Rotunda Rumblings
Rule followers? As the Ohio House resists any quick reforms to the state’s new recreational marijuana law, most changes that state officials want to make – like banning sales to minors and advertising restrictions — will likely be done not through legislation, but via administrative rules slated to take effect in early September, according to state Rep. Jamie Callender, a Lake County Republican. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, Callender said that changes that would require legislation, like altering the state’s marijuana tax framework, might not come until a new legislative session begins next year. Gov. Mike DeWine, though, reiterated Monday that he wants lawmakers to take immediate action to allow existing medical marijuana dispensaries to sell recreational weed and to restrict sales of low-level-THC “delta-8″ products.
Get out the vote: Tuesday is the last day to register to vote or update your voter registration ahead of the March 19 primary. Wednesday is the beginning of early in-person and absentee mail-in voting. Laura Hancock has details about how to participate in this right.
Wasn’t me: Republicans and Democrats in the Ohio House want to crack down on “deepfakes” – AI-assisted technology that can create media to impersonate real people engaging in offensive or embarrassing or outrageous conduct. As Jake Zuckerman reports, the bills range in scope as far as what kinds of deepfakes they target, and also run the gamut from criminal to civil penalties.
Use it or lose it: A $120 pandemic benefit sent out to help feed Ohio students last summer has not been spent yet by an estimated 131,000 recipients, Sean McDonnell reports. If families don’t act soon, nearly $16 million in available benefits would be lost.
Defense from Russia: U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, a Dayton Republican, on Sunday defended his call last week for the Biden administration to declassify information about a serious national security threat from Russia, saying he accomplished his goal, Sabrina Eaton reports. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence chairman told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he worried the administration would ignore the potential anti-satellite weapon from Russia, much as it allowed a Chinese spy balloon to fly over the United States for several days last year before shooting it down.
Ad-ons: The Ohio House Republicans’ campaign arm has released another wave of TV commercials as part of its ongoing $743,000 ad campaign on behalf of several of House Speaker Jason Stephens’ favored incumbents. Three of the six new ads are in House GOP primaries not included in the initial round of ads, including 30-second spots praising state Rep. Sara Carruthers of Butler County and attacking Jodi Salvo and Dillon Blevins, who are challenging state Reps. Brett Hillyer of Tuscawaras County and Jean Schmidt of Clermont County, respectively. Gina Collinsworth, who’s running against state Rep. Justin Pizzulli of Scioto County, criticized a new ad that included a photo of her wearing a mask, saying it was taken while she was visiting her husband while he was being treated for cancer in 2021, when mask use was required in hospitals.
Vance in Munich: U.S. Sen. JD Vance, a Cincinnati Republican, reiterated his view that helping Ukraine is not in America’s interests during a visit to last weekend’s Munich Security Conference. He told Politico the death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny wouldn’t change his views. “We know Navalny died, because we know Putin is a brutal guy, but I knew Putin was a brutal guy a year ago and I know he will be a brutal guy a year from now,” Vance said.
Loose cannon: Fellow Republicans are calling for J.R. Majewski to drop out of the GOP congressional primary to run against Toledo Democrat Marcy Kaptur in November after he made a disparaging joke about people with special needs during a podcast, the Toledo Blade reports. “No matter how hard you try, arguing on the internet is like being in the Special Olympics,” Majewski said on a podcast called “The Trifecta Hour.” “No matter how good you perform, you’re still (expletive) retarded at the end of the day.” Majewski posted an apology on social media, but several Republicans called for him to drop out, with state Rep. Gary Click calling him “an embarrassment to the ticket.”
What we’re watching this week
1. Only one legislative committee meets this week. The Senate General Government Committee will field testimony on legislation to ban ballot issue campaigns from accepting money from foreign nationals and another bill to preemptively outlaw ranked choice voting.
2. The “Study Committee on the Future of Gaming in Ohio,” a panel focused on sports betting created in the most recent state budget, has its first meeting Tuesday.
3. Candidates have a deadline looming to file new financial disclosure statements with ethics officials.
4. Rep. Jim Jordan, among the most incendiary members of the right flank of Congress, is headlining a fundraiser for Senate President Matt Huffman on Thursday at the Athletic Club, as noted by Gongwer News Service.
5. Early in-person and absentee voting begins this week. Donald Trump and Joe Biden all but guaranteed to be their parties’ nominees. Could the foregone conclusion at the top of the ticket depress turnout?
Tick Tock
The countdown is on for the March primary, where Ohioans will decide which candidates should advance to the general election. Here are key dates to remember:
Today: The deadline for voter registration
Feb. 21: Early in-person absentee voting begins
March 12: Applications for absentee ballots for primary election must be received by boards of elections
March 18: Absentee ballots returned in the primary must be postmarked via U.S. mail to be counted, so long as they’re received by boards of election by March 23.
March 19: Presidential Primary Election Day. Polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Birthdays
Ty Walker, Ohio Senate assistant sergeant-at-arms
Straight From The Source
“Your first question should be: Who is not in the room, because you know they got screwed.”
-Ashley Brown, a former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio commissioner, speaking to Jessie Balmert of the USA Today Network Ohio Bureau about side deals large energy users cut with utilities, as detailed in the recent state indictment of ex-PUCO chairman Sam Randazzo and two former FirstEnergy executives.
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