In 2025, the Levin Center conducted a study of all 50 states to examine how legislatures ensure government programs work effectively for citizens. Factors such as legislative oversight committees, routine engagement with executive agencies, collection of casework data, digital transparency tools, and user-centered policy evaluation were of particular importance. The full report can be found here.
State Summary #
The Levin Center’s fifty-state study on oversight practices suggests that high rates of lawmaker turnover in states like Ohio, which have legislative term limits, is associated with relatively weak institutional memory among legislators and less use of oversight powers. When oversight hearings take place, most testimony in those hearings is from agency staff or representatives of advocacy groups, though some hearings do include public testimony. Ohio does have an open data portal, but it lacks information required for consistent, people-centered oversight initiatives.
