Jean Schmidt
Backers voice support for bill keeping Ohio cops from enforcing federal gun laws
A new bill in the Ohio House would strike out all references to federal firearm policy from state law in an attempt to render state and local law enforcement in Ohio no longer responsible for enforcing federal gun laws. This furthers a trend in recent years where, for instance, lack of movement on federal immigration […]
Ohio budget primer: Here’s Gov. DeWine’s spending plan for the next two years
Last week, Ohioans got their first look at the governor’s budget proposal. Lawmakers got their first chance to ask questions about his plans. Gov. Mike DeWine outlined the broad strokes of his spending plan in his state of the state address, late last month. He put heavy emphasis on supporting families through tax incentives, education […]
10-year-old rape victim apparently not among Ohio Gov. DeWine’s ‘most vulnerable’ needing protection
Gov. Mike DeWine spends a lot of time jawing about his concern for protecting the “most vulnerable” Ohioans whenever he signs a draconian law attacking the bodily autonomy of others. But as we learned according to reporting from the Indianapolis Star this week, a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim was forced to travel to Indiana for […]
Ohio bill increasing access to breast cancer screenings for all ages to become law
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. Ohio is set to make breast cancer care much more accessible […]
Newest ‘divisive concepts’ bill enters Ohio House
The newest bill to regulate school curriculums and keep out what legislators see as “divisive concepts” entered the Ohio House on Tuesday. State Reps. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, and Mike Loychik, R-Bazetta, brought House Bill 616 to the State and Local Committee, which prohibits all Ohio schools from “teaching or providing training that promotes or endorses […]
Ohio bill would ban abortion without rape exemption
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. A proposed law would completely criminalize abortion without exemptions for rape […]
Legalizing bigotry with “Don’t Say Gay” bill will chase businesses away from Ohio
Question: How could you blow a $20 billion investment in Ohio? Answer: Chase away business with legislation to legitimize bigotry. A cynical attempt by Ohio House Republicans to further stigmatize and marginalize LGBTQ people in Ohio with a Florida-style “Don’t Say Gay” bill could give Intel pause about breaking ground on the state’s largest private […]
Lawmakers shouldn’t be able to flee from questions on ‘divisive concepts’ bills
It is not a good look when a member of the Ohio House of Representatives is caught on camera fleeing members of the press while asking them not to “harass” her. What made it even more exceptionally odd was that this member of the Ohio House, state Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, happened to have previously […]
House Republicans introduce Ohio’s version of Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. House Republicans introduced Ohio’s version of Florida’s controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ […]
Don’t let Ohio GOP lawmakers hamstring efforts to protect people from latest COVID surge
Many of our expectations and assumptions about politics have been upended over the past five years. But nothing is quite as disturbing as the Republican Party’s ongoing war against local efforts to protect community members — including children — from the deadly and costly effects of a still-raging pandemic. In Ohio, this is manifested in […]
Chances for Ohio death penalty repeal appear to be growing
The biggest-ever bipartisan coalition on Thursday announced a renewed effort to repeal the death penalty in Ohio. State Sen. Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, and Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, hosted a virtual press conference to announce that they and three other Republican and four Democratic senators so far have said they will co-sponsor the repeal legislation. […]
Meet the freshmen lawmakers of the 134th Ohio General Assembly
Monday marked the beginning of the 134th Ohio General Assembly, the two-year legislative term that will run through the end of 2022. With each term comes a slate of new faces representing every corner of the state. Here is a quick introduction to the freshman class of the 134th Ohio General Assembly: Ohio House of […]