senate bill 22
Ohio legislature overrides DeWine veto of pandemic authority bill
Wednesday marks the 24th anniversary of the Ohio Supreme Court ruling the state’s school funding model is unconstitutional. Twenty-four years later, the Ohio legislature has yet to fix it. Yet less than 24 hours after Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a bill to allow lawmakers to strike down public health orders, GOP supermajorities mobilized to override […]
DeWine vetoes bill targeting his pandemic authority; override awaits
Gov. Mike DeWine has vetoed a bill seeking to allow lawmakers to rescind public health orders they disagree with, once again fulfilling a pledge to block any legislation targeting his administration’s authority to respond aggressively to a deadly pandemic. The ball is now in the legislature’s court to override his veto. Republican legislative leaders have […]
GOP bill seeks to end the Ohio mask mandate
Gov. Mike DeWine has outlined specific metrics the state can hit to trigger an end to Ohio’s public health orders, including the mandate to wear facial coverings in public. A group of Republican legislators think it’s already time to remove the mask mandate. Rep. Jena Powell, R-Arcanum, recently introduced House Bill 202 to terminate the […]
DeWine: It would be ‘absolutely irresponsible’ to not veto SB 22
Gov. Mike DeWine did not hold his punches when commenting on a bill passed by the legislature targeting the executive branch’s authority to respond to a pandemic. On Thursday, he called Senate Bill 22 clearly unconstitutional, predicted it would be challenged in court and suggested lawmakers did not fully understand the ramifications it would have […]
Lawmakers pass bill to let them rescind health orders, setting up clash with DeWine
The Ohio General Assembly approved a bill Wednesday to allow lawmakers to strike down health orders they disagree with, sending the legislation to a governor who has already vowed to veto it. Republican leaders in the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate committed to holding votes to override Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of Senate […]
Bill to let legislators strike down health orders advances to House floor
With vaccinations ramping up and Ohio’s governor having announced the metrics for dropping all public health orders, Republicans in the Statehouse are still advancing legislation meant to target the executive branch’s pandemic authority. A bill to give lawmakers the power to strike down health orders they disagree with advanced Tuesday to the House chamber, where […]
Health orgs donating to lawmakers who oppose public health measures can’t have it both ways
You can’t have it both ways. You can’t be a science-driven, public health advocate and support clear threats to best safety practices during a monumental public health crisis. You can’t be for saving lives during a viral pandemic with prudent safeguards and for politicians out to weaken or scrap them altogether. You can’t vigorously oppose […]
DeWine pledges veto of latest attempt to curb public health authority
Gov. Mike DeWine is sticking with his pledge to veto any legislation in 2021 targeting the authority of Ohio’s public health officials. Even as Ohio continues to see a downward trend of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the governor said this is not the time to minimize the executive branch’s authority to respond to a […]
Public health officials say SB 22 would hamper pandemic response
Public health took center stage at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday, if only for an hour, with experts crediting the government pandemic response for saving lives and asking lawmakers not to hamper the ability to do so again in the future. Officials representing health departments throughout Ohio are opposed to Republican-backed legislation that would give […]
Ohio bill targeting health dept. authority may be unconstitutional, Statehouse researchers say
Some Ohio lawmakers believe the health orders issued over the past year are unconstitutional and reflect an executive branch of government overstepping its boundaries. A proposed bill to solve that problem may itself be unconstitutional. That’s the opinion of the Legislative Service Commission, a non-partisan group which provides legal and policy research to Ohio legislators. Senate […]
Don’t entrust pandemic response to lawmakers who aren’t taking it seriously
Snowflakes, misinformation, conspiracy theories, serial abuse of constitutional theory — all were on depressing display last week in an Ohio Senate committee hearing on a recently introduced bill that would allow state lawmakers to strike down executive or emergency health orders issued by the governor. The Feb. 3 public hearing on S.B. 22 featured many […]