Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine spoke in his annual State of the State address about giving Buckeye State residents “the tools to live up to their full potential,” and “the opportunity to live their version of the American dream.”

Though there are plenty of challenges, volatility and uncertainty that make it less clear how those goals will be attained, DeWine was right to focus on jobs and families.

His proposed two-year spending plan includes a novel $1,000 child tax credit and access to vision care for young people. After all, literacy efforts are less effective when children have a hard time seeing what is on the page.

DeWine proposed accountability measures for colleges and universities in the state.

“Our budget takes this to the next logical level by partially funding our state colleges and universities based on actual student outcomes,” DeWine said, “including how many students get a job after graduation.”

While one wonders how state government would get accurate figures to make such determinations, there is the seed of a good idea there.

But even more significant was DeWine’s pitch that state workforce efforts should include outreach to those with special needs, ex-offenders, seniors and those in addiction recovery. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections already provides job training for in-demand industries, and DeWine says approximately 18,000 people are released annually from incarceration.

“Our trained ex-offenders want to work,” DeWine said. “I say to the employers in Ohio — give them a chance.”

It’s an excellent idea.

But there’s a hitch. It has been in the best interests of the DeWine administration to talk up the economic development and number of jobs brought to Ohio under their watch. Following that line, DeWine said, “Now our mission as a state is to act with great urgency and intense focus on filling these jobs.”

But the Bureau of Labor Statistics says there were 274,000 job openings in Ohio in October 2024 (the month for which the most recent data is available). There were 329,000 job openings in October 2023; in fact, the number of job openings in the state has generally been declining for the past three years. The BLS says job openings in Ohio as a percentage of employment were at 4.6% in October — in line with the national average rather than being an indicator there are large employers dotting the state clamoring for workers.

We need more good jobs, AND we need to change the way we think about who can fill them.

DeWine has the right idea by focusing on children and their families, the workforce and education. But if we are to make Ohio the kind of place where children want to stay for an education and become part of the workforce, DeWine and his administration have also got to keep their eyes on the prize of that large employer within commuting distance for every Ohioans promised two years ago. Then, we’ll be getting somewhere.