Ohio Governor Mike DeWine answered questions about abortion, redistricting, lawmakers overriding his veto and the power struggle in the Ohio House during the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s recent weekly forum.
State building News Bureau reporter Jo Ingles asked DeWine several questions during the hour-long forum and here is a summary of what the governor had to say.
Overriding DeWine’s veto
The Ohio Legislature overrode two of DeWine’s vetoes from earlier this year – one banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth and another blocking cities from banning the sale of flavored tobacco products.
The gender-affirming care ban was scheduled to go into effect at the end of April, but a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge issued a ephemeral restraining order against the bill.
When asked if DeWine disagrees with Ohio legislative leaders. He admitted that “there are some areas where we disagree.”
“Sometimes they overwrote me and sometimes they didn’t, and we may disagree in the future, but on the fundamental issues that the average Ohioan cares about – their family, their children, their safety, their future, this Legislature – he was with me on virtually every one of those issues.” – he said.
Power struggle in the Ohio House
The drama that ensued from House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, coming to power in January 2023 has since created positive ripple effects in the House.
The Republican caucus had previously selected Republican state Rep. Derek Merrin, R-Monclova, as its speaker months before the full House vote, but 22 Republicans and all Democrats voted for Stephens during the actual vote.
When asked what impact this would have on his plans getting through the Legislature, he replied that DeWine said he respects the separation of executive and legislative branches.
“The governor should not be telling the House who to have as speaker,” he said. “We shouldn’t be telling the Senate who to elect as Senate president. I shouldn’t get involved in this. And that’s why I don’t do it.
Miscarriage
Ohio voters overwhelmingly voted a a constitutional amendment protecting abortion and reproductive rights in November. DeWine repeatedly said he accepted the results but reiterated his pro-life stance.
“I believe we are dealing with human lives here,” he said. “…I think one of the very, very important things is that we do everything we can to help a pregnant mom who is in a difficult situation for many reasons.”
Due to the November elections many processes have been filed and legislative work is ongoing in the Ohio Statehouse.
“Anyone can walk into an Ohio court today and file a lawsuit on any law,” DeWine said. “And they have every right to do so. We must respect this process. I respect that process.”
Change of area
DeWine agreed that not involving elected officials in the redistricting process is a good solution, but did not say he supported the change Citizens, not politicians, proposed a constitutional amendment that would create a 15-person citizens’ commission for redistricting. Under the proposed amendment, the commission would not include any current or former politicians.
“I’m still looking at it,” DeWine said. “And, you know, at some point I will announce my position.”
DeWine was a member Ohio Redistricting Commission for the past two years as the group went through the process of drawing maps for state and congressional districts. Governor is one of the positions listed for the commission as part of the ongoing process.
“It’s my personal choice to never get involved in this again, so maybe I have some bias and I don’t want elected officials involved in it because I certainly don’t want to get involved in it again,” he said. “MYour position is that it didn’t work out very well. And we have to do something different. And we don’t need to have elected officials directly involved.”
Seat belt regulations
During last week’s forum, DeWine advocated for stricter seat belt laws in Ohio.
“If you want to save as many lives as possible, the easiest thing to do is pass a seat belt law,” he said.
Currently, a police officer must stop a driver for another offense before ordering him to wear a seat belt.
State Representative Jon Cross, R-Findlay plans to introduce a bill that would make failure to wear a seat belt a major offense.
“The purpose of this legislation is to save lives and make our roads safer,” he added. Cross said in a press release. “Failure to wear a seat belt has become a major offense in many other states, and it is time for Ohio to follow suit.”
According to AAA, in 2023, 49,768 of the 252,000 crashes reported to the Ohio State Highway Patrol involved unfastened seat belts.
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