House Republicans Wait Until Past Midnight to Override the Will of Ohio Voters on Cannabis, Reduce Funds for Nursing Homes and Publicly Funded Childcare Providers, and Limit Vote by Mail for Ohioans

COLUMBUS — Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) today condemned the passage of anti-voter Senate Bill (SB) 293 which implements unnecessary hurdles to the voting process, SB 56 which overrides the will of Ohio voters on cannabis and undercuts local craft brewers and businesses with hemp products, and HB 184 which slashes funding for nursing homes and childcare.

SB 56: Conference Committee Compromise that Undercuts Will of Ohio Voters

House Republicans cut a deal with Senate Republicans to override the will of the 57% of Ohioans who voted in favor of the ballot initiative that protected adult-use cannabis in 2023 The version of Senate Bill 56, which was voted on in the early hours of November 20th, added criminal provisions, stripped anti-discrimination provisions for cannabis use, and further curtailed expungement efforts. The bill failed to create a pathway for craft brewers to make THC beverages with Ohio cultivated marijuana and bars any sale of drinkable cannabinoid products after a short period, even if the federal law changes, creating great uncertainty and threat to the industry. The bill does finally appropriate community host funds that the state has been improperly withholding from local communities for the past two years. 

“Make no mistake, Ohioans knew what they were voting on with Issue 2 and were very clear about their intent to decriminalize recreational marijuana in this state. SB 56 rolls back the will of Ohio voters and pushes our state in the wrong direction on this issue. Republicans’ finally agreeing to release the host communities the funds voters approved came at a steep cost to justice, to our craft brewing industry, and to adult Ohioans' use of legal, recreational marijuana in Ohio," said Leader Isaacsohn. 

SB 56 passed out of the House with 52 affirmative Republican votes. Pending Senate approval of the conference report on SB 56, the bill will be sent to the governor for signature.

SB 293: Attacks on Absentee Voting and Voter Registration 

Having been amended one day before the General Assembly passed the bill and without sufficient public comment and consideration, Republicans passed SB 293 which eliminates the grace period for absentee ballots arriving after election day by mandating all ballots. Even if postmarked by election day, the bill states that ballots must arrive by 7:30pm on election day. In 2024, nearly 1 million Ohioans voted by absentee mail-in ballot or absentee drop box voting, and thousands would have not counted due to the additional barriers to voting under SB 293. 

SB 293 creates vague and problematic procedures that could cancel registrations when other government agencies’ databases conflict, whether or not those records are factually correct. This means voter registrations could be cancelled when there is one small typo in a system that is not maintained by the Secretary of State, the office charged with enforcing Ohio’s voting laws. 

“One senior citizen, disabled voter, or voter without transportation who is unable to see their vote counted because of a delay in the mail is one Ohioan too many. If we want to claim to be a fully functioning democracy, we have to protect the very fundamental element to it–the right to vote,” said Leader Isaacsohn. 

SB 293 passed the House on a party-line vote, and now heads to the governor’s office for signature.

HB 184: Republicans Determined to Cut Nursing Home Funding and Childcare

Through hundreds of last-minute amendments, the final version of HB 184 removes nearly $200M in funding for care for Ohio seniors in nursing homes, and delays an important payment modernization process for publicly funded childcare providers, reducing expected state investment in quality, affordable childcare by $73M next fiscal year. 

“At a moment when Ohioans are most concerned about attaining a good quality of life – thinking about their utilities and groceries and how they can afford their bills this holiday season – Ohio Republicans chose to reduce funding for childcare and the most vulnerable,” said Leader Isaacsohn. 

The amendments to HB 184 came only after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled twice that the Department of Medicaid and the Ohio Legislature were wrongly applying quality incentives. 

The US Chamber of Commerce has reported that we lose $5B in economic potential due to a lack of childcare access. Publicly funded childcare businesses, often owned and operated by women and minority entrepreneurs who fill a critical need across Ohio communities, will be adversely impacted by HB 184.

HB 184 now heads to the governor’s office for signature.