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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – State lawmakers are getting ready for their last House and Senate sessions of the year on Wednesday afternoon, and while some high-profile bills are set for floor votes, others will have to wait until next year.
Speaker of the House Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) said there is no rush to get things done this week.
“This is not a lame duck,” he said. “This is merely, we are getting ready to break for the holidays and come back in January.”
Marijuana Legislation
Despite the senate passing marijuana-related legislation last week, House leadership said they likely won’t take it up this week.
“It is such a big change in Ohio’s law, culture, all of these things, that we need to be deliberative about it,” Stephens said.
Stephens said most of the provisions of Issue 2 don’t come into effect until the summer, so that’s why Ohioans aren’t seeing a big sense of urgency.
“There seems to be some misalignment between the House and the Senate and the governor on some key points,” Russo said. “I would be shocked if anything came out this week.”
Russo said some of the “bigger issues” are how to deal with the revenue, and what clarity needs to be put around safety pieces.
“We either do this now and do it fully or nothing will really get done,” Russo said. “So, I think that’s the hesitation.”
Stephens said the differences between the House’s priorities and the Senate’s include whether the local government or state government should handle the decision-making process with the tax revenue and licensure.
“There are some provisions that some like and some don’t and it’s trying to work through that process,” Stephen said. “Generally speaking, we want to maintain the will of the people, it’s an extremely important thing for a lot of members on both sides of the aisle.”
Russo and Stephens both said the conversations are on-going and things are fluid.
“We could be dealing with it this week, in January, or as late as April, or not at all,” Russo said. “That’s also on the table as well because Issue 2 will move forward as passed by voters.”
House Bill 68, Save Women’s Sports & Safe Act
House Bill 68 bans transgender athletes from participating on teams aligned with their gender identity and bans minors from having gender-affirming care. Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said that bill will “likely” be on the Senate floor Wednesday.
“Despite what some folks say about me, I really do let other people make decisions around here,” Huffman said. “So, the chair and committee are working on it.”
“We’re watching it very closely,” Russo said. “My understanding is there are still some potential amendments that are being discussed over there.”
If House Bill 68 does pass the Senate, because they did make some changes to it, the House will need to concur with those changes in a floor vote, then the bill will head to the governor’s desk.
“The big question is: what will the governor do if this comes out, will he veto this,” Russo said.
Stephens did not indicate whether the House will take a concurrence vote on Wednesday, when asked about the bill, he said, “we’ll see what happens with the Senate on that one.”
“When you’ve got every single children’s hospital and medical organization telling you that this is a really bad bill and this is bad for parental rights and patients’ care, it gives many members, Republicans and Democrats, pause,” Russo said.
House Bill 83, Higher Education Enhancement Act
House Bill 83 has brought forward dozens of opponents and proponents. The bill passed the Senate in May, and since moving to the House, Stephens has said the bill does not have the votes in his chamber.
Tomorrow, the bill will not get a House floor vote, one of its final hurdles before landing on Gov. Mike DeWine’s (R-Ohio) desk. Stephens said he wants to “let it marinate.”
“It still has some conversations that need to be had around it,” Stephens said. “When you’re dealing with legislation that is transformative or really moves things, it’s my opinion, I’d rather take a little bit longer to decide it than to hurry up and rush something through.”
Russo said some of the concerns have to do with how the legislation impacts collective bargaining, and “what it really does to higher education and our ability to be competitive.”
“Right now, it’s in legislative purgatory,” Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said. “There are many different layers of things that are wrong with that legislation.”
Stephens said the bill has gone through several versions now, so he wants to be sure everyone has time to review it.
“We want to address things universities are dealing with,” he said. “We also want to make sure we are not over-addressing things. The First Amendment is important, it’s as important as the Second Amendment and all the other ones.”
House Bill 51, Second Amendment Preservation Act
Another bill that Stephens will not bring to the House floor is House Bill 51. The bill would make it, so Ohioans are only subjected to state gun laws, not federal. And despite the bill being on the agenda for a floor vote last week, Stephens did not end up calling that vote.
“We had some questions, so we want to get those details right,” Stephens said.
Russo said she thinks there’s division for multiple reasons.
“I think, rightly so, there are members in [the House Republican caucus] who have huge concerns about its impact on law enforcement’s ability to do their jobs,” Russo said.
Stephens said while it won’t be on the floor before the end of the year, there are still discussions.
“I think a lot of the people on our side of the aisle agree with the concept of making sure that the federal government cannot compel our local law enforcement to enforce federal gun laws,” he said. “It’s just having it written it down correctly to where everyone feels comfortable about that.
“This bill makes our communities less safe and makes it harder to solve gun crimes,” Russo said.
House Bill 8, Parents’ Bill of Rights
House Bill 8 would allow parents to opt their kids out of certain coursework in school. The bill passed the House in June and has since been in the Senate.
The legislation was originally scheduled for a vote out of the Senate Education Committee, but chair, Senator Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware), said the bill is “most likely not going to be passed before break.”
NBC4 did reach out to the governor’s office to ask how he feels about some of the bills that might make it to his desk, a spokesperson said the governor will review the legislation as they come to his desk.
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