Terra Goodnight · December 18, 2018

Statehouse Preview: Week of December 17

Veto Watch

Last week, lawmakers worked late into Thursday night to wrap up work on dozens of bills, including several that have been delivered to Governor Kasich for his signature. Three high-profile bills on the watch list for possible vetoes are now sitting on Kasich’s desk:

House Bill 228, a firearms bill that preempts municipal gun ordinances and previously contained “Stand Your Ground” language
House Bill 258, which would criminalize abortion after a detectable fetal heartbeat
Senate Bill 296, a bill dealing with survivor benefits for public safety personnel that was amended to include a pay raise for lawmakers and other elected officials.

The Governor has 10 days, not including Sundays, to act (sign, veto or allow to become law without a signature) on each measure. That gives Gov. Kasich until Wednesday to act on HB228, and until December 26 to act on HB258 and SB296. To override a veto, a 3/5 majority vote is required in both chambers: 60 votes in the House and 20 in the Senate. The later we go into December, the harder those numbers will be to achieve with lawmakers departing on scheduled vacations. To take up these potential veto overrides, Senators have sessions scheduled on Wednesday at 1:30 and on Thursday, December 27, while the House will meet on Thursday and Friday, December 27th and 28th.

Bills Not Yet Delivered To The Governor

Some bills have not yet been delivered to the Governor for his signature. Those include: House Bill 58 – Cursive Handwriting House Bill 119 – Food Assistance (SNAP) Eligibility House Bill 402 – Telephone Regulation House Bill 494 – Franchise Labor Laws House Bill 497 – Revenge Porn Senate Bill 51 – Lake Erie Shoreline and Various Appropriations Senate Bill 119 – Opioid Medications Senate Bill 145 – 2nd Trimester Abortions If Governor Kasich chooses to veto any of these bills still awaiting delivery to his office, it would push the timeline for overrides to Saturday, December 28 or beyond.

Awaiting Legislative Action

A handful of significant bills are just one vote away from final passage, so it’s worth watching to see if any are scheduled for action in the legislature’s final days:

Awaiting a House vote

Senate Bill 28 – To Require Burial & Cremation of Aborted Fetal Remains

Awaiting a Senate vote

House Bill 425 – To Regulate The Release of Body Camera Video
House Bill 428 – To Protect Student Religious Expression
House Bill 511 – To Raise Ohio’s Marriage Age for Girls

The Ohio legislature has taken advantage of the 2018 Lame Duck session as their opportunity to send two extremist anti-choice bills (HB258 and SB145) to Gov. John Kasich’s desk. >>Join our letter-writing campaign to urge Gov. Kasich to veto both of these abortion bans.

We will be tracking any new updates and sharing timely legislative updates on significant legislation on Twitter using the #LameDuckOH hashtag. Follow us to stay up-to-date on what’s happening at the Statehouse.