COLUMBUS, Ohio (WDTN) — As the year comes to a close, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine sat down with 2 NEWS to reflect on 2022 and share his goals for 2023.
In 2023, DeWine will officially start his second term as governor of the state of Ohio.
“I thank the people of Ohio for giving me the most precious thing there is, and that is time,” he said.
DeWine discussed the year’s successes including the groundbreaking of the Intel chip factory as well as plans to build a new Honda factory. But with these great successes, he said that Ohio must ensure that there are enough workers to fill the thousands of jobs to come.
“The biggest challenge is to make sure that we leave nobody behind, whether it’s a 50-year-old worker who needs his or her skills upgraded,” said DeWine. “We have a program called Tech Credit where we will actually pay for the education of that worker if they can get an industry-recognized credential. We’ve had now over 50,000 Ohioans take advantage of that — but it’s also about a high school student who’s getting ready to graduate.”
Another goal of his is to put more focus on Ohioans struggling with their mental health and expanding services across the state.
“One of my goals is to build that system, you know, over the next few years so that no matter where you live in the state — you’ve got a family member needs help — you can get help and not have to wait a month or two or three to be able to get that kind of help.”
DeWine also hopes to relieve some of the financial stress that nationwide record high inflation and rising prices have caused along with providing affordable housing.
“We’re preparing a budget right now for the next two years that will present to the state legislature in January,” said DeWine. “And one of the things that we are really looking at is how can we assist maybe through the tax code or other ways that affordable housing is readily available for more, more and more people.”
You can watch the interview in the video player above.
