Dewine’s early focus is where it should be: on children, opioids

In his first speech as governor of Ohio, Mike Dewine laid out a set of laudable priorities: ending “this horrible opioid epidemic,” improving the educational prospects for all Ohio children and uniting all Ohioans in the effort to make the state a better place to live.

But before Monday’s ceremonial inauguration in the Statehouse rotunda, the 64th person to be Ohio's chief executive already had put some muscle behind those excellent intentions.

If his initial actions via appointments and executive orders bear fruit in coming months and years, Ohio will be a healthier, more inclusive and tolerant state in which children are treasured and have better opportunities to develop their potential.

It’s an optimistic start, and there will surely be many challenges, but optimism was at the heart of Dewine’s address. He spoke of his grandfather, planting trees when in his 80s, with no prospect of seeing them grow to maturity. He did so, Dewine said, “because he had faith and hope for the future, in the beauty of what was yet to be.”

We are heartened by Dewine’s first steps in appointing a diverse Cabinet and following through on campaign promises to make children and their future a priority and to make tackling Ohio’s drug epidemic a major focus.

The people whom Dewine has empowered as directors of state agencies reflect his commitment to inclusivity and antidiscrimination, as noted in two of the six executive orders he signed within minutes of taking the oath of office from his son, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat Dewine, at midnight Monday.

The new governor has a highly diverse Cabinet, with women holding 16 director positions versus just nine men and with five African-americans. Further demonstrating a commitment to embrace all Ohioans, Dewine used his first executive orders to declare Ohio will be a model state for employing persons with disabilities, estimated at about 1.6 million residents, about half of whom are working age.

Dewine added categories to the state’s anti-discrimination policy to prohibit Ohio government hiring and promotion decisions from being biased against pregnant women, foster parents or parents of young children. He also continued a policy of anti-discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression.

The new governor’s long-proclaimed intent to fight Ohio’s drug epidemic is clearly needed. Ohio cannot fully realize opportunities for job creation and economic growth as long as it has the sorry reputation of being second in the nation for drugoverdose deaths, most of them related to opiate addictions.

Dewine’s executive order to create the Governor’s Recovery Ohio Initiative, further emphasized by being his first such act, creates a new Cabinet post to oversee the drug fight with authority to direct anti-drug efforts in more than a dozen state agencies.

Children and their future are the focus of Dewine’s other new effort, the Governor’s Children’s Initiative. One executive order creates the initiative and gives Director Leeanne Cornyn authority to work with at least 10 state agencies in a daily focus “to improve the lives of Ohio’s children.”

Another order elevates the promotion of fostercare needs by directing senior officials in the Office of Family and Children to report directly to the head of the Department of Job and Family Services.

We wish Dewine good fortune in the big job that lies ahead.