Here's what Ohio lawmakers passed during 16-hour lame duck session
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Ohio's post-election political period is characterized by a flurry of activity, backroom negotiating and, toward the end, 132 very tired lawmakers.
Driving the news: Both hurried and seemingly endless, this year's lame-duck session culminated in a 16-hour legislative marathon that wrapped up yesterday morning.
- "I rise in opposition to this …," one lawmaker said around 5:15am, "for a lot of reasons which I can't even think of right now."
Why it matters: While you slept, legislators passed laws impacting your voting rights, Columbus' new flavored tobacco ban and safety on the roadways.
What passed:
✅ An election overhaul to:
- Require photo ID to vote.
- Shorten the absentee ballot request period.
- Eliminate early voting the Monday before Election Day.
- End August special elections in most cases.
🏛 Criminal justice reforms, including:
- Decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips .
- Banning cell phone use while driving, except for hands-free or single-swipe actions.
🚬 Eliminating municipal tobacco bans.
- This targets cities like Columbus, which recently banned the sale of flavored tobacco starting in 2024.
🏞 Allowing fracking on public lands.
💵 $6 billion in federal relief funding, including:
- Money for nursing homes, rural hospitals, an adoption grant program and arts programs.
What didn't pass:
❌ Stricter abortion policies.
- Republicans opted against pursuing a total abortion ban this fall, but may do so in 2023.
🗳 Tougher ballot initiative rules.
- Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) sought to raise the voting threshold for constitutional amendments to pass.
- Stewart openly said the proposal was meant to block future ballot attempts protecting abortion access and reforming the redistricting process.
🏫 Major education changes.
- Lawmakers wanted to shift power away from the state school board toward the governor's office.
🏆 Anti-trans laws.
- GOP members wanted to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in high school girls' sports and ban gender-affirming care for minors.
Separately, proposals to legalize recreational marijuana and enact gun control measures failed to gain traction.
What's next: Approved bills head to the governor's desk for a signature, while all other legislative efforts start over next year.
Ohio's weirdest proposed laws
For every major policy proposal is an obscure one that tends to go overlooked.
- Take House Bill 379, which pitched a new "Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland" license plate.
The intrigue: We scoured the Statehouse for the most unusual items proposed this two-year term:
🎞 No love for Ralphie. A bipartisan bill wanted to designate Nov. 18 as "Christmas Story Family Day" for the date in 1983 that the movie was released.
😬 Don't eat Fido. Six lawmakers unsuccessfully tried to ban pet food from containing the remains of dead cats and dogs.
🏈 Go Buckeyes? One resolution promoted former OSU player Dick Schafrath's candidacy to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while another sought to get the program's vacated victories from 2010 reinstated.
- The House passed the latter resolution by a 51-31 vote, but the Senate failed to take it up.
🍪 Cookie crumbles. Lawmakers considered making the humble sugar cookie Ohio's official state cookie.
Yes, but: Sometimes these efforts are successful.
- Lawmakers designated the All-American Soap Box Derby as Ohio's official gravity racing program.
Editor's note: This story was corrected to note that the official state sugar cookie designation was considered by lawmakers, but never officially passed.