Proponent Testimony on House Bill 188 — Rick Carfagna, Ohio Chamber of Commerce

Summary

Proponent testimony of Rick Carfagna, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce (OCC), to the House Development Committee on House Bill 188, dated May 7, 2025. The testimony states that the Chamber supports HB 188, which creates the Ohio-Israel Trade and Innovation Partnership. It cites the Ohio Department of Development Ohio Export Report as stating that Ohio exported nearly $242 million worth of manufacturing goods to Israel in 2023. It credits Representatives Hall and Synenberg for crafting the Partnership and encourages an affirmative vote on HB 188.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

                               Rick Carfagna, Senior Vice President
                                   Ohio Chamber of Commerce
                                Proponent Testimony House Bill 188
                                           May 7, 2025

Chair Hoops, Vice Chair Lorenz, Ranking Member Abdullahi, and members of the House Development
Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of House Bill 188. My name is Rick
Carfagna, and I am Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce
(OCC).
companies that do business in Ohio. Our mission is to aggressively champion free enterprise,
economic competitiveness, and growth for the benefit of all Ohioans.

The Chamber is proud to stand in support of HB 188, which creates the Ohio-Israel Trade and
Innovation Partnership. Between our two nations, this endeavor will advance trade, investment, policy
issues, business and academic exchanges, economic support, infrastructure, industry, and other issues
as determined by the Partnership, as well as multilateral partnerships between Ohio, Israel, and other
nations.

Ohio and Israel have long collaborated through numerous partnerships to exchange ideas and learn
from each other, particularly in the fields of academic collaboration, technology, manufacturing,
agriculture, and clean water. According to the Ohio Department of Development s Ohio Export Report,
Ohio exported nearly $242 million worth of manufacturing goods to Israel in 2023. Furthermore, the
American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise reports that since 1996
more than $6                                             th leading trade partner. Ohio also ranks 12th

among all states in exports to Israel.

On a national scale, Israel is the United States 27th largest trading partner. U.S. goods exports to Israel
in 2024 were $14.8 billion (up $813.7 million from 2023), with U.S. goods imports from Israel totaling
$22.2 billion (up $1.4 billion from 2023).

The United States was the first country to recognize Israel as an independent state in May 1948. Since
that time, Israel remains America s most reliable partner in the Middle East, and both countries are
closely bound by historic and cultural ties as well as by mutual interests. As the only country with free
trade agreements with both the United States and the European community, Israel is also capable of
serving as a bridge for international trade between the United States and Europe.

The Ohio Chamber appreciates the efforts of Representatives Hall and Synenberg to craft this
Partnership, thereby uniting Ohio s elected officials, higher education institutions, the statewide
business community, and Ohio s Jewish communities to foster new levels of innovation and economic
opportunities between Israel and the Buckeye State. We encourage your affirmative vote on HB 188.


File and source

File

2025-05-07_development_testimony_testimony-6205.pdf

Size

135,496 bytes

SHA-256

93c09b14cf10d84b74932fa705442290a9bc8e5b3b6984f2722c512c16b10f4b

Our copy

2025-05-07_development_testimony_testimony-6205.pdf

Original

No public link identified.