Bottom Line // November-December 2023
Terry Fleming // TC Fleming & Associates
What does Halloween and politics have in common? They both are scary. Mark Twain once said, “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe when the legislature is in session.” What does being in session mean? In Ohio there are 33 members of the Ohio Senate and 99 House members for a total of 132, any one of which can introduce scary legislation. In session means bills can be passed while members are on the floor, the large room where bills are debated and either pass or fail. There are two floors, one for the Senate and one for the House. Debates on bills can go on for a very long time and the arguments sometimes get heated and, like children being scared by costumes, proposed legislation can often be frightful.
If a bill has a “HB” in front of it, that means a member of the House of Representative introduced the bill. Conversely a “SB” would be a Senate bill. SB and HR are different resolutions. There are also “SJR” and “HJR” which mean both Senate and House support the same resolution. “SCR” means concurrent resolution and both houses must pass the resolution to pass. Now that I’ve confused you let’s move on to some bills that have been introduced:
HB8 protects the bill of rights; HB15 is a pro-life bill; HB16 would have stricter ethics and lobbying laws; HB29 would suspend a drivers’ license if child support is not paid; HB34 would excuse a mother from jury duty if she’s breastfeeding a child; HB96 would increase minimum wage; and HB66 would allow tobacco wholesalers to not have to pay taxes on bad debts of tobacco and vapor products but we hope to have an amendment that would give state sole authority over tobacco and vapor products thus we wouldn’t have local government trying to ban products in their cities or counties. This bill would help MIRA members and we are watching it closely. As you can see House bills run the gauntlet of issues.
The Senate is very much like the House, but with a lot fewer members. There are 33 members of the senate and each seat is made up of 99 House districts. Here’s a few of the bills introduced in the Senate this session:
SB87 would make election day a paid holiday for state workers; SB74 would allow taxes to be paid by the internet; SB70 would make the month of October Hindu Heritage Month; SB69 would make March 22nd Doula Awareness Day; SB68 would make May 13th Judge Nathaniel R. Jones Day while October 4th would be Rutherford B. Hayes Day; SB66 would have Ohio join the Interstate Massage Compact; SB53 would lower the age to become a policeman to 18; and SB52 would exempt both Ohio and U.S. flags from state taxes. As you can see Senate Bills are a veritable trick-or-treat of legislation.
There is another way to pass laws in Ohio and that’s by going directly to the ballot. You can do that by citizen initiative, meaning if a group collects enough signatures across the state then they can have a proposal on the ballot. The other way is to have the general assembly put an issue on the ballot, again a simple majority is required for a win.
This November there will be two issues on the ballot. State Issue #1 would allow people to make their own decision on whether to have an abortion and the state would be removed from the process. State Issue #2 would legalize recreational marijuana.
The last step in the legislative process is the Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine. All bills passed by the legislature go to DeWine and he can either pass or veto. If he vetoes the bill, the legislature can override his veto but it’s difficult. All legislators have to run for election and additionally 2024 is a Presidential election year and given what’s going on in the world it will be a tough year. One of the candidates running for President, Vivek Ramaswamy, lives in Columbus, Ohio.
All 99 House members will be up for election in 2024 as will 17 Senators. There will be one race for the U.S. Senate that could determine Democratic control of the U.S. Senate. Incumbent Democrat, Sherrod Brown, is running for reelection and he will face either State Senator Matt Dolan, Secretary of State Frank Larose or car dealer Bernie Marino.
If you want change and you’re dissatisfied with those in office, then get involved. Learn about candidates and where they stand on issues and contribute to the MIRA Political Action Committee. This has been a budget year and very little goes on till next year, however MIRA will continue to watch for legislation that may impact MIRA members. We in Ohio want to welcome Jerry Griffin, MIRA’s new Vice President of Government Affairs. n