COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio lawmakers are continuing to pass legislation as quickly as possible, focusing this week on education policy, criminal justice reform and low-level marijuana regulation. But as we get further into lame duck session, provisions from bills will be stuck into unrelated policy to get them passed faster.
"A lot of stuff can happen," House Speaker Jason Stephens laughed.
As the speaker said, now is crunch time.
Every remaining bill that doesn’t get passed during the lame duck session dies. Lawmakers would have to go through the same process starting next year to get their bill passed.
Our first iteration of things to watch this lame duck session:
RELATED: Ohio lawmakers hurry to pass bills during lame duck session
As of Monday, we know what is going to be on the House floor, but not the Senate. Here are a few major pieces of legislation I'm watching this week.
The biggest proposal to watch is House Bill 8, which is now going through the Senate. Originally, it allowed parents to opt out of so-called “sexuality” content in schools.
State Reps. D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron) and Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton) introduced the bill that would also require schools to report any changes in student "identity,” such as being LGBTQ+.
"This bill is to provide transparency in our schools to parents and encourage parental engagement in their child's life," Swearingen said.
To opponents, this is Ohio's version of Florida's controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill.
"Trans students want a fair chance to succeed in school, and these bills make that harder," Equality Ohio's Morgan Zickes said during a press conference on other anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. "We are not giving up because queer joy and queer identities cannot be legislated away."
The bill passed primarily along party lines in the House back in 2023. Only state Rep. Jamie Callender (R-Concord) joined the Democrats to vote against it.
But now, lawmakers have told me that the senators plan to put in unrelated amendments from other bills — such as requiring public schools to allow kids to leave class to go to religious instruction.
RELATED: Public school religious instruction release bill gets support, opposition in Ohio Senate committee
Another amendment that has been floated would require Ohioans to submit their state ID online in order to watch pornography.
"If you are not interested in selling porn to kids and monetizing it, then you shouldn't have a problem with this," Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said during a press conference announcing a bill with the same function last Jan.
The bipartisan legislation was introduced by state Sens. Stephanie Kunze (R-Dublin) and Bill DeMora (D-Columbus).
This double-teaming by Republicans and Democrats has caused immediate backlash from citizens on each side of the political aisle since it would require all porn watchers to provide personal information to view sexually explicit material.
"No one is going to create a log of the porn that they watch that can someday be used against them, someday be used to blackmail them," Clevelander Mallory McMaster said.
Verification would be done by submitting a photo of a state ID or by entering personal information into a third-party system that will then run private details through other online databases to evaluate age.
RELATED: PornSnub — Ohio lawmakers want to require ID to watch online pornography
Lawmakers are going back and forth on which to include and if anything else should be added.
Stephens isn’t a fan of the potential new version of the bill, but he can't "speculate" on if he will or won't concur on it.
I asked him to explain his opposition and his request for a "clean bill."
"I think you say more by saying less... Adding on a lot of other things, there may be unintended consequences or there may be things in in a bill like that may have not have been thoroughly vetted or discussed," Stephens responded.
H.B. 8's message could get bungled by the unrelated provisions, he added.
"We could have easily loaded it up with a lot of different things on our side, but we wanted to make a clear, clean statement with that legislation — that parents have the right to know what's going on in the schools with their children," he said.
Another Senate proposal that Stephens isn't impressed with is likely to head over to the House soon.
It's legal for anyone to buy delta 8, low-level marijuana, at convenience stores. Gov. Mike DeWine has been asking for legislation to fix this loophole for a year now.
S.B. 326 would ban it outright.
"We must act quickly to stop the customer confusion and protect Ohioans from these dangerous, untested products," state Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City), the bill sponsor, said.
But Stephens and the more marijuana-friendly House would rather just regulate it.
"Treat it like you would tobacco," Stephens said. "Put an age limit on it, put it in a place that kids are not allowed to access."
RELATED: Ohio GOP, again, proposes restricting marijuana and making it more expensive
Another controversial bill may not have its chance on the floor this week, Stephens said.
H.B. 319, introduced by state Reps. Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester) and Scott Wiggam (R-Wayne County) is an anti-vax bill that would prohibit employers from requiring Ohioans to get any vaccine. It prevents alleged discrimination from colleges and other public or private entities based on vaccine status.
"I don't know if that one will make it to the floor," Stephens said, frowning at the mention of the bill.
However, two bipartisan bills will be hitting the floor Tuesday.
S.B. 100 would make it illegal to put a tracking device on someone else’s property without their consent.
Introduced by Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Sen. Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville), the legislation would close the loophole in stalking laws.
"I really believe that we can save women's lives, as well as anybody who would be victimized by stalking," Antonio said.
RELATED: Airtag stalking would become illegal under proposed Ohio bill
H.B. 274 is a property tax relief bill that would establish an enhanced homestead of $50,000 for certain homeowners who have lived in their homes for 20 years or more.
"It will impact some number of Ohioans," Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said. "But we think that there's more that can be done."
As mentioned in our previous iteration of "What to watch," the H.B. 660 will be on the floor.
State Reps. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) and Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) introduced the bill, one which would allow universities to directly pay student-athletes for their name, image and likeness.
Our second iteration of things to watch this lame duck session:
RELATED: What to watch at the Ohio Statehouse this week of lame duck session
Dozens of other bills will be heard this week, and the race is on to get them to the floor.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
