Public service

Trenton, Ohio, a Butler County city of about 14,000, faces a ballot measure, Issue 17, that would bar data centers larger than 25 megawatts. A 250-megawatt Amazon Web Services facility is already under construction there; the measure's effect on that project is unclear, but it could block a second such facility. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce contributed $100,000 to oppose the measure and helped form the Trenton Community Alliance with local officials. The chamber also backed a failed effort, later stopped by the Ohio Supreme Court, to raise the signature threshold required to keep the amendment off the ballot. Opponents cite potential losses to school and public service funding.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Carter Nordman faces Democratic challenger Chris New in Iowa House District 47, covering Dallas Center and parts of Dallas, Guthrie and Greene counties, with early voting underway ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Nordman, House Ways and Means chair, touts the 2026 property tax reform, teacher pay raises and cancer-research funding, framing the state's revenue decline as a deliberate result of income tax cuts backed by reserve funds. New, a political newcomer, argues one-party rule has produced a budget crisis that will shift costs to local governments and cut services, criticizes school vouchers, and calls for curbing agricultural chemicals tied to Iowa's high cancer rates. Both oppose misuse of eminent domain for pipeline projects.

Illinois homeowners regularly raise the idea of scrapping property taxes, which fund schools, police, fire departments, and local governments statewide. Eliminating them is theoretically possible but would require replacing tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue. No large U.S. state has fully eliminated property taxes; states like Texas, Florida, and Hawaii that limit or forgo other taxes still lean on property taxes or alternative revenue like sales and tourism taxes. Education funding is the biggest obstacle, since schools depend heavily on local property tax dollars. Options to offset elimination include raising income or sales taxes, new statewide levies, or shifting school funding to the state—each with political tradeoffs. No major reform proposal has gained traction so far.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman met in their only televised debate ahead of New York's gubernatorial election, hosted by NY1. Polling shows Hochul leading by a wide margin, putting pressure on Blakeman to produce a breakout moment while Hochul aims to project gubernatorial competence, particularly on affordability issues like utility bills and cost of living. Blakeman's campaign has leaned into an alliance with President Trump, including a recent joint rally in Syracuse, while Hochul has worked to tie her opponent to the unpopular president. Trump's standing in deep-blue New York remains a central dynamic of the race, amplified by fallout from a recent ICE shooting in Manhattan that has strained relations between the administration and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The debate followed a separate state attorney general matchup last week between Democratic incumbent Letitia James and GOP challenger Saritha Komatireddy, whose strong performance generated viral attention. Both races are being closely watched as bellwethers heading into the broader midterm cycle.

Ohio lawmakers suspended the state's gasoline and diesel taxes for 90 days under House Bill 519, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine on Oct. 1, replacing the lost revenue with roughly $725 million from the state's anticipated general fund surplus. The measure, pushed rapidly through the legislature after Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy and Democratic nominee Amy Acton both called for gas-tax relief ahead of the Nov. 3 election, suspends the 38.5-cent gasoline tax and 47-cent diesel tax through Jan. 2.

According to Ohio's nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission, the average driver could save up to $55 over the full three-month period, though a Yale University study suggests only about 80% of such savings typically reach consumers, with the rest absorbed by oil companies and retailers. Critics, including some lawmakers from both parties, have called the move an expensive election-season gesture that does little to address larger affordability concerns, such as rising electricity costs tied to Ohio's growing data-center industry. The tax holiday expires before Ohio's next governor takes office on Jan. 11.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan met in Medford for their second debate of the governor's race, a wide-ranging hourlong discussion on affordability, schools, homelessness and economic development. The event, hosted by KOBI5, was less combative than their first encounter but surfaced sharp policy divides, especially on taxes.

Kotek stopped short of committing to tax code changes but said she'd pursue "tweaks" to keep Oregon competitive, pointing to a business-focused Prosperity Council she convened this year. Drazan pledged to cut taxes and repeal Oregon's estate tax, criticizing Kotek for a string of new levies passed during her first term. Both candidates addressed business retention following Dutch Bros' planned move from Grants Pass to Arizona, SNAP benefit changes tied to federal policy shifts, and Oregon's struggling K-12 schools, with Kotek defending incremental reforms and Drazan calling for vouchers and bigger changes. The candidates agreed on opposing a sales tax and favoring a pause on new data centers.

Polling shows the race is extremely tight, with Drazan holding a narrow, statistically insignificant lead over Kotek among likely voters.

Miami Herald readers are pushing back on proposed Florida property tax cuts, warning of steep funding losses for public health systems. Jackson Health System in Miami-Dade County stands to lose roughly $64 million in annual tax funding, jeopardizing services such as emergency care, behavioral health, organ transplants, and labor and delivery, much of it provided regardless of a patient's insurance status or ability to pay. Broward Health could lose more than $100 million over three years, while Palm Beach County's Health Care District could lose about $66.5 million.

Letter writers argue that lawmakers and voters should demand a concrete replacement funding plan before enacting cuts that could force hospitals to scale back programs and staffing, disproportionately affecting residents with the fewest healthcare alternatives. The debate reflects a broader tension in Florida politics between delivering property tax relief to homeowners and preserving funding for public services, with public hospital systems across South Florida identified as among the most exposed to near-term budget shortfalls if cuts move forward without offsetting revenue measures.