Last week, a committee heard testimony on two separate bills that sought to expel Larry Householder from his seat in the Ohio House of Representatives.

It has been nearly a year since Householder was arrested in a federal bribery investigation, centered on the passage of House Bill 6--the nuclear bailout bill. Householder, a Republican from Perry County representing District 72, continues to maintain he has done nothing wrong.

The arrest led to his removal as Ohio House Speaker, but voters chose to re-elect him, in November.

Advocates for Householder's removal say his presence is hurting the reputation of the Ohio House.

Yesterday, Householder had his chance to give testimony as to why he should not be expelled from the Ohio House. He again repeated that the law provides a person is innocent until proven guilty and he claimed that the effort to expel him was politically motivated.

Our Statehouse News Bureau Chief joins us to discuss what is next for Householder and his fellow Ohio House members.

Later, the health care giant Centene has agreed to pay Ohio more than $88 million to settle a lawsuit that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed in March.

He alleged the pharmacy benefit manager had been overcharging Ohio's Medicaid program.
The lawsuit accused Centene, through its' Buckeye Health Plan subsidiary, of double billing, inflating dispensing fees, and claiming they paid more to pharmacists than was actually paid.

In a statement, Centene denies (quote) "each and all of the claims and allegation of the wrongdoing made by the State of Ohio."

This is being credited as the first and largest lawsuit of its kind in the country against a pharmacy benefit manager, also known as a PBM.

Centene also settled with Mississippi this week for 55 million dollars, and is expected to pay out as much as 1 billion dollars to other states.

In Cleveland for meetings yesterday, Attorney General Dave Yost came to the Idea Center to discuss the PBM settlement, and other recent items where his office made news.

Also in the show, we have frequently discussed on The Sound of Ideas, the idea that educational success for a child begins well before the first day of Kindergarten and extends beyond the walls of the school building. For a child, success depends not only what happens in the classroom but on what happens outside of it too, including access to stable housing, food security, healthcare, and safety.

The Slavic Village P-16 program is a "cradle to career" endeavor created by the Third Federal Foundation in partnership with Cleveland Metropolitan Schools. Through the foundation's partnerships with community organizations, the program has provided services and programs to remove barriers to learning created by the trauma created by poverty.

The program has been up and running for a decade under the guidance of Kurt Karakul, the President and Executive Director of the Third Federal Foundation. He was the first person to run the Foundation but will retire from that role later this month.

Guests:
Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV
Kurt Karakul, President & Executive Director, Third Federal Foundation
Michael Copeland, Wraparound Site Coordinator, Mound STEM School
Kate Carden, Director, Financial Mobility, CHN Housing Partners
Jeremy Joseph, Senior Impact Manager, City Year Cleveland
Dave Yost, Attorney General, State of Ohio