Unable to get health insurance through his job as a pastor, Saylor was able to turn to the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplace. He purchased coverage in February 2022 through a special circumstances option in the Marketplace, given the quick loss of coverage from his wife’s previous coverage.
Those against extending the enhanced premium tax credits say the subsidies were only supposed to be temporary help during the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress authorized temporary enhancements to the tax credits through the American Rescue Plan Act to make more low-income and middle-class Americans eligible for those tax credits, and then lawmakers extended the enhanced premium tax credits in 2022 through the Inflation Reduction Act.
The enhanced premium tax credits reduced the average Marketplace enrollee’s premium by 44%, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. This increased enrollment in Marketplace plans from 11.4 million in 2020 to 24.3 million in 2025.
Happening in southwest Ohio:
• Immigration and Dayton: Nationally, lawful permanent residents have seen their naturalization ceremonies abruptly canceled this month as the Trump administration has put an indefinite halt to immigration applications from certain nations. Dozens of new Americans at a Dayton ceremony on Dec. 11 were able to pledge their allegiance to the United States — but several other immigrants in recent weeks who were prepared to take that oath were turned away due to their country of origin. And immigration enforcement activity in the Columbus area under “Operation Buckeye” does not yet appear to have led to any large, visible ICE activity in southwest Ohio.
• Holiday break: Thanks to a new Trump executive order, federal employees had a longer holiday break. All executive departments and agencies of the federal government were closed the day before through the day after Christmas, President Trump ordered. Recent presidents, including Trump in his first term and former President Obama, have been known to give federal employees an extra day off around Christmas to give federal employees a longer weekend. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in September that the number of government workers in the “Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek“ area overall was 61,600.
• Marijuana reclassification: Trump signed an executive order that could reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug and open new avenues for medical research and funding. Trump’s order directs U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to expedite the process of loosening federal restrictions to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug — on par with substances like heroin and LSD — to a Schedule III drug. Local cannabis professionals welcome this change, saying the federal reclassification of marijuana could open pathways for dispensaries to access some banking services and tax benefits.
• $25K bonuses: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has authorized paying high-performing civilian employees of the department up to $25,000 in bonuses. In the memo, Hegseth directs all department component heads and principal staff assistants to “reward our very best civilians with meaningful monetary awards, with the money going toward employees within several federal government pay systems” — Senior Executive Service, Senior Professional, General Schedule, Federal Wage System, alternative personnel systems and more. As of last summer, there were more than 13,100 Air Force Materiel Command employees at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where AFMC is headquartered, command leaders told the Dayton Daily News.
Other federal updates:
• A golden fleet: Trump has announced a plan for the Navy to build a new, large warship that he is calling a “battleship.” According to Trump, the ship, the first of which will be named the USS Defiant, will be larger than the World War II-era Iowa-class battleships and will be armed with hypersonic missiles, nuclear cruise missiles, rail guns and other technology.
• Epstein: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the Justice Department’s decision to release a fraction of the Jeffrey Epstein files by the congressionally mandated deadline as necessary to protect survivors of sexual abuse by the disgraced financier. Blanche pledged that the Trump administration eventually would meet its obligation required by law. But he stressed that the department was obligated to act with caution as it goes about making public thousands of documents that can include sensitive information.
• 60 Minutes: An internal CBS News battle over a “60 Minutes” story critical of the Trump administration has exploded publicly, with a correspondent charging it was kept off the air for political reasons and news chief Bari Weiss saying the story did not “advance the ball.” Just hours before airtime, CBS announced that the story, where a correspondent spoke to deportees who had been sent to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, would not be a part of the show. Weiss, who is also the founder of the Free Press, said it was her decision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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