Texts show lawmakers working on vaccine bill
Text messages exchanged between two key Republicans backing a bill blocking employers, schools and others from requiring any vaccination show fawning adoration, strategic selection of witnesses and pushback against rumors.
Texts between state Rep. Jennifer Gross, R-west Chester, sponsor of House Bill 248, and House Health Committee Chairman Scott Lipps, Rfranklin, were obtained through a public records request.
Lipps told Gross that as chairman, he wouldn’t co-sponsor the bill and “it tips people off as to how I may work the bill. However, I bet everyone will know exactly where I stand.”
In the 58 pages of documents, Gross frequently compliments Lipps on his wisdom and skills.
“I am not kidding you when I tell you I adore you. And I am not lying to you and I tell you my favourite chairman. You understand things that I do not understand. The only way that I can learn is if you tell me,” Gross wrote to Lipps.
At times, though, Lipps bit back against Gross for what he perceived to be her participation in rumor mongering.
“Honesty?! Jennifer please stop. It is you. We had people track everything... directly back to you and Candice. So, stop” Lipps wrote to Gross.
Gross denied coordinating anything with Candice Keller, a former Republican state representative from Middletown who now leads an activist group
called Patriot America. Lipps fired back: “OK. That’s fine. Let your games continue. Me and members of your caucus will have to deal with your ‘reliable sources,’ ‘rumors’ and ‘anonymous sources.’ ”
The two lawmakers also discussed a strategy to best position the controversial bill to pass, including whether to limit it to cover just COVID-19 and/or flu vaccines or leave it as one that covers all vaccines.
Lipps did not respond to a message Tuesday seeking comment.
“Would that make it harder to pass the bill? I would not do anything that makes this even harder!!!” Lipps advised on April 22.
On April 28, Lipps asked Gross to limit participants attending a meeting because “Columbus has big ears and bigger mouths.”
He continued: “This must be a strong bill that we can introduce, defend and pass. Let’s try everything we can to control the narrative. We don’t want to wage a battle, on social media, against rumors and half-truths. There will be a lot thrown at us to stop this. Let’s not give them advantage of advance knowledge or extra time. Today, they have no idea what is happening with the bill or when it happens.”
Gross also pushed Lipps on allowing certain witnesses to testify, including Dr. Sherri Tenpenny of Cuyahoga County. Gross referred to Tenpenny as a “world renown physician” in a May 28 text.
Tenpenny is a well-known anti-vaccination activist. When she testified in June on House Bill 248, she claimed that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 causes people to become magnetized – a claim that has been debunked as false.
Laura A. Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.