OPN Oct. 2 send: Missed deadlines

As always, I’m more than happy to take questions, tips, or concerns. I can be reached at Avery.Kreemer@coxinc.com or on X at @AveryKreemer.

One quick aside before we get started: Voter registration for November’s election is due by Monday; we’ll have absentee ballot requests in this Sunday’s paper; and our annual Voters Guide candidate questionnaire is coming soon.

• The story: The GOP-controlled Ohio legislature has officially missed the first of three opportunities the state has to pass a congressional redistricting plan before the end of November, as mandated by the Ohio Constitution.

• Rules and deadlines: The Ohio Constitution gave the General Assembly until Sept. 30 to pass new boundaries for Ohio’s 15 congressional districts. The boundaries have to be redrawn this year because the current map was passed without bipartisan support.

• Late start: The legislature, however, didn’t hold its first Joint Congressional Redistricting Committee hearing until Sept. 23. Republicans did not submit any proposed map before the deadline, despite Democrats unveiling a proposal on Sept. 10.

• Concern: Democratic lawmakers and plenty of testifying Ohioans expressed concern that the relative lack of Republican action signals that GOP lawmakers plan to wait out the clock and pass a map along party lines when that power becomes available to them in November.

• Questions: Democrats, like Dayton’s Sen. Willis Blackshear, Jr., questioned why they were the only ones to submit a map for review. “We have yet to see a map that has been introduced by the majority. The question is: what’s taking them so long to introduce that map?” he told this outlet.

• GOP view: Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, sits on the legislature’s redistricting committee alongside Blackshear. He told this outlet that he’s not sure why his party didn’t submit a proposal in this first stage. “You know, that’s the way it’s turned out,” Huffman said. “I’m not sure why. But we have to deal with that and we’ll just keep going forward and meet our constitutional requirement.”

• Here’s the full story.

• The story: Two Republican lawmakers are hoping to pass a bill that would require women in Ohio to be informed of the physical and mental risks associated with abortion and the other options available to them at least 24 hours before a procedure.

• Forum: House Bill 347 — alternatively titled the “Share the Health and Empower with Informed Notices,” or “SHE WINS” Act — was introduced in June by Reps. Mike Odioso, R-Green Twp., and Josh Williams, R-Sylvania. The two men provided sponsor testimony in the Ohio House Health Committee hearing last week.

• Another try: Ohio already has a law on the books requiring a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, though that law was paused following 2023’s statewide passage of an abortion-rights amendment, which codified a person’s right to make their own decisions around reproduction, including abortion.

• Wiggle room: That amendment forbids the state from interfering in those decisions unless it can demonstrate “that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care,” which Williams and Odioso argued is the central idea behind H.B. 347.

• Democrats pan: State Rep. Anita Somani, D-Dublin, an OB-GYN, questioned why the state should legally require 24-hour waiting periods for abortions when there are no requirements of similar kinds for other medical procedures. She further questioned why the state would pass a 24-hour waiting period bill when its existing law is under judicial review.

• Here’s the full story.

• Issue 9: Some fervent supporters and foes of the Issue 9 tax levy on the November ballot in Dayton agree that West Dayton could use more medical services. But they differ on whether the levy would be effective in providing it. Here’s Cornelius Frolik with the details.

• New approach: Dayton’s elected leaders approved funding for a program designed to interrupt cycles of violence that officials hope will result in fewer killings and shootings in a city that last year had one of the highest homicide rates in the nation. Cornelius Frolik has the story.

• Settlement: After Montgomery County commissioners agreed this week to pay a $7 million settlement to the family of a man who died in jail custody, attorneys representing Christian Black’s family said more needs to be done to prevent harm at the Montgomery County Jail. Sydney Dawes has the story.

• Property tax: The special working group convened by Gov. Mike DeWine has finished its work and offered a host of short-term and long-term ways Ohio can fix the state’s property tax system. Will the legislature enact them? Here’s Denise Callahan with the story.

• Speaking of: The Ohio Senate tied the bow Wednesday on the legislature’s veto override that will soon eliminate school districts’ authority to pass various types of levies, including emergency levies, which Republicans say confuse voters. Here’s my story.

• Drivers ed: Ohioans under 21 years old are now required to go through a formal driver’s education course before obtaining their license following a change to state law that went into effect this week. Here’s my story.

• Age verification: Beginning this week, anyone looking to access online pornography in Ohio will have to prove they’re 18 or older by digitally uploading a government-issued ID or another identifying document. Here’s my story.

• Government shutdown: As thousands of federal government workers face another day without pay, there were no signs on Capitol Hill of any bipartisan deal to reopen shuttered agencies, as both parties dug in their heels and did their best to blame the other for the government shutdown impasse. Meanwhile, members of Congress continue collecting a paycheck. Jamie Dupree has the story.

• Local impact: Thousands of workers did not go to work Wednesday at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and other federal installations in the region, the first day of the government shutdown. Here’s Thomas Gnau.

• Furlough possibility: Some 75% of civilian employees working at the headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are eligible for a furlough during the lapse in federal government appropriations. That number could be near 10,000 people. Thomas Gnau has the story.