus for our members. Thank you very much, Matt, and I'll see you in a few hours here. I'll see you. I'll look forward uh tomorrow as well. Love it. And to our listeners, thank you so much for taking some time out with us to listen to from the state house to your house. Get to ohiomba.org and uh get registered to watch the live versions. We do like eight to ten podcasts a month on different issues. So uh get subscribed on Apple and Pod Spotify, and uh we'll uh see you soon. Take care. Thanks again, Matt, and have a great afternoon, everyone. Take care. Bye, everyone.