Theresa Gavarone
Checking in on Ohio firearms bills as the year ends
With a new year looming, Ohio lawmakers are trying to spur firearm legislation forward. State senators are holding hearings on a measure banning gun store specific merchant codes, despite credit card companies halting the idea the months ago. Meanwhile in the House, lawmakers want to bring a controversial proposal to the floor restricting local agencies’ […]
Congressional challengers already gearing up for 2024
There’s an election right around the corner, with big questions about abortion and marijuana for Ohioans to consider. But many politicians are already looking ahead to 2024’s congressional races. A handful of familiar faces are back as candidates for Congress, and several local officials are looking for a promotion. Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur has […]
Ohio senators consider election law changes to close primaries, prohibit ranked choice voting
This week an Ohio Senate committee took up a handful of election administration bills. Those proposals would close primaries, tweak Ohio’s “Sore Loser” law, and prohibit ranked choice voting. In Ohio, party affiliation is loose. You don’t select one when you register to vote. When primary elections come around, you can select whichever party’s ballot […]
Prohibition on gun insurance requirements getting first Ohio House hearing
A consequential firearms measure cruised through the Ohio Senate and is currently waiting on a hearing in the House Insurance committee. The proposal, like numerous previous measures, preempts local action, this time by prohibiting fees or liability insurance for gun owners. Cities around Ohio are wrestling with increases in violent crime since the pandemic, but […]
Ohio House begins hearings to bring back August elections
An Ohio House committee took up two measures Wednesday aimed at re-establishing an August special election. Lawmakers eliminated nearly all such contests in the waning days of the last session, just a few short months ago. But with an abortion amendment looking likely to appear on the November ballot, Republicans are pulling out all the […]
Voting rights orgs demand funding for photo ID education efforts
Ohio’s new photo voter ID law takes effect in a little more than a week. Voters head to the polls for a primary election less than a month after that. Voting rights advocates are organizing to help educate Ohioans about the new requirements. They argue the changes could have a dramatic impact on communities whose […]
Ohio Senate begins hearings for supermajority amendment, August elections
Ohio state senators began hearings Tuesday for their measure to impose a 60% supermajority to pass constitutional amendments. If the proposal passes both chambers with the support three-fifths of members, it goes to the ballot. The sponsors of the resolution are also backing a bill to revive August elections — just in time for their […]
Ohio senators working to resurrect recently eliminated August elections to fight abortion amendment
Only about three months ago, Ohio lawmakers passed a wide-ranging elections bill that will require voters present a photo ID when they cast a ballot. But it didn’t start out that way. Lawmakers bolted on the photo ID requirements only at the last minute. The bill began as a proposal to eliminate August special elections. […]
‘DATA Act’ would create consistency in Ohio voting records, supporters say
Officials from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office put their weight behind Senate Bill 71 this week. The DATA Act would create uniform definitions for various voter data and codify specific record-keeping standards. Democrats worry about the influence of a Donald Trump-aligned think tank. Mandi Grandjean spoke on behalf of Secretary Frank LaRose; she serves […]
Ohio state Sen. Gavarone introduces bills to investigate voter fraud and clean up election data
A pair of priority voting measures for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose got their first committee hearing Tuesday. Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, is sponsoring both proposals on the heels of passing new voter ID restrictions late last year. Gavarone’s first bill, SB 51, creates a new Election Integrity Division answering to the Secretary […]
Campaigns brimming with optimism ahead of Tuesday election
In the final weekend of the midterms, every campaign believes the race is coming their way. Whether honest assessment or false bravado, they’ll readily explain how this poll or those returns are good for their prospects. From the outside looking in, it’s as though the biggest threat now is not a gaffe or a new […]
Lawmakers team up with Northeast Ohio medical school to combat mental health worker shortage
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. As Ohio continues to suffer from a mental health professional shortage, lawmakers have teamed […]