As we enter the second-half of 2020, and the start of a new state fiscal year, we thought it would be good idea to take a look at what the rest of the year has in store at the Ohio Statehouse.
Overall, legislators will not be in Columbus very much between now and the November 3rd election. This reduced schedule will make it hard to introduce new bills or advance existing bills.
Members of the Ohio House of Representatives adjourned for the summer back on June 11 and are not expected to return to the Statehouse officially until after the November election, with a voting session scheduled for Tuesday, November 10. The House does have six “if needed” sessions scheduled for September (three the week of September 14 and three the week of September 21) so they could return to Columbus to conduct official business sooner. Committees are also expected to meet during these times as members work to review some of the 700+ bills that have been introduced in the House since January 2019.
The calendar for the remainder of the year looks like this in the Ohio House:
The Ohio Senate has four session dates scheduled between now and the November election, with an additional 5 “if needed” session dates scheduled over the next four months. Like the House, it is expected that Senate committees will meet to review pending legislation over the summer and fall as well, as Senators have introduced over 300 bills over the past 18 months.
The calendar for the remainder of the year looks like this in the Ohio Senate:
Whenever lawmakers do return to Capitol Square, they will have a number of unresolved issues that will need to be addressed before the end of 2020. At the end of every two-year legislative session, there is a flurry of activity to move existing bills to passage. Often these bills will get aggregated into what is commonly referred to as a “Christmas Tree” bill (because a number of unrelated issues all get ‘hung’ onto the bill).
Policy concepts or programs not previously brought before the legislature do occasionally make it into the final Christmas Tree bill (similar to how previously unvetted policy changes are formalized in the state budget). Bills that have been approved by one legislative body, but not the other, often make it into the Christmas Tree bill as well.
For example, over the past month, lawmakers have approved bills to address broadband expansion (HB13), liquor permitting and sales (HB669, HB674), and criminal justice reform (SB3). However, all of these bills have cleared only one chamber and will need to be reviewed by the other before they can be forwarded to Governor DeWine for approval. These may end up in a final Christmas Tree bill.
In addition, lawmakers are expected to address police reform proposals made by Governor DeWine and Attorney General David Yost following recent statewide protests, reform to the state’s unemployment compensation system (HB614) and the need to make changes to the state budget, which was enacted nearly a year ago and has been thrown terribly out-of-balance to the tune of more than $2.4 billion due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lawmakers could also act to direct more federal funding Ohio received from the federal CARES Act to local governments (there is about $850 million in funding available) to assist in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We will continue to provide updates as lawmakers continue the important work that lies ahead. We will also provide a preview of the 2020 election cycle at the state level later this summer, so stay tuned.