Ohio lawmakers continue effort to curb governor’s power
(The Center Square) – The Ohio House joined the Senate this week and introduced legislation to again try to dial back Gov. Mike DeWine’s authority when it comes to health orders, but the bill takes another step.
While the bills in the Senate and House are similar, the House version, sponsored by Rep. Scott Wiggam, R-Wayne County, gives lawmakers the ability to rescind orders from any department within the administration related to a public health crisis.
“Ohioans’ lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this pandemic,” Wiggam said. “Since the beginning, every decision that impacts everyone’s life in Ohio has been made behind closed doors by individuals with little or no accountability to the people of Ohio. It is time that we bring light to these decisions and allow them to be debated in public committees where experts from all fields and concerned citizens can make their voices heard and every Ohioan can be part of the process.”
Among other things, the bill removes the word “ultimate” from current Ohio law that gives the department of health “ultimate” authority in matters of quarantine and isolation.
The bills also create the Ohio Health Oversight and Advisory Committee to oversee the governor and the Ohio Department of Health during a statewide public health emergency.
“The goal of this legislation is to give the citizens of the state of Ohio, through their elected officials, a voice in matters related to public health,” Senate bill co-sponsor Terry Johnson, R-McDermott, said. “The bill restores reasonable checks and balances that are crucial to the functioning of our government.”
The bipartisan committee would have the authority to rescind an executive order issued by the governor or a special standing order or rule issued by the Department of Health for preventing the spread of a contagious disease.
While the House bill awaits a committee assignment, the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee held its second hearing Wednesday on Senate Bill 22, the senate’s version of bill to limit the governor’s power. Nearly 40 witnesses offered testimony opposing the legislation, most coming from county health department officials.
“Now is not the time to strip the state health director of any authority that might be necessary to limit the spread of this virus that has resulted in the death of over 11,000 Ohioans to date,” Knox County Health Commission Julie Miller said in testimony. “Now is the time to focus on Ohio’s mass vaccination efforts, described by most experts as the most significant logistical challenge ever known.”
Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said the proposed legislation could end what he called nine months of chaos during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This bill is in response to nine months of what I think is chaos and miscommunication,” Huffman said after SB 22’s first hearing. “It’s not Gov. DeWine’s fault or the Legislature’s for introducing bills. There’s a fundamental premise the governor only has the ability to do the things the Legislature or the constitution grants the governor. Under current law, a governor can declare an emergency and it goes on indefinitely, and the governor can make laws during the emergency.”
DeWine vetoed Senate Bill 311 in early December, saying medical experts believe the bill restricts public health officials’ ability to react to public health threats and is “not in the best interest of protecting the health and safety of all Ohioans.”
The bill, easily passed with Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, prohibited a statewide stay-at-home order such as the one enacted by DeWine last spring, and it would have given the Legislature the ability by concurrent resolution to end other orders that shutdown businesses.
DeWine had called that bill a disaster.
Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square
