Ohio Statehouse News

Ohioans who’ll be voting by mail are urged to request their ballots immediately. It takes several days for a mailed ballot request to be received, and several more to get it in the mail, and that’s if you don’t have to redo the application because you made a mistake the 1st time.

If the OH House of Representatives passes the bill, the March 17th Primary Election will be extended. It would be vote by mail only, with a deadline to postmark ballots by April 28th. There are some exceptions for disabled individuals, exact details on that are forthcoming.

OH Senate passes emergency bill to address multiple issues 26-0. The bill is nearly 1000 pages, details on what is being done are forthcoming.

OH Senate to vote on a piece of legislation that is nearly 1000 pages long today dealing with multiple issues related to helping Ohioans during the COVID-19 pandemic- items covered include primary voting: vote by mail only deadline April 28 to be decided. @nbc4i

@FrankLaRose explains why he picked June 2 as the date for the in person Primary Election voting he ordered (with 11 weeks of mail voting). In the meantime, the @OHDems have challenged his order seeking instead to have only mail voting and to cut it off on April 28.

@FrankLaRose talks about the order he made to move the primary election to June 2 (he says this will be litigated), and on the prospect of having the General Assembly step in and pass a bill to move it instead. @HouseholderOH @larryobhof @emiliasykesoh @kennyyuko

According to @GovMikeDeWine‘s press secretary there are several key differences between the Arnold and the Comic-Con in Cleveland. Size and scope; the Cuyahoga health dept. capability to handle things; and a lack of local request for assistance.

@GovMikeDeWine says the Arnold is unique because of the size and scope of the event. They’re allowing 4 ticketed events but not allowing general admission tickets - the difference is general admission allows for spectators to roam, unlike a sporting event w/ assigned seating.

OH Sec. of State @FrankLaRose gives an example of how social media has been used by enemies abroad to manipulate situations and others, and why it's so important we learn to recognize if we're being duped so that we don't fall victim to disinformation and manipulation.

"I'm a pretty normal girl," says 11-year-old Sean Miller. "I like to play outside; I like to read; I like to play with my friends." In this clip she talks about not always feeling safe and why she wants the OH Fairness Act to pass.

Chaos in Ohio - Sen Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) says the OH House dropped the ball by not including an emergency clause on its attempt to delay the start of EdChoice enrollment tomorrow. While an appropriation was added, he says that doesn't make it automatically go into effect.

Gary Daniels with @acluohio talks about the constitutional issue with local law enforcement holding suspected illegal immigrants without having federal charges against them. A bill in OH seeks to mandate cooperation with federal agencies, threatens to defund sanctuary entities.

OH Senate President @LarryObhof thinks the USMCA is going to be good for Ohio and it's people, but he still has concerns. He says, automation, not free trade, remains a very real threat to autoworkers even with the new trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

The USMCA increases the required % of parts in a vehicle made in North America from 62.5% to 75%, made by people earning at least $16/hr, or a 2.5% import tariff is added. Here are 2 opposing views on if this is a good thing @LarryObhof and @UAW Local 1112 Pres. Tim O'Hara

@stephaniehowse shares her opinion on how systematic racism has led to poor maternal health outcomes, especially death, for African Americans; and what she feels needs to be done to address this issue - which is reaching a point of understanding.

ICYMI: I sat down with Governor Mike DeWine to reflect on his first year in office from the death penalty; to school funding; to the future of abortion bills; to the mass shooting in Dayton; to what he plans to do in 2020. Check it out: bit.ly/2ZG4gJn

The effort to put an initiated statute in front of lawmakers to institute universal background checks in OH has been put on hold until 2021. Ohioans for Gun Safety says there are several reasons, a new potentially more favorable groups of lawmakers seated in 2021 is one of them.

A new bill at the Statehouse tracks student attendance at e-schools. @repkoehler says his bill isn't meant to fix the problems that lead to the state overpaying ECOT at least $115 million, but it would start a paper trail that could be used to keep an eye on that sort of thing.