COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will deliver his annual, and second to last, State of the State address on Wednesday. NBC 4 looked back at last year’s address to see what promises were kept, and what calls to action were unfulfilled.  

What got done? 

DeWine’s focus during his two terms as governor has been protecting kids and ensuring that they live up to “their God-given potential.” 

 Part of that, DeWine said, means ensuring that kids know how to read. 

That is why he has supported expanding the state’s Dolly Parton Imagination library. Last year, he said 60% of children zero to five years old are enrolled, with 402,000 children receiving a free book in the mail each month. Eleven months later, 62% of Ohio children are enrolled and 412,000 books were mailed as of January 2025.  

“Kids have only one chance to grow up, so we must have a great sense of urgency as every moment we waste is a moment that they lose,” DeWine said. 

DeWine also wants to invest in Ohio’s youth as they grow up, too. 

“Today I’m asking the legislature to make a very simple fix in our statute to insert career planning into an existing graduation plan requirements so that every Ohio student leaves school on a career pathway,” DeWine said. 

Since then, post-graduation plan requirements are in place, and a toolkit is available for districts across the state to use.  

Plus, DeWine was looking for more regulation when it comes to cell phone use in K-12 schools. 

“Our children today are more isolated, more anxious, more depressed and more suicidal,” DeWine said. 

DeWine said he “fully support[ed]” a ban of cell phone use in schools. Ultimately, the legislature passed a bill that required every public school to adopt a policy about cell phone use during school hours, rather than fully banning the use. 

Mental health has also been a focus of the governor’s these past six years. DeWine said when he took office, only 13 Ohio counties had mobile response stabilization services (MRSS). Those services help get quick mental health care to Ohioans up to the age 21. At the time of his State of the State last year, that number was up to 38. 

“And I intend to take this model to all 88 Ohio counties, so no matter where you live, if your child is in mental health crisis, that child will be able to get immediate care,” DeWine said. 

Eleven months later, 55 counties offer MRSS. 

What fell short? 

While DeWine was able to see through some of his goals, most of his calls-to-action to Ohio lawmakers did not end up getting done. For example, social media parental consent laws for Ohioans younger than 16 years. 

“Let’s not be deterred,” DeWine said. “While it would be best if the federal government set a national standard, they they’ve not acted, and we cannot and should not wait.” 

Ohio lawmakers did pass a bill to require that children under 16 to get consent from their parents or guardian before signing up for social media. It was ultimately unable to go into effect after being brought to court.  

“Let’s take the lessons we are learning from court rulings across the country and let’s develop a plan for Ohio that can be a blueprint for putting parents, not social media companies, back in charge of the digital lives of their children,” DeWine said. 

Nothing has been done to create a new law that would grant Ohio parents that control. 

Plus, DeWine wanted the legislature to send two measures to his desk, both different, but lifesaving in his eyes. One would create a primary offense seat belt law, to allow law enforcement to pull someone over simply for not being buckled. 

“We know it works,” DeWine said. “It’s a vote that will save lives.” 

While a bill was introduced to do just that, it did not receive a single vote. 

DeWine also asked for legislation to ban flavored vaping and flavored cigarettes across the state. 

“It will save lives,” DeWine said. “We need to protect our kids.” 

But getting that done would be an uphill battle, because earlier that year, Ohio lawmakers overrode a veto by DeWine, which would have allowed cities to ban flavored products if they choose.  

DeWine has been calling on lawmakers to ban Delta 8 THC for more than a year. It is a low-level THC, sometimes called “diet weed,” which can be sold to minors and currently is not regulated at all. 

“It can cause hallucinations, vomiting, tremors, anxiety, dizziness, confusion and even loss of consciousness,” DeWine said. “Just in the cases that were reported to the Ohio Poison Control Center, there were 100 Delta 8 poisonings last year, and all those 40 were involving children aged five or younger.” 

Despite DeWine pleading the legislature to take action here, the effort stalled for the past year, but there is bipartisan support to get something done in this area, and legislation that has been introduced to do so. 

DeWine also called for more laws related to Ohio’s recreational marijuana program  

“We must respect the will of Ohio voters. Absolutely. Absolutely,” DeWine said. “However, I doubt if very many people who voted yes on issue two want their kids breathing in marijuana smoke by walking in a public park.” 

Efforts to bring more rules to the recreational marijuana program have also failed to make it to the governor’s desk these past 11 months. Now, there are two new competing bills to ban public smoking, among other things, being considered by lawmakers right now  

All statements in this story are taken from DeWine’s 2024 State of the State. This year’s State of the State is on Wednesday at noon.