Washington, Oct 31 (IANS) Indian-American Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, running for Governor of Ohio, has unveiled seven executive orders he says he will sign on his first day in office, including a state task force targeting visa fraud and “abuse of foreign hiring by public entities”, days before Tuesday’s election.
“Here’s my list of Day 1 Executive Orders. They’ll be signed before midnight on January 11. Buckle up,” Ramaswamy posted on X on Friday.
The seventh order would set up an inter-agency anti-fraud task force reporting directly to the governor. It would focus on “Medicaid fraud, benefits fraud, and child care fraud; visa fraud; voter registration fraud; trucking fraud; foreign CDL licensure; and abuse of foreign hiring by public entities,” according to his post. He did not specify which visa categories the task force would examine.
The second order would “End sanctuary cities across Ohio.” Local governments that do not honour federal immigration detainer requests or share information as federal law allows would “lose eligibility for state grants run by executive agencies, including public-safety and homeland-security grants, until it complies,” the post said.
A third order would direct state agencies to pause action on any application, permit, incentive or approval for a new data centre until the General Assembly passes comprehensive data centre legislation that includes what Ramaswamy called his “non-negotiable principles.”
The fourth would direct the Department of Medicaid to seek a Section 1115 waiver that “caps Ohio’s Medicaid spending, in line with Tennessee’s original TennCare III waiver.”
Other orders would investigate jurisdictions where property taxes have risen more than 100 percent since 2020, prioritise funding to raise violent crime clearance rates from what he called “the current 34% level”, and review all state contracts paid from the General Revenue Fund.
The orders are campaign pledges and would take effect only if Ramaswamy wins the November 3 election, ProfiloPolitics noted. He faces Democrat Amy Acton and Libertarian Don Kissick.
Acton leads Ramaswamy by about 3 points, 48 percent to 45 percent, in the FiftyPlusOne polling average as of October 30. A Suffolk University/USA TODAY Network Ohio poll released this week put Acton at 48 percent and Ramaswamy at 44 percent, ProfiloPolitics reported.
Ramaswamy is scheduled to hold his final weekend rally on Sunday, November 1, at Waypoint 4180 in Canfield, WFMJ reported, citing his campaign website. Acton is due to rally in Cleveland on Sunday.
–IANS
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