Lame Duck Wrap-UP & Last-Minute Actions
Thank you for joining us this Lame Duck season as we called, emailed, rallied, and marched to tell extremist conservative legislators that WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN when they try to trample on our rights, our dignity, and our humanity. The 2022 legislative session is winding down, and—thanks to you—we have significant successes to celebrate!
Scroll to read our full Lame Duck recap, including ways you can still take action to urge Governor DeWine to veto the harmful bills that made it to his desk over the last few weeks.
Although we can breathe a bit easier knowing we stopped conservatives from passing all the dangerous bills they wanted to this year, we know they will return in January with even more votes. We are ready for whatever they throw at us in 2023, and we hope you will consider signing up for our OWA Action Fund Cooperative, where you can join us in the fight for abortion health care; Reproductive Justice; and the health, wellbeing, and prosperity of BIPOC communities at the statehouse and beyond!
Click to apply for the OWA Action Fund Cooperative! QuestionsContact OWA Senior Campaign Manager Ana Martinez at ana@ohiowomensalliance.org.
Our Wins: Big Bills That Didn’t Survive Lame Duck
We are thrilled that none of the abortion bans that could have passed even saw the light of day during Lame Duck! In addition to that huge victory, the following bills were also stopped because of the pressure OWA Action Fund and our partners put on the legislature over the last few weeks!
HJR 6 - Attack on Ballot Measures
This joint resolution would increase the threshold to pass ballot measures from a 51% majority to a 60% majority. Thanks to a leaked letter obtained by the Ohio Capital Journal, we know statehouse conservatives wanted to pass HJR 6 to directly attack our efforts to get abortion on the ballot in Ohio. Thanks to the 200+ people who showed up last Tuesday repping over 170 organizations, the House never put HJR 6 to a vote during Lame Duck!
SB 178 - Removing Power from State Board of Ed.
This bill would have given control of all public education in Ohio to the Governor’s office, taking it away from the democratically elected State Board of Education. SB 178 never went to a vote in the House during Lame Duck, thanks to the hard work of OWA Action Fund partners like Honesty for Ohio Education!
HB 151 - Anti-Trans Bill
Thanks to the incredible work led by our partners at Equality Ohio and ACLU Ohio, this bill that would have banned transgender girls from competing in Ohio sports was DEFEATED when it went to a vote on the House floor!
SB 185 - Attack on Protestor Safety
The Senate refused to concur with the amendments of this bill that were put forth by the House, rendering it dead! This bill would have permitted firearms to be distributed at rallies and protests—a measure that would have sanctioned the use of lethal weapons against Ohioans exercising their right to protest.
act now: Big Bills That cAN STILL BE VETOED
HB 45 - Funding Fake Clinics
We need a line item veto from Governor DeWine to stop $3 million in funding to crisis pregnancy centers—the fake “health care clinics” that indoctrinate marginalized Ohioans with anti-abortion, anti-Black, and anti-LGBTQ+ ideology. When a bill contains an appropriation of money, the governor can remove certain pieces of the bill (AKA “line item veto”) without vetoing the entire bill. It’s important to note that the Ohio budget already granted $6 million in funding to these harmful clinics, and Gov. DeWine passed an additional $1.5 million on top of that!
HB 45 STATUS: Headed to Governor DeWine
ACTIONS TO TAKE:
Send Governor DeWine a message
Call his office at 614-466-3588 to urge him to LINE ITEM VETO appropriation to fake clinics outlined in HB 45.
HB 458 - Voter Suppression Bill
This horrible bill includes the following dangerous measures:
Voters have to use a compliant photo ID for day-of voting and early voting (Note: 800,000 Ohioans do not have a photo ID currently. Utility bills, bank statements, etc. will not be acceptable proof of ID.)
Voters lose the last Monday of early voting—one of the most popular days for early voting
Voters will lose the freedom to vote provisionally with the last 4 digits of their social security number
Absentee ballots will be thrown out if not received within 4 days of Election Day (this applies to overseas and military voters too); previously they were counted up to 10 days following the Election Day
Voters lose access to ballot dropboxes—each board of elections will only have a single drop box, which will be limited to the early voting period
Absentee ballot requests and ballots will no longer be prepaid by the government
New requirement that citizenship status be listed on Ohio driver’s license
Only people with physical disabilities qualify for curbside voting
Grandchildren are not allowed to drop off ballots for grandparents (they’re not considered close family apparently)
HB 458 STATUS: Headed to Governor DeWine
ACTIONS TO TAKE:
Send Governor DeWine a message
Call his office at 614-466-3588 to urge him to VETO HB 458
Contact his top staff to tell them that the governor needs to VETO HB 458
Tweet at Governor DeWine: @GovMikeDeWine and @MikeDeWine
