Speaker Cupp says issue will be kicked back to legislature
BY SUSAN TEBBEN
After weeks of questions and uncertainty, the Ohio Redistricting Commission is expected to have a hearing on the congressional mapmaking process Thursday, but is not expected to take a vote on any proposed maps.
Instead, Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp has said the legislature will take up congressional redistricting once the commission misses its Oct. 31 deadline. The legislature failed last month to introduce or consider maps, missing their Sept. 30 deadline and thus kicking the matter over to the commission, which is now also anticipated to miss its deadline after failing to meet, introduce, or consider maps the past month.
Representatives for both Cupp and Senate Democrats confirmed to the OCJ that a Thursday meeting is scheduled for the commission.
The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Room 313 (the House Finance room) at the Ohio Statehouse. On the agenda for the meeting is testimony “only from sponsors who submitted complete, statewide congressional district plans,” according to the meeting announcement released Tuesday afternoon.
The Ohio Redistricting Commission is currently facing a slew of lawsuits over the Statehouse district maps it passed 5-2 in a partisan vote in September.
The congressional redistricting meeting comes after the Democratic members of the commission, including co-chair state Sen. Vernon Sykes, sent letters to GOP leaders of the commission urging more action in the redistricting process.
House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes, who is also on the commission, sent a letter Monday to Cupp and Senate President Matt Huffman, a fellow commission member, “requesting the General Assembly take the necessary steps to be able to consider congressional district maps should the Ohio Redistricting Commission fail to approve maps by their Oct. 31 deadline.
“On Monday, November 1st, the congressional maps will move back to the responsibility of the legislature and there are a number of decisions that will need made to be able to begin those deliberations,” Sykes wrote in a Tuesday statement.
The letter asks for the joint legislative committee to meet no later than Nov. 4, and for the release of details on “how many officials will be appointed to the committee.”
The state constitution requires the legislature to create a joint committee that will hear testimony from the public at least twice on a proposed map.
Leader Sykes also asked for details on the congressional plan by Nov. 10 and a public hearing schedule to be released with hearings starting no later than Nov. 15.
It’s not clear whether any of those issues will be addressed on Thursday. The legislature will face a new deadline of Nov. 30 for maps.
***
Also from Ohio Capital Journal:
Justice DeWine defends redistricting recusal decision despite murky track record
Since taking his seat on the Ohio Supreme Court bench, Justice Pat DeWine has recused himself from 37 cases. Perhaps most colorfully, he’s bowed out of eight tied to a doctor accused of performing medically unnecessary spinal surgeries, who then fled to his native Pakistan to avoid prosecution. In court filings, DeWine explained he was the appellate judge in the cases.
But the justice is now facing scrutiny for a case in which he has chosen not to recuse himself. DeWine says he’ll hear arguments in a trio of lawsuits against the Ohio Redistricting Commission. His father, Gov. Mike DeWine, is a member.
That was then
This isn’t the first time questions have been raised about Justice DeWine hearing cases involving his dad. In 2018, a formal complaint was filed with the board of professional conduct over cases tied to then Attorney General Mike DeWine.
Columbus attorney Bradley Frick prosecuted the grievance, and he’s unequivocal on whether Justice DeWine should rule on Gov. DeWine.
“It was my belief, and it remains my belief, and by the way remains the belief of everybody I’ve ever talked to except the three judge panel that ruled on this case, that a son should not hear his father’s cases,” Frick said. READ MORE
Ohio School Boards Association ends affiliation with national group over request to probe threats
WASHINGTON — The National School Boards Association is walking back its letter to President Joe Biden asking for federal help for school board members who have been harassed and threatened over masking requirements and discussions of race in public schools.
The shift came after Republican members of Congress led by Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley raised strong objections to a Department of Justice investigation that was launched in response to the association’s letter. The Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) announced Tuesday it would end its affiliation with the national group, saying it had no input into the original letter.
GOP senators said that the government was trying to police the speech of parents, and it was “entirely inappropriate” for the association to ask for a review of whether crimes are being committed by parents or others under various statutes including the PATRIOT Act, which is aimed at deterring terrorism.
Some conservative groups and local school boards also sharply criticized the DOJ investigation and the national association.
“(The Ohio School Boards Association’s) decision to terminate membership and affiliation with the NSBA Association is a direct result of the letter sent by you to President Joe Biden late last month,” the Ohio board informed the national group in a letter Monday. “The letter purported to be sent on behalf of state associations and school board members across the nation. This assertion could not be further from the truth. OSBA was not notified of the letter, nor were we asked for our thoughts on the matter. If we had been consulted, we would have strongly disagreed with NSBA’s decision to request federal intervention as well as your claims of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” READ MORE
