Senate sidesteps Kasich clash
Amid veto threat, stand your ground provisions removed from gun bill.
COLUMBUS — Ohio lawmakers on Thursday sidestepped a likely showdown with Gov. John Kasich by putting a controversial abortion ban bill on hold and radically scaling back a contentious gun rights bill both of which
— faced the threat of a gubernatorial veto.
State senators voted 19-10 in favor a gun rights bill but only after they removed the “stand your ground” provisions.
Under current law, Ohioans have a duty to retreat before using deadly force when facing a serious threat in public. That won’t change under the legislation — unlike typical stand your ground laws, which remove that language.
Kasich has said he opposes stand your ground legislation and instead favors what he considers to be reasonable gun restrictions.
Jim Irvine of the Buckeye Firearms Association said the amended bill is a compromise that accomplishes multiple goals.
“The Buckeye Firearms Association and NRA, we will be back next session to work on the duty to retreat stuff. We think that is import- ant,” Irvine said.
Added Sen. Bill Coley, who chairs the Senate Govern- ment Oversight Committee: “I think the Rolling Stones would be happy: Everyone is getting what they need.” He added: “No one is getting everything they want. Nowhere close.”
State Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, opposed the bill, saying it fails to address the issue of gun violence.
“So far the response of this body has been to do nothing about that,” she said. “Even the most simple, common sense measures have been rejected by this body.”
Lehner and state Sens. Stephanie Kunze, R-Hilliard, and John Eklund, R-Char- don, joined Democrats in voting against the bill. State Sens. Steve Wilson, R-Mainville, and Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City, voted in favor.
The House still needs to agree to the Senate changes before it can move to the governor’s desk for his signature.
The amended bill would align Ohio law with 49 other states when it comes to the burden of proof in self-defense cases. Currently, Ohio law requires the defendant claiming self-defense to prove it. House Bill 228 would shift that burden of proof to the prosecution to show the defendant did not act in self-defense.
The bill also adopts the federal definition of a sawedoff firearm, bars straw-man purchases of guns and allows off-duty police officers to carry concealed weapons.
Senators also stripped out of the bill a provision that would have prohibited subsidized housing agencies from blocking tenants from having firearms. The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio testified that that provision would have prohibited reasonable firearms restrictions in facil- ities that serve tenants with severe and persistent mental illness and or cognitive disabilities.
Richele O’Connor of Moms Demand Action, which favors gun restrictions, said, “Are we happy? We’re half- happy.”
She noted that the group will continue to advocate for a “red flag” bill that would allow law enforcement and family members to petition for a court order to remove weapons from loved ones who seem to be at risk of harming themselves or oth- ers.
State Sen. Cecil Thomas, D-Cincinnati, a former police officer, tried unsuccessfully to roll provisions of the red flag bill into HB228, but his fellow senators voted 19-10 to table that amendment.
Graduation requirements
The Senate voted 29-0 Thursday to approve alter- native graduation pathways for the Classes of 2019 and 2020, allowing those students to earn high school diplomas without passing state tests.
The Ohio House still has to concur with the Senate changes to House Bill 491, though it’s unclear when that vote would happen.
The bill would allow current high school seniors to hit the same “two of nine” options the Class of 2018 had, including 93 percent attendance, strong classroom grades, 120 work/service hours or a “capstone” project. The Class of 2020 would get similar pathways, but the attendance option would be eliminated, and other options would get clearer guidelines.
Other bills
This week, lawmakers are hustling to win final approval on dozens of bills. On Thursday, they adopted measures to require state education officials to offer instructional material on cursive handwriting; encourage expanded access to palliative care for patients; add police officers to the list of professions required to report suspected child abuse and neglect; and allow local governments to purchase insurance policies instead of bonds for employees in positions of trust.
A bill on the release of body camera footage sponsored by state Rep. Niraj Antani passed a key legislative hurdle Thursday when it was passed out of the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee.
The bill, which clarifies the rules for when body camera footage is a public record, could get a possible Senate floor vote in coming days,
Nearly 150 bills have received committee approval but are awaiting floor votes in either the House or Senate. Lawmakers are slated to finish work by Dec. 19. Any bills that haven’t received final approval in both chambers by then will die and need to be reintroduced in the next two-year legislative session.