Talk about a glaring example of misplaced priorities: While critical human needs get ignored, Ohio House Republicans have ridden to the rescue of… wrestling? Today in Ohio podcast hosts had a pointed discussion to point out the failure of legislators to handle the state’s genuine needs as theyt fall over themselves for a pet topic. […]
Talk about a glaring example of misplaced priorities: While critical human needs get ignored, Ohio House Republicans have ridden to the rescue of… wrestling?
Today in Ohio podcast hosts had a pointed discussion to point out the failure of legislators to handle the state’s genuine needs as theyt fall over themselves for a pet topic.
” A House led by Matt Huffman that cut all the money out that would have gone to helping children,” said host Chris Quinn. “This is a body that repeatedly has refused to help with the intimidating costs of childcare… What do they come to the rescue of? College wrestling.”
The controversy centers around a $1.6 million allocation over two years to restore and expand wrestling at Cleveland State University after the school had cut the program – along with women’s golf and softball – to balance the budget. The House decision to restore wrestling came after intervention from Republicans, including U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno and state Rep. Phil Plummer of Dayton.
The contrast is priorities is stark. The same budget that found room for college wrestling failed to address urgent needs like childhood poverty and food insecurity. While food banks face cuts and childcare remains prohibitively expensive for many Ohioans, Republican lawmakers have chosen to inject significant funding into a collegiate sports program.
“The crisis this week we’re talking about is… all the food deliveries being cut from food banks, which means people are going to go hungry. There’s no crisis in the House budget there. They’re not coming to the rescue there,” Quinn noted.
Laura Johnston raised further concerns about the selective nature of this rescue effort: “I don’t see women’s golf and softball getting saved. And I’m sure you could make similar arguments for them.” She questioned why, out of all the worthwhile programs facing cuts, wrestling alone received this special treatment. “It just makes you scratch your head… we talk over and over about all the cuts hurting all the people, and this is what we’re deciding to throw money at.”
The podcast discussion also touched on the political dimensions of the decision, suggesting it might be an attempt to embarrass Cleveland State’s leadership in a Democratic-leaning city. Said Quinn: “Way to go, Bernie Moreno. Way to go Republicans in the legislature. You’ve saved wrestling while people go hungry and children go unattended.”
Listen to the full episode of Today in Ohio for more insights.
Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from Today in Ohio, a news podcast discussion by cleveland.com editors. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.
Listen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston.
