Catching Our Eye News Roundup, Nov. 10, 2026

Every morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio and around the country and world that is catching our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye, republished here.

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Catching Our Eye

• Gas tax holiday for whom? Signal Ohio’s Jake Zuckerman reports, “Gas stations aren’t passing on gas-tax holiday savings, some Ohio drivers say.”

About 30 days before Republicans suffered their biggest midterm election in decades this week, party leaders in the Statehouse made a big promise to drivers to temporarily cut Ohio’s gas tax, starting just as early voting began.

As planned, gas prices listed on retailers’ signs would fall the whole 38.5 cents per gallon (47 cents per gallon of diesel) for the 90-day “gas tax holiday.”

But the savings haven’t made it to customers, at least according to about 200 Ohioans who filed complaints with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

• State budget. The Statehouse News Bureau’s Sarah Donaldson reports, “Blue governor, red legislature: How will Ohio budget unfold next year?”

When she takes the reins in January, Democratic Governor-elect Amy Acton has to begin work on her 2028-2029 executive budget proposal almost immediately.

After the inauguration, Acton has just two months to get her ideas on how Ohio will or won’t fund various agencies and services to members of the Ohio General Assembly. The executive budget proposal is due to lawmakers by March 15.

She, through Democrats in both legislative chambers, will then need to find common ground with Republicans. They still hold majorities in the Ohio House and the Ohio Senate, even after losing ground Tuesday night.

• Fighting for consumers. The Ohio Newsroom’s Kendall Crawford reports, “For half a century, one Ohio agency has been fighting utility price battles.”

An Ohio agency is celebrating a half a century of championing fair utility prices.

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel is the only government agency whose sole mission is to advocate for consumers. In 1976, the state legislature created the counsel office to represent Ohioans in legal battles against utility companies.

Agency director and counsel Maureen Willis said the office was founded at a time when utilities were frequently asking for rate increases and expenses were rising.