COLUMBUS, Ohio – A member of the Ohio House of Representatives announced that he will release a resolution today at 4:00 p.m. created to cancel statewide masking and distancing mandates.
Representative Scott Wiggam (R-Wooster) announced on Twitter, “Today, at 4 pm we will file a concurrent resolution to rescind the restrictive health mandates that have barred Ohioans from their freedoms and liberties granted to them under the Constitution. It will end the mask mandate, school mask mandates, and the social distancing mandate.”
Today, at 4 pm we will file a concurrent resolution to rescind the restrictive health mandates that have barred Ohioans from their freedoms and liberties granted to them under the Constitution. It will end the mask mandate, school mask mandates, and the social distancing mandate.
— Rep. Scott Wiggam (@Scott_Wiggam) May 12, 2021
The resolution is jointly sponsored by Rep Ron Ferguson (R-Wintersville) and has 28 cosponsors – Wiggam projected it would have 50 by the time it is released.
The resolution release time is 90 minutes before Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is scheduled to appear on television to address Ohioans for the purpose of “continuing his conversation on where we are in our fight against the Coronavirus and our progress towards reaching the end of the COVID pandemic,” according to a media advisory sent to reporters mid-day Wednesday.
“Senate Bill 22, which allows us on June 23 to put a concurrent resolution in place to rescind orders, had to pass with a supermajority. It did – that allows for this,” said Wiggam in a phone interview.
“The resolution was done weeks ago and we’ve been putting it forward to members, leadership and had conversations with the Senate. Constituents, and legislators, have been screaming and yelling to get something done,” Wiggam explained.
SB22 allows for the General Assembly to rescind orders by a concurrent resolution, which is not a law and does not require the Governor’s signature – it requires simple majority approval in both the House and Senate to be binding.
According to Wiggam the resolution will be assigned to a committee after release. He added that it could pass out of committee as fast as one day but may take longer – which is why it is being released now. The resolution would then need to be scheduled by Speaker of the House Bob Cupp (R-Lima) to be discussed and voted on in the lower chamber.
If approved in the House, the measure would then head to the Senate where it would need to go through the same process.
When asked if the release had anything to do with the Governor’s planned TV appearance, Wiggam said, “The Governor has his direction and protocols and we have our protocols and direction we want to go. Other than that, I don’t think I have a comment.”
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Jack Windsor is the Statehouse Reporter at The Ohio Star. Windsor is also an independent investigative reporter. Follow Jack on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
