COLUMBUS – Republican lawmakers advanced the latest legislative action aimed at limiting the emergency powers of Ohio’s governor, sending a Senate bill to the House but also to an almost certain veto.
A small committee of legislators could overrule the Ohio governor’s health orders under a bill approved Wednesday by the state Senate that marks the latest effort by GOP lawmakers to restrict Gov. Mike DeWine and his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
DeWine, who vetoed a similar bill in December, pledged to do the same with this bill, calling it “unconstitutional.”
“This is not the time to be cutting our authority, the health department’s authority, back in regard to protecting the people of the state,” he said, citing uncertainty about future growth in the number of COVID-19 cases due to the emergence of variant forms of the coronavirus that causes the disease.
The bill would create a committee that would have to power to rescind executive actions taken by a governor or the state health department through a concurrent resolution, which requires a simple majority from the House and Senate.
“It is important for the people to have a voice, and for the General Assembly to truly represent their voice. This amended version of Senate Bill 22 will give me as a legislator the opportunity to ensure the people of the 16th Senate District’s voices are heard,” said Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard) who supported the legislation.
The latest draft was altered Wednesday to reduce the number of lawmakers making the final say on orders in the committee from 10 to 6.
The ongoing battle between the Republican governor and the GOP-controlled legislature finds DeWine at odds with his own party while getting support from Democrats like Toledo Sen. Teresa Fedor.
“Are we really so far removed from reality that we are worried more about our own power as a legislative body than we are about the deaths of our constituents? We have a duty to protect lives, not endanger them while empowering ourselves,” Fedor said following the vote.
The state reported 1,816 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of Ohioans infected since the onset of the pandemic to 945,107 with 16,513 fatalities.
The Department of Health reported 60 additional deaths but the Bureau of Infectious Diseases and the Bureau of Vital Statistics continue to reconcile death data from 2020. The agency says the review will result in some fluctuations in death numbers.
There were 149 new hospital admissions, bringing the total number of Ohioans currently hospitalized for COVID-19 to 1,539, occupying 5.57% of the total number of beds in the state. There have been a total of 48,888 hospitalizations.
The number of active coronavirus cases in Ohio dropped to 56,312 and the seven-day positivity rate remained at 5%.
Due to a technical issue the 36,171 vaccine doses the state reports administering Tuesday may be elevated despite weather delays and cancellations. The state has administered 1.3 million initial doses and 494,754 second doses, or 4.23% of the population.