Ohio lawmakers may have recessed for winter break, but that doesn’t stop them from filing new bills to be considered in the current legislative session ending in December 2026.
Republican state representatives D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron) and Jeff LaRe (R-Violet Township) introduced HB 638 on December 23. If passed, the bill would designate “President Donald Trump Freedom Highway.”
The new name would affect the eastbound and westbound lanes of interstate Route 70 from mile marker 98 to mile marker 100 in Franklin county. The bill also would require new signs indicating the new name.
The bill does not provide an explanation about the connection between President Trump and freedom.
HB 638 was assigned to the Transportation Committee on February 4.
In the hours following his Jan. 20 inauguration, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders that could decimate transgender Americans’ access to health care, basic legal protections, federal identification documents and more. Trump then issued an executive order in February banning transgender women from participating in women’s sports at any institution receiving federal funding.
More recently, the Trump administration announced plans to end prison rape protections for trans and intersex people and to ban hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to youth under 18 from receiving Medicaid and Medicare funds.
Many attempts
HB 638 is the latest bill in Ohio Republicans’ many attempts to honor President Trump.
In 2021 and again in 2024, Republican lawmakers introduced a bill to rename Mosquito Lake State Park in Northeast Ohio as Donald J. Trump State Park. Lawmakers never scheduled a hearing for either bill.
In 2021, Republican lawmakers attempted to designate Trump’s birthday – June 14 – as President Donald J. Trump Day. Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus testified that it was “imperative we set aside a day to celebrate one of the greatest presidents in American history.” That bill did not advance out of the State and Local Government Committee.
In 2018, Republican lawmakers introduced a resolution to urge the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump. That bill did not receive a hearing.🔥
This piece was updated to reflect the assignment of the bill to the Transportation Committee.
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