Justin Pizzulli, State Rep

06/12/2026

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

$1 million.

$1 million who?

$1 million for Scioto County community projects!

06/11/2026

I was proud to support Ohio’s Capital Budget and secure funding that will strengthen the 90th House District and the greater Appalachian region! 👏

06/11/2026

This could be southern Ohio!

West Virginia turned coal’s leftovers into a money machine.

The Hatfield-McCoy Trails began in October 2000 with about 300 miles of riding routes across southern coal country.

Many of those routes followed the old economy: mine roads, logging roads, private timberland and scarred industrial ground that no longer carried the same payroll.

Instead of letting those corridors rot, the state gave them a second job.

Today, the system offers more than 1,200 miles across 13 trail systems, open year-round to ATVs, UTVs and dirt bikes.

One permit can move riders through mountain towns where gas stations, cabins, repair shops, restaurants and outfitters feed off traffic that didn’t exist before.

The numbers show why the idea worked.

A Marshall University economic study estimated the Hatfield-McCoy Trails generated more than $68 million in total economic output in 2021.

That activity supported about 665 full-time-equivalent jobs statewide and produced roughly $27 million in labor income.

Non-local visitor spending alone was estimated to add more than $2.2 million in fiscal benefit for West Virginia.

By 2020, the trail authority sold nearly 65,000 permits, up 43% in five years.

Even more important, about 85% of riders came from outside West Virginia.

That means outside money came into counties that had watched coal employment shrink, storefronts thin out and young people leave.

No trail system can replace what coal once paid.

But Hatfield-McCoy proved something clever.

A dead mine road can still make money, if someone has the sense to point visitors toward it.

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06/09/2026

You may remember that a few months ago I shared the New York Times article ‘Opioids Ravaged a Kentucky Town. Then Rehab Became Its Business.’ The article described how Addiction Recovery Care (ARC) became the largest company in Louisa, Kentucky, training former patients for jobs both inside and outside the organization while becoming a dominant economic force in the town.

Now, the CEO of ARC has been charged with wiretapping and money laundering offenses.

I raise this not to criticize recovery programs. My point is that this isn’t just a Southern Ohio problem, it’s a multi-state problem. There is simply too much money flowing through parts of the addiction treatment industry, creating incentives that can lead to abuse. Patient brokering, questionable business practices, and revolving-door treatment models deserve greater scrutiny. We owe it to patients, families, and taxpayers to make sure recovery is focused on helping people get well, not on building empires.

Tim Robinson, the former CEO of Addiction Recovery Care, which once operated more than 40 drug treatment facilities statewide, was charged with attempting to resell millions of dollars worth of tax credits.

06/08/2026

“The recovery system grew so quickly that our oversight never caught up.”

06/07/2026

Southern Ohio was talking about Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse before it was cool.

We’ve been sounding the alarm for years. Now the rest of the country is finally paying attention.

06/06/2026

The Village of Coal Grove tried to address what many small Appalachian communities are struggling with: the rapid concentration of recovery housing, concerns about bad actors, patient brokering, Medicaid abuse, and the strain placed on communities already battling addiction and economic hardship.

Now this small Southern Ohio village is defending itself in federal court.

Lawrence County Recovery sued Coal Grove after the village enacted ordinances and a moratorium aimed at addressing these concerns. Under Joe Biden, The U.S. Department of Justice later filed a Statement of Interest arguing that the plaintiff’s allegations, if proven, could violate the Fair Housing Act.

Allegedly, the plaintiff has already spent more than $800,000 in legal fees, and the case is still far from over.

Regardless of how this case ultimately ends, it raises an important question:

What tools do local communities have when they believe they are dealing with fraud, patient brokering, oversight failures, or an overwhelming concentration of facilities?

People in recovery deserve dignity, housing, treatment, and every opportunity to rebuild their lives.

But communities deserve protection too.

We should be able to support recovery while also demanding accountability from operators, transparency in ownership, strong anti-fraud enforcement, and oversight that protects both patients and neighborhoods.

For too long, communities raising legitimate concerns have been dismissed as being against recovery itself. Those are not the same thing.

The people of Appalachia deserve solutions. They deserve a seat at the table. And they deserve policies that target bad actors without punishing those who are genuinely trying to recover.

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06/05/2026

Congratulations to Queen Acre Lavender Farm on its grand opening in Peebles!

Amy is doing big things, and it was an honor to attend the ribbon cutting and celebrate this exciting day. Small businesses like this help strengthen our communities, support local agriculture, and create unique destinations for visitors and families.

Wishing Amy and everyone at Queen Acre Lavender Farm continued success as they grow and thrive. Proud to support local entrepreneurs who are investing in rural Ohio’s future!

06/04/2026

The Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities put together an incredible educational video to help folks learn how to advocate for themselves and others in Columbus.

I thought it was exceptionally well done, and I had to share this clip from the Scioto County Fair featuring my dear friends Bill and Sherri Adams.

Advocacy matters, and no one demonstrates that better than Bill and Sherri.

You can watch the full video here:
https://youtu.be/BZu5W2Qp9sg?si=BsX4vZ1Bb_MP8ttv