This week Governor DeWine added several new laws to the books and required the state to pony up money for grandparents and extended family members raising their related children. In various press releases throughout the week, DeWine’s office wrote much of the language that follows.
Senate Bill 27, sponsored by former State Senator Joe Uecker (R-14) (before he gave up his senate seat for an Ohio Department of Transportation job), passed the House 60-36 and the Senate 23-7. The law requires remains of babies killed by surgical abortion to be either cremated or buried at the expense of the abortion clinic.
House Bill 24, sponsored by State Representatives Stephen D. Hambley (R-Brunswick ) and Darrell Kick (R-Loudonville) passed the House 85-0 and Senate 33-0. HB24 updates humane society law.
Senate Bill 39, sponsored by State Senator Kirk Schuring (R-29), passed the House 84-1 and the Senate 28-2. SB39 authorizes insurance premium tax credits.
Senate Bill 310, sponsored by State Senator Matt Dolan (R-24), passed the House 77-7 and the Senate 29-0. One hundred and thirty pages long, SB310 allocates COVID dollars to several political subdivisions and specific projects throughout Ohio. The bill includes requirements for Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to pay kinship caregivers.
Senate Bill 311 never made its way back to Governor DeWine’s Desk. The bill was not taken up again in the Senate in an attempt to override Governor DeWine’s veto, as promised by former Senate President Larry Obhof. In the last weeks of his Senate Presidency, Obhof stopped returning calls and inquiries from the press and his constituents on the matter, and rebuffed “the House doesn’t have the votes,” a conspiracy The Star debunked in a recent report.
Senate Bill 312, sponsored by State Representative Jena Powell (R-Arcanum), passed the House 87-2 and the Senate 32-0. SB312 permits in-state crowdfunding for specified projects and increased appropriations for Fiscal Year 2021 for the Facilities Establishment Fund Group to facilitate three projects proceeding to the controlling board: Columbus Crew SC ($25M), Sherwin Williams Company ($35M) and Origin Malt ($10M).
House Bill 405, sponsored by State Representative Jon Cross (R-Kenton), passed the House 94-0 and the Senate 30-0. HB405 establishes the adoption link deposit program.
Tuesday Governor DeWine issued Executive Order 2020-43D requiring ODJFS to build a system to facilitate the required payments to kinship caregivers (as established in SB310) by no later than June 1, 2020.
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Jack Windsor is Managing Editor and an Investigative Reporter at The Ohio Star. Windsor is also an Investigative Reporter at WMFD-TV. Follow Jack on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
