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Dec 10 2020

Lame Duck Continues Despite Statehouse COVID-19 Outbreak

Still operating without a mask mandate as at least two lawmakers have tested positive for COVID-19 after attending committee hearings and session, it appears that things are still business as usual at the General Assembly this week. Two days of hearings are scheduled on dozens of bills as the House and Senate work to wrap up the 2019-2020 legislative session.

Ironically — as COVID keeps some lawmakers away from the building — the agenda once again are more bills to strip power from the Governor to control the pandemic. Republicans also seem intent on moving multiple bills that would loosen Ohio gun laws, including proposals to eliminate the Duty to Retreat in armed conflicts (also know as “Stand Your Ground”).

A detailed list of committee hearings we’re watching is provided below, but bills we are watching this week include:

  • Rollbacks of COVID-19 public health orders (SB374 and HB621), elimination of statewide mask mandate (SB387) and changes to testing data requirements (HB624)
  • HB6 repeal (HB798)
  • Stand Your Ground (HB796, SB383) and Concealed Carry (HB425) gun bills. … see “Statehouse Meetings and Events” below for a full rundown of the committee hearings and events we’ll be watching this week

The following bills were introduced since our last update. You can keep an eye on all the bills we’re tracking here.

New Legislation This Week

  • House Bill 798 (Hoops) – Nuclear Subsidies – to delay for one year the charges and payments for nuclear resource and renewable energy credits, and revise certain other laws, enacted by H.B. 6 of the 133rd General Assembly, to amend Power Siting Board law and other electric utility law, to prohibit certain restrictions on solar energy systems, and to declare an emergency.
  • House Bill 799 (Reineke, Lang) – Face Masks – to terminate certain provisions of the “Director’s Order for Retail and Business Compliance for Facial Coverings throughout the State of Ohio,” issued on November 13, 2020, and to declare an emergency.

Take Action to Keep Democracy Open

  1. Tell Senate Leader Obhof and House Speaker Cupp to make virtual testimony available as an option for policy experts and everyday Ohioans to safely participate in committee hearings at allontheline.org/OHTestimony
  2. Copy & share this tweet from your personal account calling for virtual testimony. Or write your own tweet sharing the link to take action at allontheline.org/OHTestimony:

    We want options for virtual testimony at the Statehouse to #KeepDemocracyOpen by making the process
    ✅ Healthy & Safe
    ✅ Transparent & Fair
    ✅ Accessible to all of us!
    ➡️ allontheline.org/OHTestimony

Written by Terra Goodnight · Categorized: coronavirus, Education, Gun Safety, Healthcare and Human Services, K-12 Education, Legislative Updates, Statehouse Update · Tagged: concealed carry, covid-19, face masks, nuclear subsidies, ohio statehouse, statehouse update

Jul 24 2020

New Report: With Ohio Legislature In Chaos, Frank LaRose Must Act

We’re back with a mid-week update to give you the backstory on Innovation Ohio’s latest analysis, outlining four actions Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose can take today to make the November election safer & more accessible.

Ohio Senate Refuses to Pass Bad Voting Bill, Calls For More Hearings on HB680

Now it’s up to Secretary of State Frank LaRose to make sure the November election is safe for all Ohio voters.

In Monday’s update, we wrote about an Ohio Senate hearing and possible vote on a bill (House Bill 680) to move up the deadline to request an absentee ballot in November. The bill would also unnecessarily tie the hands of the Secretary of State, disallowing him from doing a number of things to make it easier to vote by mail. A lot has happened since then.

Many Senators and witnesses, including Sec. LaRose, support the idea to move up the deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot to ensure mail delays don’t result in voters receiving it too late to return it by the deadline. However, other provisions in the bill — revoking the Secretary’s authority to provide return postage for ballots and failing to explicitly authorize a way for voters to request their absentee ballot online — appear unpopular among Senators on a bipartisan basis, and the Chairman held the bill over for future hearings.

If the Senate makes any changes to the bill, it would need action by the House in order to become law – a 90-day process that already puts us in late October.
On Tuesday, as HB680 was being heard, news broke of a $60 million corruption scandal involving the House Speaker.

Larry Householder has resisted calls to step down and members of his leadership team continue to oppose calls to expel him. Until the House replaces the Speaker — who as a condition of his release on felony charges — cannot travel or be in contact with any potential witnesses in the case — it cannot function to do the work of the people.

Innovation Ohio Calls on Secretary of State Frank LaRose To Act

Read the full report here

In order to have a safe and accessible election, Ohio voters have only one hope left and it’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Today we published an analysis showing that the Secretary has the authority, without an act of the legislature, to:

  • Include and pay for return postage on all absentee ballot applications and ballots
  • Allow voters to submit an absentee ballot request online
  • Establish multiple secure drop boxes for absentee ballot return
  • Commit to resist efforts to close polling locations, which only results in longer lines and more crowded indoor spaces

Read our analysis of Frank LaRose’s legal authority to protect the November election

Take Action

Sign All In For Ohio’s petition

Sign the petition

It’s time for LaRose to act with or without the assistance of the legislature. All In For Ohio has created a petition you can sign to send a message to Secretary of State LaRose that our elections are too important to be held up thanks to a dysfunctional legislature. 

Sign the petition today to send a message to Frank LaRose that it’s time to act.

Written by Terra Goodnight · Categorized: 2020 Election, coronavirus, Democracy, Statehouse Update · Tagged: 2020 election, corruption, election 2020, Frank LaRose, HB6, hb680, householder, larose, Larry Householder, Ohio Senate, report, secretary of state, Speaker Larry Householder, statehouse update, vote by mail, voter registration

Jun 22 2020

Lawmakers Mostly Inactive As Summer Break Begins

A photo of the Ohio Statehouse with a blue overlay. Text reads "Statehouse Preview" with Innovation Ohio's logo in an orange box in the bottom center of the image.

We didn’t send an update last week as the House and Senate both began what is likely to be months-long summer break. This week, the Senate returns briefly on Wednesday to vote on bills and hold a handful of committee hearings, the highlights of which we’ll note below. 

The House is not currently scheduled to return until after the November election but has set aside a few “if needed” dates in September.

Newsletters will be infrequent for the next several months – we’ll only send a dispatch if legislative hearings or sessions are scheduled. You can always view the full legislative calendar online.

New Legislation This Week 

Here are the new bills introduced last week that we will be monitoring. You can also view the complete list of bills we’re tracking.

  • House Bill 684 (Hood, Brinkman) – Academic Content – to revise the law with regard to the state academic content standards and primary and secondary education assessments and teacher evaluations, to create the Legislative Office of Education Oversight, and to make other changes regarding the operation of primary and secondary schools.
  • House Bill 687 (Hicks-Hudson, Sweeney) – Election Laws – to make changes to the Election Law.
  • House Bill 693 (Swearingen, Manning) – School Openings – to prohibit, for the 2020-2021 school year only, public and chartered nonpublic schools from opening for instruction prior to the Wednesday after Labor Day and to declare an emergency.
  • House Bill 695 (Becker, Romanchuk) – Legislative Salaries – to enact the “Average Wage Fully Uniform Law (AWFUL)” to set the baseline compensation for General Assembly members equal to Ohio’s median household income. 
  • House Bill 703 (Plummer, Abrams) – Policing Practices – to express the intent of the General Assembly to study and implement professional police practices in Ohio.
  • House Concurrent Resolution 31 (Howse, Crawley) – Racism – to declare racism a public health crisis and to ask the Governor to establish a working group to promote racial equity in Ohio.
  • Senate Bill 320 (M. Huffman) – Education Laws – to require public and private schools to decide whether to be open for instruction in the 2020-2021 school year, to permit parents providing home instruction to determine whether a building in which they provide instruction has adequate safety measures to address COVID-19, to prohibit other public officials from closing schools in that school year, and to declare an emergency.
  • Senate Bill 323 (Antonio, Williams) – Election Law – to modify the law governing absent voting and online voter registration, to make other changes to the Election Law, and to declare an emergency.

Statehouse Meetings and Events

Wednesday, June 24

  • 9:15 am – Senate Judiciary – 13th hearing (all testimony & vote) on SB3 (Drug Sentencing) and 2nd hearing (all testimony) on HB606 (COVID-19 Civil Immunity). Senate Finance Hearing Room or watch online. 
  • 9:30 am – Senate Health, Human Services & Medicaid – 2nd hearing (proponent testimony – written only) on SCR14 (Racism) and 4th hearing (all testimony & possible amendments) on SB311 (Health Orders). Senate South Hearing Room or watch online.
  • 1:30 pm – Senate Session – agenda TBD. Watch online.
  • 2:30 pm or after session – Senate Education – 2nd hearing (all testimony) on SB320 (Education Laws) and 6th hearing (all testimony, possible amendments) on HB123 (School Safety). Senate Finance Hearing Room or watch online.

Written by Terra Goodnight · Categorized: 2020 Election, Democracy, racial justice, Statehouse Update · Tagged: 2020 election, Lame Duck, ohio house, Ohio Senate, Statehouse, statehouse update, terra goodnight

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