After taking a break over the summer and part of the fall for the general election, lawmakers are returning to the Ohio Statehouse to consider many different bills before the two-year session of this general assembly ends in December.
The committees and floor votes which occur after an election, known as a lame-duck session, work to conclude urgent or unfinished bills that lawmakers have introduced. Once the session ends, lawmakers will either overlook or reject the bills and legislators, returning incumbents, and newly-elected officials will have to reintroduce the pieces of legislation and restart the committee process.
Committees in the Ohio House and Senate resume business on Tuesday.
At this time, there are over 100 bill hearings scheduled over the course of this week. The bill hearings will occur in 28 scheduled standing committee meetings, and legislators have marked 25 bills with a possible vote out of committee.
One measure scheduled for a potential vote is House Bill (HB) 283, known as the distracted driving bill. The bill, sponsored by State Representatives Brian Lampton (R-Beavercreek) and Cindy Abrams (R-Harrison), would make it a primary offense for Ohioans to hold their cellphones while driving. That change allows for higher fines based on multiple violations. Lawmakers expect the bill to gain bipartisan support.
Other bills which could get a vote out of committee include HB 593 sponsored by State Representatives Janine Boyd (D-Cuyahoga County) and Kristin Boggs (D-Columbus) which would allow political candidates to use campaign funds to cover their childcare costs. HB 142 sponsored by State Representatives Erica Crawley (D-Youngstown) and Thomas Brinkman Jr. (R-Mt. Lookout) allows Medicaid to cover doula services.
Ohio leaders have suggested they will likely consider bills to ban abortion at conception and ban transgenders from participating in girls’ sports teams before the end of the session. However, legislators have not yet scheduled those measures for additional committee hearings.
However, HB 454, sponsored by State Reps Gary Click (R-Vickery) and Diane Grendell (R-Chesterland) would prohibit physicians and other medical care professionals from providing gender-transitioning procedures to any person under 18 years old. Lawmakers have scheduled this bill for a committee hearing on Wednesday.
Republicans have proposed another noteworthy piece of legislation Senate Bill (SB) 357, sponsored by State Senator Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls). The bill would expand gun regulations and would create safety protection orders which would allow a judge to confiscate a firearm from someone deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. Lawmakers have scheduled this bill for a hearing this session.
Senate Democrats also will present SB 50, sponsored by State Senators Tina Maharath (D-Columbus) and Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood), which would prohibit conversion therapy for minors, and Senate Concurrent Resolution 4, sponsored by State Senators Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus) and Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland), which would classify racism as a public health crisis.
There are also 10 bills being considered addressing either the creation of a memorial by naming a section of a highway after an individual, or the design of a new state license plate, such as the Ohio Bird Sanctuary license plate.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ohio State Capitol” by Ibagli.
