With apologies to Charles Dickens, some members of the Ohio House of Representatives are acting a little like Uncle Scrooge. To explain, we need to go back to June 2023 when the state’s two-year budget bill was passed, and it included language that would give the State of Ohio full regulation of tobacco and vapor products. This was needed because Ohio is a Home Rule State which means cities can pass bills that give them authority to address any issue that the state doesn’t already have authority over like tobacco and vapors.
Some cities have already banned the sale of vapors and raised taxes on these products. Left unchecked, Ohio would be subject to a plethora of regulations throughout the state, not to mention adjoining cities to those who have passed the banning bills will still be selling the products, giving vendors in those cities an advantage over those who are prohibited from selling vapors. MIRA is a member of a tobacco coalition that does what it can to prevent cities from banning or regulating tobacco and vapors but working city councils all over a big state like Ohio is very difficult, which brings us back to the budget; the state legislature can override home rule by justifying language that says it’s good for the state and that’s what the language in the budget bill does, but Governor DeWine a staunch opponent of tobacco, vetoed the language and there weren’t enough votes to override his veto.
Then there was HB 66, which would relieve wholesalers of paying taxes on stolen property and, as this dealt with tobacco, the coalition group wanted to amend the bill with the same language that was vetoed. The Senate had the votes to override the Governor’s veto, but the House of Representatives did not, so the coalition spent the last four months working to get 60 votes to override the Governor’s veto. At the end of last year, it appeared as if we had the votes, but then the Cincinnati Enquirer did a negative story on this, and suddenly eight to 10 votes disappeared. It was like some members said humbug. Stay tuned as we have until December of 2024, to pass language that would give the State back authority.
Let’s hope 2024 brings good news for the Christmas future. MIRA would like to wish all Ohio members a Happy New Year!
