Sherrod Brown solicits input for presidential run

months, (my wife) Connie and I will be discussing with family and friends whether I should run for president. But one thing is already clear: I wouldn’t be running for president alone.

“Everything that we’ve accomplished has not been because of one person — it’s because of this movement. Our successes are the result of grassroots organizing. When people like you stand together and fight for our friends, family, neighbors and communities, we make change a reality. That’s why it’s so important that I hear your opinion about 2020. If you can, let us know your thoughts now.”

Oh, and he asks that you consider sending along a campaign contribution, too. margins in Ohio’s urban counties.

Kasich vs. legislature

As the Ohio Senate prepares to take up a gun bill that includes a controversial stand- your- ground provision that would eliminate Ohioans’ duty to retreat before using lethal force, Senate President Larry Obhof told reporter Jim Siegel that the GOPcontrolled legislature has been consistent on guns for eight years.

“The administration has changed its position a number of times, or has been more flexible on its position,” said the Medina Republican. Gov. John Kasich said he will veto the stand- your- ground bill and has unsuccessfully pushed for various gun- safety measures.

“I don’t think the legislature has drifted right. I think this is where we’ve always been,” Obhof said. Gov. Kasich “hasn’t changed his position recently … but Congressman Kasich, 2010 Kasich and current Kasich have very different views.”

If it wants, the legislature could wait for Gov.- elect Mike DeWine, who supports stand your ground.

“I suspect our new caucus might even be more conservative than the current one, and the current one is pretty conservative,” Obhof said.

Green energy revamp

Obhof said he will name a chairman this week to fill the vacancy atop the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The selection is important because senators are trying to come up with compromise alternative energy standards for the state. In 2008, bipartisan lawmakers overwhelmingly approved cutting Ohio’s energy consumption by 22 percent by 2025, mandating that 12.5 percent of electricity would come from such green sources as solar, wind and geothermal, and setting annual benchmarks.

Lawmakers got cold feet, however, freezing the mandates for two years in 2014. Earlier this year, the GOPdominated House voted to toss the mandates and substitute voluntary goals, with no penalties if they are not attained.

Obhof acknowledged that the Senate is more environmentally friendly and wants to find an alternative between the original 2008 mandates and the House’s push to end mandates. He said senators also want to ease restrictions on wind energy facilities.