Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine made national news Friday when the Republican vetoed a bill that would have blocked minors from undergoing hormone treatments to treat gender dysphoria and blocked transgender girls form participating in girls’ school sports.
DeWine’s veto wasn’t a finale to the saga. Instead, it prompted a slew of legislators in the Ohio House and Senate’s Republican supermajority to call for the legislature to override the veto.
Republican leaders of both the Ohio House and Senate have already voiced a staid appetite for an override, but law mandates that the override process needs to be taken up in the House, first. It’s not yet clear when Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, will move on it. The chamber’s first 2024 session is scheduled for Jan. 10.
Last week’s veto also raises the question of how likely DeWine, serving his final term as Ohio governor, is to support any of the legislature’s bills focused specifically on transgender restrictions while he’s in office.
The House is currently hearing a number of bills raising alarm from transgender activists, including a public obscenity ban aimed at drag shows and a bill to ban transgender students from using school bathrooms that match their gender identity from kindergarten through college. The Senate is underway with their proceedings on another House bill that advocates warn would force school employees to “out” LGBTQ+ students to their parents.
2. Recreational Marijuana and Issue 2 reform:
Since Dec. 7, Issue 2 has been the law of the land in Ohio, meaning folks ages 21 and older can possess marijuana and grow up to six plants per person with a max of 12 plants per household. But, there’s still no way to legally buy weed in Ohio without a medical card, and medical dispensaries have said they’re seeing a downturn in customers who presumably do not want to spend money to renew their card.
Ever since Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved Issue 2 in November, both chambers of the legislature have worked on their own reforms.
DeWine and the Senate teamed up to urgently approve a measure that would raise taxes, lower maximum-allowable THC contents in extracts, reduce home grow limits to six plants per household, create an expungement process for marijuana possession crimes, and allow medical dispensaries to immediately begin selling to non-cardholders.
The House, however, is content with allowing Issue 2 to ride out. The chamber is unhurriedly moving forward with its own reform, with members signaling that it ought to preserve the will of the people better than the Senate’s proposal. This has frustrated Senate leadership and DeWine, who is particularly concerned about the dangers legal possession without legal purchasing poses for Ohioans.
It’s still unclear what the mutually agreed reform will look like and when it will be struck.
3. Contentious gun control efforts stalled in House:
House Republicans are being asked to choose between expanding gun rights and appeasing law enforcement in a battle over House Bill 51, or the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which would block local law enforcement from enforcing federal gun control mandates.
The bill is backed heavily by Gun Owners Ohio, a “no compromise” gun rights organization based in Beavercreek. It opens new grounds for law enforcement to be sued and sets a $50,000 punitive fine for infractions, two aspects of the bill that led state’s leading prosecutors association to stand in staunch opposition, warning that those disincentives and unclear language will fully deter law enforcement from participating in joint investigations and special task forces alongside federal officials.
Last month, the bill was quickly moved to the floor but wasn’t brought for a vote, angering some Republican lawmakers and prompting the bill’s chief lobbyist Chris Dorr to target state lawmakers on social media. It’s not clear what House leadership has planned for the bill.
4. Legal challenges to abortion laws & Issue 1 fallout:
A strong majority of Ohio voters enshrined access to abortion into the state constitution last November in an effort to thwart abortion restrictions, but that vote didn’t automatically get rid of the laws already on the books.
Throughout 2024, you can expect more legal challenges to be brought against the state of Ohio arguing against a slew of the many laws regulating how abortion clinics can operate in the state, potentially including mandatory waiting periods, bans on specific methods of abortion and more.
Through these lawsuits, the Ohio Supreme Court will set the precedent of what is and is not generally allowable under the new amendment.
5. Primary & General Elections:
2024 is another even year, which means every Ohio House representative and a handful of state senators will be up for reelection. Some will have to endure primary campaigns and battle against their fellow party members until March, while others run unopposed in their party and begin their reelection campaigns later this year.
The seats that represent Dayton in the Ohio House and Senate are guaranteed to change, and a slew of Butler County’s elected Republicans are facing intra-party challengers while several races to the east of Dayton are wide open due to incumbent term limits.
The elections will also likely see Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, who’s term-limited in the Senate, switch over to the Ohio House. The switch is expected to set up a battle between Huffman and current House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, over who will lead the House GOP caucus.
6. Possible changes to aggressive Ohio Medicaid estate recovery policy
Heading into 2024, the Ohio Department of Medicaid is undergoing internal review and has seen public input flooded with pleas to scale down its aggressive estate recovery policy following a Dayton Daily News investigation.
This news organization’s reporting found that Ohio Medicaid is more aggressive than other states in recouping Medicaid costs from deceased residents and is in the minority of states that put liens on Medicaid recipients’ properties.
The policy has left families of loved ones in fear that they could lose their home after the state put liens on their property, a practice that collects less than 1% of what the program pays out.
We will continue covering this issue and any potential changes to the program in 2024.
Follow DDN statehouse reporter Avery Kreemer on X or reach out to him at Avery.Kreemer@coxinc.com or at 614-981-1422.
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