From the Statehouse to Your House – August, 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 Engagement Director Heidi Belnay sits down with an OMBA lobbyist 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 August 20, 2026.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:20

Hi, everybody, and welcome to our August edition from the State House to your house. I'm Eddie Bell May. I'm not registered in T today, so I'm filling in for him on our podcast. I also work with the Ohio Mortgage Makers Association. Joining me today is Matt Redfield. Um he is one of our state lobbyists at the Ohio State House. Matt, thanks so much for joining me.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Yeah, of course. It was nice to have you this time.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Before we jump into everything in Columbus, for anyone who hasn't been here before or might not know you, can you give a little introduction and tell us about your role with the ODA work?

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Yeah, so uh I work here at Government Solutions Group. Uh Adam Hewitt and I represent the Mortgage Bankers uh Association and the interest around the State House. Uh Adam's been doing this for about 20 years, and I've been with the firm for about four years now. Uh before that, I worked in the governor's administration and uh looking forward to the conversation.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Awesome. So we're gonna kick it off with something everybody loves to talk about property taxes. So the full property tax um abolition amendment didn't make it a member ballot that organizers are looking towards 2027. Where does everything stand now and how seriously should the members be watching it?

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Yeah, so obviously it like you said, it didn't make it on this time. They lacked uh the required amount of signatures to get onto the ballot. Uh the organizers uh had trouble getting just organized in general, uh honestly. So they had some trouble on the ground game of actually going out and getting signatures. And then I think they found a little bit more pushback than they thought they would on uh the abolition. I think people kind of realize um what property taxes mean for their communities and what the property taxes fund. And so I think, you know, at the headlines, it sounds nice. And then once you get into the weeds, um, I think they felt a little more pushback than they than they anticipated. So it could always come back. Um, but I'm not sure that anyone is betting on it to happen.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Got it. If it did come back, what do you think that would really mean for borrowers and our industry?

SPEAKER_00 2:29

You know, if it if it did happen, um, it'll it'll just depend on how it happens, honestly, and what the wind down looks like and how long uh they do that. I'm sure they'll probably give a little bit of time so people can get their their uh ducks in order. Um, but yeah, I mean that it would obviously help with the lending industry and some of the affordability issues that people are facing, um especially some of the people with the fixed incomes. Um I think that would provide real relief. And um it'll be an interesting conversation. And I think we're gonna hear more about it um this November leading up to the elections.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Yeah, I'm sure it's something well people and I am.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

There were also four house bills signed last December, bills 129, 186, 309, and 335 that are starting to show up in our tax bills now. Um, what are you hearing about those changes that are actually landing?

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Yeah, so hearing from the department that they're working with the locals really well. They're having um, you know, good communication. They haven't had really too many hiccups. Uh, what the bills really, all four bills aim at mostly either uh limiting the property tax increase spikes, um, they usually cap it to inflation, or they were limiting the unvoted um tax levies that can happen to you um inside the millage that people don't always realize are going on and getting raised. And so they limited those. And so I think uh people are to expect that their property taxes shouldn't be going on. I just actually got my letter in the mail from Franklin County uh not too long ago about my reappraisal. Um and then actually a lot of the auditors have been um saying anecdotally and publicly that a lot of folks that are signing up to disagree with their their survey, um they're actually not showing up. And so um they're trying to, they're you know, they're starting to think that people aren't seeing those huge spikes. And so um they see that as this, these might actually be moving the needle.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Yeah, that's gonna be my next question about impact, but it sounds like you're already seeing the impact in those things.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

Yeah, yeah. It was really interesting. Um, Michael Stanziano here in Franklin County uh was he even himself was surprised at how low the turnout was. So I think some of the folks around the state house are happy with um some of these changes, and I think there there will likely be more to come.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Awesome. Um, and then we also have Senate Bill 215 and the proposed changes to the homestead exemption. What where does that stand now and should it have a meaningful impact on affordability? I think affordability is top of everyone's mind right now.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Yeah, it it definitely is, uh especially at the national uh level of things right now. Um but with 215, uh, we're kind of running into uh a little bit of an issue with the calendar. Uh, you know, once this General Assembly is over, um, which is here come December, uh everything kind of starts new. And uh Senate Bill 215 hasn't had any hearings yet, so it is way behind in the process and is highly unlikely um to get moving. Even, you know, sometimes things get folded in to other bills that are moving. Um, but this one hasn't had any hearings and doesn't seem like there's really um any buzz around it right now. But the homestead uh is always an interesting topic, and I would expect uh depending on what happens here in November, uh the conversation could get sparked. Um, so that it could always happen quickly. Um, but especially come uh election season, some of the new administration could have different ideas with what they want to do with the homestead.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

All right, and while we're talking about November and the election, let's switch gears a little bit because that's coming up fast for mortgage professionals who aren't necessarily following the Ohio politics every day. What races are ballot issues and they be paying attention to for November?

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Yeah, so there's one uh ballot issue that will be up on Ohio uh this year. It is the voter ID. Um, I think everyone expects that to pass. A lot of the polling has been overwhelmingly favorable. I think a lot of the polls have been close to the 80% uh range of uh people wanting that. So I would expect to see that to pass. Um, but however, everything else is a lot tighter than it has been in the past um with how close the election is, with Ohio becoming a lot more of a red state in the recent elections. Um, but with, like you said, affordability and some of the things going on at the national level, I think uh the Democrats are seeing an opportunity here uh in Ohio, and you see that in the polls. It's very close between Amy Acton and Vivek Ramaswamy for the governor's race, very close for Sherid Brown and John Husted. All the polls that you're seeing are within the margin of error. No candidates really been above the two or three point mark in any poll. And so I think as uh things get closer to November, the people have their eyes on gas prices and home prices and mortgage rates. And so those things are really going to matter um coming in November. And I think uh you're seeing in a lot of the public polling too that those are that's the number one issue is uh what's what's their wallet look like come from the new administration.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

And in November we have the governor's race statewide offices and the 99 Ohio House seats, right? On the ballot.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

Correct. Yes. And we also have uh the Ohio Senate races going on as well. Um, not all of them, but uh there's a good handful that are competitive. And you know, right now there's um in there's 99 House members in in Ohio and there's 65 Republicans, so they have a supermajority. What everyone is kind of keeping their eyes on for November is a who's gonna win the governor's race and if the veto proof number. So you have to have the three-fifths in Ohio to veto uh a bill or a governor's uh budget or anything like that. And so the Republicans are really trying to keep above that 60 uh member watermark. And with a lot of the polling, um, the Democrats are within striking distance of being able to not have them have that uh veto-proof ability. So that's really what a lot of people are around the statehouse kind of focusing on to see if uh how much power the Ohio House will have over the next administration.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Yeah, and do you think that the property tax conversation would change depending on the lands?

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Uh yeah, I do. You know, I think the Vake Ramaswamy has been out there talking a lot on the trail about property tax relief, possibly abolishing property tax, um, kind of following some of the things you're seeing in Florida along those lines. And you haven't heard as much about that from the Acton campaign. It's more about, you know, still about affordability, but doing it in different ways for child tax career credits, um, for giving medical debt, other things like that. So we'll definitely have different approaches and uh aggressiveness levels and things that they want to focus on. You know, everybody has their own priorities, and you know, I think uh a few people will uh focus on it more than others.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

So I know Rich always likes to give people something they can actually walk away with here. Um so I'm gonna do the same thing between now and November 3rd. What's the single most useful thing a mortgage professional in Ohio can do if they want their voice to matter?

SPEAKER_00 9:53

You know, really get out there and vote is the is the number one. I don't know if the people are really expecting a high turnout rate uh come come November. Um there's not a whole lot of enthusiasm on either side right now, just with all the the national climate and climate within the state, with um data centers are a hot topic right now. I'm sure everyone's been hearing about that and energy bills and things like that. So there's not a whole lot of uh real enthusiasm for politicians in general. So getting out and uh voting this time around, your your vote's gonna matter even more. And then, you know, knocking doors, if there's a if there's somebody that you guys really want to support, those things matter, especially in tight races like this. So getting out and talking to voters and talking about the issues that you care about and educating them and advocating um for those those positions will matter and they come down to the last minute.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Yeah, I was gonna ask about that about contact and legislators um showing up in advocacy programs or efforts where possible. It seems like that's maybe more important since things are so close to really use our voices here.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Yeah, yeah. And you're really starting to see the legislators get out into the public more and try to be seen and talk to the public about different issues that are on their minds. So you're seeing a lot of more public town halls, you're seeing them out at their fairs all the time. Um, they're they're really trying to get out there and get their messages out and listen to the voters and see and see what issues they can help solve.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

So I want to look ahead now. Um, C. Wilson is term limited at the end of this year and currently chairs the Senate Financial Institutions Committee. Given his banking background and understanding of the industry, what does that departure mean for all of us?

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Yeah, you know, uh having Senator Wilson leave is definitely uh a big blow to our industry, uh having such a strong leader and a strong voice of somebody that understands um some of the issues and the hurdles and regulatory issues that uh our members face. But there it there are a few other members um that will have their voices heard and that have uh experience in the field. Jerry Sereno is from the Cleveland area. He's the Senate finance chairman, likely to remain in that position with the new Senate leadership that's coming in for the next General Assembly. So um, especially with the new budget, this is in the budget uh cycle coming up. A lot of our policy happens in the budget. There's not going to be a lot of standalone bills that happen after the budget. And so he will be a big voice for our industry and a big advocate of uh somebody to have in our corner. Uh, another person will be Jane, Senator Jane Tempkin from uh Northeast Ohio. Uh, she's a very active businesswoman. Her family has been involved in the banking industry, and I would uh suspect the two of them to kind of pick up the slack uh for Senator Wilson as he departs.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Do you think there's someone that will step into his role or will they just kind of stay in their own roles and speak up?

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Yeah, no, they'll somebody will step into his role. He'll there will be a uh financial institutions chairman, which uh is the position that Senator Wilson have. And uh so that person will be kind of naturally grow into a leader for the industry, and people will want to gravitate towards them and and get to know them and let them know our uh our issues as well. So that will kind of naturally happen as that leader gets named. Uh that has position has not been named yet by incoming president, um, Senator Reinicke, but I would imagine um there's a couple names that you could see would be Senator George Lang or who I mentioned, uh Senator Temkin.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

All right. And finally, after the election, we'll have the lame depth sessions. What realistically has a chance of getting done before the end of the year, and what do you think will get pushed into 2027?

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Yeah, so with this being such a tight election year, um the legislature has been on a little break. They haven't been in session, they've been out on the campaign trail a lot more uh lately. We don't expect them to have session anytime before uh election day. And so that means that election day is gonna have big consequences for what Lame Duck looks like. Because if one, if Babek Bramaswamy wins, um with Republicans having the majority in both the House and the Senate and expecting to at least hold that majority, I wouldn't anticipate a very active lame duck at all. We'll kind of let it uh slow down and pave the way for the new uh administration to come in with some of their own policy positions. Um, now if Amy Acton wins, it will be the other side of the coin with the Republicans having the majority. Um, you'll see a flurry of limiting um different actions that the administration can take trying to move forward some policies that they thought might be on the back burner and making sure that they can get those done. So um if Amy Acton uh does win, which is very possible at this point still, um, it could be a super active and quite frankly chaotic uh lame duck that nobody really knows uh what that would look like quite yet.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

I guess we'll see what's to come there.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

All right, and that's everything for today. So, Matt, thank you so much. This was super helpful, and we appreciate you breaking all this down for us. And thank you to everyone who joined us for this edition of From the State House to Your House. Um, we'll continue to keep you updated on what's happening in Columbus and the issues impacting our industry. Thanks, everyone. We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Thanks, I think.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Thank you.