After the COVID-19 pandemic moved nearly all public government meetings online, Ohio lawmakers believe allowing public bodies to meet virtually will increase public participation.
Rep. Jim Hoops, R-Napoleon, said he was skeptical of allowing boards to do public business virtually, but that changed following the pandemic.
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Proposed legislation in the Ohio House would allow child victims of sexual assault to receive money from the state’s Crime Victim Compensation Fund for health care treatment.
The Protect Child Victims Act would allow the attorney general to make emergency awards for out-of-state healthcare expenses, including abortions, for child sexual assault survivors.
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Nonviolent offenders could find it easier to get out of prison and work their way back into society if bipartisan legislation introduced in the Ohio House becomes law.
At the same the Sentencing Fairness and Justice Act was introduced in the House, Democratic Gov. Mike DeWine released recommendations for control supervision based on recommendations from a group he commissioned in 2019.
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The U.S. Postal Service’s law enforcement arm is investigating an attempt to send feces to Ohio Republican state senators.
According to numerous reports, the United States Postal Service in Cleveland and Akron and mailroom employees in the Statehouse intercepted the mail before it arrived at the offices of the state lawmakers.
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Republicans in the Ohio House of Representatives on Wednesday advanced the Ohio Law and Order Act, aimed to protect members of law enforcement.
The legislation, House Bill 109, would allow police officers who are injured in a riot to sue protest organizers.
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An Ohio lawmaker wants to remove the mask-wearing decision for K-12 students across the state from local school boards by having the state prohibit any district from requiring masks.
Rep. Mike Loychik, R-Bazetta, said he plans to introduce legislation to stop school districts across the state from mandating students wear masks, saying parents in his district are upset school boards have required masks as the school year begins.
Lakeview and Warren school boards, each in Loychik’s district, voted to require masks for students.
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A group of Ohio lawmakers want to focus on the state’s below average ranking for economic performance by creating a bipartisan Business First Caucus.
The group, headed by state Sens. Mark Romanchuk, R-Ontario, and George Lang, R-West Chester, said it’s aimed at small businesses, staying at the center of major tax and regulatory reform while promoting ideas and legislation that positively impact small business in the state.
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After spending years developing a new school funding plan and failing to get it through the General Assembly last year, Ohio lawmakers have put it back on the table in the new legislative session.
State Reps. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, and Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Cleveland, introduced the Fair School Funding Plan, legislation they said modernizes K-12 school funding across the state. It is nearly identical to the proposal that passed the House a year ago but stalled in the Senate as the session expired.
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An Ohio lawmaker says he wants to make sure the rights of gun-owners and those who want to own guns are a priority and that the federal government cannot infringe on those rights.
State Rep. Mike Loychik, R-Bazette, plans to introduce legislation in the General Assembly next week that would, if passed and signed, make Ohio a second amendment sanctuary state, joining Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Kansas.
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