Since Wednesday, Gov. Mike DeWine has been busy signing legislation lawmakers sent to him at the end of June during a 12-hour-long session before their summer break.
With DeWine’s signature, more than 20 bills are now law, some with pages and pages of provisions. Most of the laws take effect 90 days after being signed—meaning late October, in this case.
Among them, the state will begin numbering ballot issues consecutively through Issue 500, instead of restarting at 1 every single election (Senate Bill 98). That means the proposed Citizens Not Politicians redistricting constitutional amendment will likely be the last Issue 1 for some time.
A statewide ban on stunt driving and street takeovers will kick into gear, creating two new crimes, each of which are a first-degree misdemeanor. House Bill 56 defines “hooning,” an umbrella term for the acts, and also increases the penalty for fleeing a police officer.
By early next year, the state is now mandating that public schools create and post their religious accommodation policies, including allowing students a maximum of three excused absences each year for religious purposes (House Bill 214).
Some other soon-to-be-enacted laws include:
- House Bill 47, which would require heart-shocking devices called automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in all Ohio public schools and charter schools and all athletic facilities in midsized towns or larger. It was introduced a month after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during a January 2023 game against the Cincinnati Bengals
- SB 98, which started as a fraudulent business filings proposal but was heavily amended in the House. It now extends numerous property tax exemptions
- Senate Bill 94, which started out as a bill to modernize county recorders records but now includes measures from the CAMPUS Act, among other changes. The CAMPUS Act allocates state money to several newly-established grant programs, including one to boost security for student organizations that are at-risk for racial, religious or ethnic harassment
- Senate Bill 214, which would allow human trafficking survivors to erase some criminal records
DeWine used his line-item veto power to nix a provision dissolving the Ohio Medical Quality Foundation, which mostly awards medical grants. He said there should be hearings before the state decides whether to dissolve it. The larger law, Senate Bill 144, will soon allow pharmacy technicians to administer immunizations.
