On Wednesday, Senate President Matt Huffman just said no to recreational marijuana.
Last month, state officials determined organizers gathered enough signatures (about 133,000) to compel the Legislature to consider a recreational marijuana bill they proposed. If lawmakers don’t pass it in the next roughly 3.5 months, organizers with the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol can gather the same number of signatures again to place the issue on the general election ballot.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Huffman, a Lima Republican and one of the most powerful figures in state politics, emphasized that no road to recreational marijuana will run through him.
“I don’t want anybody to misunderstand my position,” Huffman said, per The Columbus Dispatch. “I’m not going to bring it to the Senate floor. And if that means people want to go put it on the ballot, have at it.”
The House Majority Leader has said to media he doubts a recreational bill could pass, and Gov. Mike DeWine has indicated he’d veto it if it did. The threat of veto, paired with opposition from legislative leadership, poses a towering roadblock for the bill through the Statehouse.
Thus, recreational marijuana would likely come down to a signature drive if it’s to be. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol would need to submit the signatures again at least 125 days before the Nov. 8 elections — July 6.
Thomas Haren, an attorney representing the coalition, did not respond to a phone call.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose formally announced sending the proposed statute to the General Assembly on Jan. 28. A LaRose spokesman said the organizers cannot gather signatures until the four-month window expires in late May.
In the first round of signature gathering, the coalition reported spending nearly $1.1 million. About $1 million of it went to Advanced Micro Targeting, a Texas based firm that specializes in ballot referendum efforts.
Disclosures filed with the secretary of state’s office show the Marijuana Policy Project, a national cannabis advocacy group, contributed nearly $700,000 to the coalition. Several medical marijuana businesses contributed an additional $600,000 collectively.
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Also from Ohio Capital Journal:
DeWine re-appoints former utility lawyer as utility regulator
Gov. Mike DeWine named attorney and incumbent utility regulator Dan Conway to renew his five-year term on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
The selection of Conway from a shortlist curated by the PUCO’s nominating council undercuts DeWine’s pledge in January that he wouldn’t name appoint anyone to serve as regulator with ties to the energy and utility industry.
Court records show Conway frequently represented utility companies like Columbia Gas, American Electric Power and Monongahela Power Company as an attorney before Gov. John Kasich appointed him in 2017.
A DeWine spokesman downplayed the governor’s apparent reversal. He said the criteria, mentioned in an interview with Gongwer News Service, was only intended to be applied to a “vacancy” on the PUCO. DeWine re-appointed Conway to his current seat, the spokesman said, meaning there was no “vacancy” to be filled. His first term ends in April.
“Commissioner Conway has a track record of being judicious and weighing issues from all sides. I appreciate Commissioner Conway’s continued service on the PUCO,” DeWine said in a statement. READ MORE
Evictions rise to pre-pandemic levels
Story originally published by Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
SPRING, Texas — Dionna Jackson, 40, sat on a long wooden bench nervously scrolling through old text messages on her phone while waiting for her eviction case to be called Monday. More than 87 people joined her in Harris County Judge Lincoln Goodwin’s packed courtroom.
“I’ve found a place for me and my children to stay,” said Jackson, who has three school-aged children. “I just need a few weeks for my income tax [refund] to come in.”
Jackson applied for the Texas Rent Relief Program in October when she first lost her job, but her application has not been processed. She found a new job that pays much less, but because she fell behind two months in rent, the late fees have increased her bill by more than $300 each month.
“I’m having to choose whether to pay rent or feed my children,” Jackson said. “I work 40 plus hours a week. I get paid, I just got paid Friday and all of it went to fix my car and pay for food. I have $27 left in my bank account right now. It’s been rough, but I just need a little more time to catch back up.”
Houston-area landlords filed for more than 5,400 evictions in January, at least 1,000 more than the average for this month pre-pandemic, a spike that housing advocates say will become a national trend as federal and state rental assistance runs out and renter protections expire.
Eviction cases have been on the rise in Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city, since federal renter protections were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in late August. More recently, filings shot up here after emergency rental assistance programs that have helped tens of thousands of families stay in their homes ran out of money, according to local administrators. READ MORE
