What you need to know about Ohio Statehouse Policy
Terra Goodnight · May 29, 2018
Lawmakers–originally scheduled to be on summer break this week–return from the holiday on edge, as all eyes look to whether the Republican caucus can finally broker a deal to name a new House Speaker. Without a Speaker, the logjam that has prevented the body from voting on bills since the April 11 resignation of Cliff Rosenberger will continue.
If resolution is to come, it must happen by June 14, the last of six “if needed” session days on the calendar for 2018. Those are May 30 and 31st, June 6, 7, 13 and 14. Two tentative session days are scheduled this week: Wednesday at 1:30 and Thursday at 1:00.
Barring a solution to the Republican leadership impasse, the chamber will be unable to act on a number of bills awaiting a House vote. Dozens of bills are awaiting House action, but some noteworthy ones include:
For a full list of bills and their status, view the Legislative status report
Guns. House Bill 585, a GOP-sponsored package of gun reforms advocated by Gov. Kasich, which includes a so-called “red flag” law, received opponent testimony on Thursday. A wide array of concerned citizens were vocal in their opposition. To read testimony, visit the committee page and view May 24 documents. Stand Your Ground legislation (HB228) passed out of the House Federalism and Interstate Relations committee in its seventh hearing on Tuesday on a party-line vote.
Overtime. House Bill 605, which would increase the salary at which non-managerial employees are eligible for overtime pay, had its first hearing on Tuesday. We wrote about this bill and its potential to help more than 350,000 Ohioans on our blog.
Two committees have scheduled hearings this week, with the House State and Local Government committee set to vote Thursday on bills to regulate the treatment of animals (HB552) and establish procurement goals for women-owned businesses (HB492). Separately, the House Aging and Long-Term Care committee will meet Thursday to vote on bills pertaining to elder fraud (SB158) and pension credits (HB572).
To see the full line-up of bills being heard this week, check out:
Tagged in these Policy Areas: Statehouse Update