From the Statehouse to Your House – July, 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 lobbyists 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 July 14, 2026.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Appreciate you guys both jumping on and welcome to our attendees. We'll go ahead and get started uh shortly here. So any uh rooting interest fellas in the uh the World Cup game uh coming up here in an hour?

SPEAKER_01 0:24

No, no, not really. I'll watch it, but don't care who wants.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Buckeye football and nothing else in Columbus. I love it. Anybody but England right now. Anybody but England, says Adam. All right. So all right. Well, good afternoon, everybody. Uh my name's Rich Swarbinski, I'm the executive director of the Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association, and uh here with our monthly web web episode called From the State House to Your House. We're lucky every month to be joined by uh our outstanding lobbyist partners uh from Government Solutions Group in Columbus, uh Adam Hewitt and Matt Redfield. Adam and Matt, thank you guys so much for joining us as always. Thanks for having us again here. Beautiful. And uh those of you you should know by now, uh, interactive, any questions, comments that you have for the fellas, just go ahead and put them in the chat and uh we'll get it incorporated into the episode. And I always like to mention at the beginning, most of you listen to this on podcast. We do these all live. Get to ohiomba.org, go to our event calendar, uh any of our virtual events. You can sign up for the live. We do them on Zoom, live, faces with names, all that good stuff. So if you're listening to the pod, get registered at ohiomba.org. So there we have it. All right, fellas, let's go ahead and get into it. Let's start with policy stuff there at the State House. I I know we've we've talked about this a lot on these episodes, but if we could, I guess, to start, just property tax in general. There's been a lot of movement the last year. Um, I guess if you could just update the member base on property tax relief in general, where we're at in Ohio.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Yeah, so the property tax relief package that we've been talking about the last few times, all of those bills are now into effect. So um, if you're like me and you got your Franklin County reassessment letter um here recently, they will have to abide by all of the new rules of the the caps and the how the how they calculate the property tax. Um, so this process will be a little different this time around. Um, but all of those uh relief acts are going to be in fact uh into effect for uh this round of reassessments.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

That's great. So mortgage holders are are getting property tax reassessments in theory, reductions in their monthly escrow's. That's now happening, which is great.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Yeah, yeah, it'll be awesome. And I think uh there'll be more relief to come.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

It's great to hear. Good stuff. And um a newer initiative, the the Reynolds Housing Package, a series of proposed housing-related legislation that's kind of roiling its way through the statehouse. I know it has a few different components to it. If you could bring us up to speed on what's going on with the Reynolds housing package.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Yeah, so her housing package is still sitting, it hasn't received any testimony yet. Um, and with the condensed fall schedule, I'm not sure that there will be enough time for um anything to get pushed through in the fall, but it's a perfect time for them to tee up that package for the upcoming budget cycle. And uh so I would expect to see some of those policy uh initiatives to to pop back up here come January, February.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

All right, good to hear. And um and then any of the components of that do we feel like, you know, have maybe more legs than the others as we get into an out-of-fall session?

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Uh you know, probably the owner-occupied housing tax credit would have would have the most. They're really trying to incentivize the home ownership. Um, you know, there could be the the mortgage uh assistant grants could also have legs. There's been some other iterations of that also through OFA, and some of the local county folks have their own programs as well. Um, but I definitely think the owner-occupied housing tax credit is probably the one to keep your eye on.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

It's good to know. So it's and is it really just as cut and dry as is like all owner occupants of homes in Ohio would if this bill, if this legislation was passed, would receive some sort of tax credit for that or increased tax credit.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Yes, correct. And I think um there's been a couple of different iterations bouncing around. Some of them are only for 65 years older, um, some of them are for CAUV uh type things, but I think overall, um, I would look for something that tries to encompass as many Ohioans as possible.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Great to hear. You mentioned OFA, Matt. Um, I guess, you know, uh OFA down payment assistance, the status of OFA funding. Um, you know, any any updates on that?

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Yeah, so OFA, as you know, has have a few uh down payment assistance programs. Uh their latest round uh for their uh grants closed in January of this year, and their latest and their next round is opening actually July 22nd. Um so there's gonna be some new money coming out from OFA for those down payment assistance programs. Um there's still plenty of money in the coffers uh for that, so I don't see there being any issues with them hitting a limit of um applicants trying to get in.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

It's great to hear. Um the fall session outlook in general. If you could, fellas, maybe just educate the members, the nature of the fall session, especially in an election year. We're gonna get more into the politics and obviously a a loaded November election cycle here in Ohio. But the fall session in general, and any insight would be would be welcome.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

Politics plays into the fall session. Uh it certainly it does. You get into a lame duck uh period, a time after the election until the end of the end of session, which is uh November, December. Um it's that last chance to pass pieces of legislation before you have to start all over again. Uh remember, our sessions are two years long, so this is uh this is the long road, and uh you're you're at the very, very end. So you're gonna see uh different uh different activity based on who wins Ohio's governor's race. Uh if uh Dr. Acton wins, I think you'll see a very robust and uh active lane duck session. If Ramaswamy wins, I think you're gonna see less so. Uh you're also gonna see something very different uh when it comes uh when it comes to is there gonna be a supermajority or not going forward. So there's a lot that plays into it. But really you're in a very condensed time period where uh you have just uh just about five weeks uh to have bills get all the way through and signed by the governor. And once once you hit that signy die, uh the the legislate the uh legislation legislature is over and you have to start all new uh come the first Tuesday in January. Uh so it it's really that condensed time period, and it's gonna depend on who who's victorious in November.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

It's gonna be interesting. And uh I had a question come in the chat. Our good friend Bob Neme uh uh says hello. Good to see you. And uh Bob's question says, uh apologize for being a little disconnected from active legislation in Ohio, but any movement to promote affordable home construction or bills that might reduce the burden and cost that home builders incur before they even ever even break around. Great question, Bob.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Yeah, so you know, part of that is a part of that uh Reynolds package that we talked about that might be butting up to the deadline. Um there are depending on where you are in the state. Um there's a few different programs. Uh OFA has programs for uh there's different um kind of requirements for income levels and things like that, and they have to be single family homes. Um so there's a few programs at OFA. And then I know the Franklin County, Cuyahoga County, Hamilton County all kind of have their own um programs as well through their community housing networks uh that they are trying to establish. They have a lot of you know smaller budgets for it, but they're definitely trying to push the um the single family or multifamily homes for people under uh certain income thresholds.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

Interesting. One of the problems that you're gonna run that we're running into, and uh that Matt and I have seen firsthand um is there is a large anti-development sediment all across the state. Um, it's not it's not one particular area, it's literally every corner of the state. As part of our normal election cycle, boring uh boredom routine. Matt and I try and get in the car and go and see legislators. We did so just yesterday, went all the way up to northwest Ohio, sat down with the legislator, asked them what the number one issue is in their district, and they said there is a that nobody wants to see any more additional development. So you're getting that issue that revolves around um uh data centers and the uproar around that, that's translating into housing as well. Uh people don't want to see see that happening. It's a weird phenomenon that we're in right now.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Interesting. So you're saying, Adam, and this makes perfect sense is areas, geographies where they have these large data centers, there are they're becoming detractors. It's it could impact property values from people that don't want to live near that. Is that what you're alluding?

SPEAKER_02 10:26

Oh, absolutely. And then and then you're seeing a pushback on any type of development, whether it be residential or commercial. Uh, there's a large development going in uh just east of uh Columbus here that's seeing significant pushback because of the number of uh because you're also running into data center country, too.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Yep. Interesting. Great uh great insight there. Um all right, so moving on to the elections. Obviously, in Ohio, it's loaded slate in November. Uh, governor, Senate, uh, attorney general, secretary of state, um, Adam, you noted, you know, does the supermajority hold inside the General Assembly? Let's start with the governor's race. It uh, you know, and it appears the recent polling, uh, Dr. Acton appears to be up uh a couple points, it looks like. If you kind of, you know, fight through all the noise and and you know, look at a bunch of different polling, but it looks like she has a small lead. Is that the same way it's kind of perceived in the state capitol?

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Uh the the way it's perceived in the state capital right now, it's still plus one we still lose. Uh they understand what the polling is, that it's tight, but it also mirrors that that Senate race and national trends um that you're seeing. So as go the as go Ohio, so goes the nation. We've heard that for those that are a little those of us that are a little bit older have heard that for years and years and years. It seems to be true this time around as well. Um, generic Democrats nationally are doing uh are up about 12 points. Uh if you if you overlay that to a Trump Ohio, a Trump election Ohio, that puts Dr. Acton at 0.1% or 0.8% uh ahead of Ramaswamy. So you're seeing that. It's less about the candidates in Ohio and more about national mood right now. So, yes, you are seeing Dr. Acton ahead. Uh the latest poll that just came out from New York Times Siena uh had uh had it at a statistical tie at 4747. Uh, neither candidate is well liked uh at the moment. Um both are doing exceptionally well, relatively speaking, in fundraising. Um uh Ram Swamy has a lot more money. He's also put more money into his into his own money into the race. Uh Dr. Acton has been breaking uh fundraising records. Uh so you're seeing you're gonna see a lot of money spent here. It will pale in comparison to the amount of money that's gonna be spent on the U.S. Senate state, though.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Yeah, which is a lot at stake there. Holy cow. And before we go there, like my perception, because you know, it appears like Houston is polling a little bit better than Ramaswamy. And you know, I what my take on that is it sounds like you're kind of saying the same thing. The national trend is Trump and Trump aligned candidates are struggling right now. And Ramaswamy being very viewed as Trump aligned, maybe you that's dragging, doesn't poll as well. Like we we've seen Trump doesn't poll well, like he typically on election day does better than his polling. Um is is that's it am I right in my observation there? Did you sense that could be some of the case with the vet?

SPEAKER_02 13:48

Kind of uh the the biggest difference is you have two political newcomers and Dr. Acton and Ram Swamy, right? Nobody really knows who they are yet, they haven't been elected for a long time. It's the exact opposite in the U.S. Senate race. You have John Husted that's been elected elected uh both statewide multiple times and as a state senator. So he's been had the history in office, and Chair Brown obviously is is had a historic run in office in Ohio. So these are two in the Senate race, you have two very well-known people, and uh people are comfortable with who they are, and then in the governor's race, you have two relatively unknowns. Yeah, so you're seeing more of that national trend hit that governor's race than you are in uh in the Senate race.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

That's great insight, and yeah, that that makes sense. So the um the Senate race itself, we know Sherrod Brown, obviously a known entity in Ohio here, Sherrod writes Senate banking for years. I mean, um, so he was he's always kind of been involved on you know, like the housing side of things. Houston's history on housing, he has some history there, but just any sense like for our members, mortgage and housing in America, like the Senate race, if it breaks either way, like what it could mean um for the state, no knowing that it's still just one senator of 50, so of a hundred.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

It's less about the state of Ohio and more about control of the Senate nationally, which is why you're gonna see a record amount of money spent on the Ohio on this Ohio Senate race. And I'm not just talking about a record for Ohio, I'm talking about a record for the nation. Uh, we all know that we have uh we have two, well, one senator, one U.S. senator that just passed away, and Lindsay Graham uh tragedy for anybody that believes in bipartisan politics. Uh, and then you have a very sick uh Mitch McConnell. Uh so you have these two uh two fo two uh seats that are not necessarily in flux. Kentucky uh McConnell was spending on retirement. Now you're gonna have a massive rush on that uh South Carolina seat, uh uh late primary there. And then you have, and not layered on top of all that, you have states like Maine, Texas, um, Iowa's in play that's normally not, uh, Alaska's in play that's normally not, and Ohio's in play. So you have these non-traditional seats that are now in play uh that weren't normally there. So you're gonna see Ohio, especially the most likely flip state flippable state, uh have tons of money spent. See who else. North Carolina looks like it's safe. Uh Texas is gonna be the interesting one to they actually get there. Right now, uh that same New York Times has Texas at a statistical guy, or accident up one in the University of Texas ball. So that one can get real interesting. Iowa uh again historically been historically been um a Republican state since uh since the late 90s, uh has uh Turek up four in the Fox New in the latest Fox News ball. So you're gonna see some interesting things happen here.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Interesting. The Attorney General and Secretary of State races, uh if you could, just a quick you know breakdown of the candidates and maybe anything you know our members should keep an eye on uh with each race.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

Yeah, uh so this is an election cycle where you have no incumbent statewide. Uh these the either they have never been elected statewide or they are running for the first time for a new seat. And that uh in the attorney general's race, you're seeing that. You have uh uh Keith Faber, uh who's former Senate president, uh current state auditor uh running for attorney general, and he's running against Upper Arlington City Councilman John Kulowitz. Uh the race is relatively close, it's mirroring the uh the gubernatorial race in uh near Thai. Um uh both have seen significant fundraising. Uh Democrats are doing better than than uh than the norm. Uh Kulowitz just passed the million dollars raise, uh, I believe favors well over two million in the bank. Relatively speaking, that's closer than it's been. Uh for Secretary of State, you have Allison Russo, former minority leader, uh running against Bob Sprague, the current uh the current uh state treasurer. Sprague has done historically better than his Republican counterparts statewide. Uh, but uh Russo, just in name alone, uh all all names and in vow and vowels in Ohio tend to do a little bit better.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

Is it relation to the Russo that he was what the Secretary of State of Ohio? Or uh wasn't there a Russo that was held political office for years in Ohio?

SPEAKER_02 19:05

Um it was in Cuyahoga County. Oh, yeah, by me. That's a little bit of trouble.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Hell yeah, he went to jail.

SPEAKER_02 19:12

That's why I remember not the same family, not the same family.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

So no association. We want to be very clear for our listeners and viewers here.

SPEAKER_02 19:20

So also you're seeing nationally women do better uh this election cycle than they have in the past. So that gives Roostell a little bit of a bump up.

unknown 19:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Um, lastly, the General Assembly fully. Does the supermajority hold? What's kind of the vibe in the state house? What could it mean for some of this housing legislation that's in the hopper, one way or the other?

SPEAKER_02 19:41

Supermajority is the only number that matters. Republicans hold significant advantages in both the House and the Senate. Uh, they need the House Democrats, need six to overcome the supermajority. Um, that was always obtainable. It took a little bit of Republicans, took a little bit of a hit uh just this week, as Nathan Manning, a moderate uh Republican from Lorraine County. Uh, he his mother and father have been elected there and have a proven track record uh of representing their constituents. He just got appointed to an appeals court uh seat, which puts that uh that uh legislative seat in play. Um I don't there is no chance that uh the Democrats take over in the House or the Senate, uh, but supermajority is is definitely in play. And it's all the suburban seats, the seats that are uh connected to an urban to an urban core somehow, somehow. Uh and you've seen the shift over time. Uh Franklin County, where we where Matt and I sit today, used to have a good number of Republicans from suburban areas. Now there is one. One.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Wow. Interesting. What else? Anything else that uh the members need to know um happenings in and around the statehouse, fellas?

SPEAKER_02 21:05

Thankfully, it's summertime, it's quiet. The legislature can do no harm because they are not.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Well, it sounds good, and uh, we appreciate you guys and appreciate our uh attendees and our podcast listeners. We got all kinds of great stuff going on at OMBA. We just had our biggest conference ever, about 250 people in Columbus. We've got our golf outing coming up. We're doing a first-time homebuyer summit at the Cleveland Metro Park Zoo we're gonna be announcing pretty soon. We're gonna be doing a networking event at a Columbus Clippers game. Fellas, we'll let you know about that the second we got the dates. Hopefully, you guys can join us and the people for a little baseball and some beverages one night in uh diamond dog night, Rich. We that's one of the days we're looking at. Uh we do have a diamond dog date that is uh that is circled on the calendar in early September. So uh, and all kinds of other good stuff. Our future leaders program uh is coming up in the winter and uh and more. So, but uh Matt, Adam, thank you guys so much once again for making time for the members uh as you do every month on this call.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

See you, Rich.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Uh and to all you, thanks for joining us. We'll see you on the next episode and enjoy the World Cup, everyone. Take care.