At the end of the two-year session of the Ohio legislature, there’s a rush to push through bills that will die on December 31. And there’s almost always one that ends up with a lot of amendments added to it – what’s called the Christmas tree bill.
This Christmas tree bill started as a measure on township zoning laws. But it ended up with dozens of other bills attached. Among those:
- an update to the state's name, image and likeness law to allow universities to directly pay athletes instead of involving a third party
- a requirement that people requesting videos from police pay an estimated cost up front
- a mandate on health insurers to cover hearing aids for people under 21
- authorization for a sales tax exemption for sports team owners renovating county-owned facilities
The bill was the last of a 24-year legislative career for Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati), and he got emotional.
“I'm very pleased to go out as the sponsor of the township omnibus Christmas tree bill. Merry Christmas," Seitz said, choking back tears. "Honestly, if you don't vote for it something's wrong with you."
While some lawmakers complained about so many additions being shoved into this bill, Rep. DJ Swearingen (R-Huron) said all of them came from bills that had been heard in committee meetings, and some had even been voted on by the full House or Senate.
“And that’s how you know that nothing’s being shoved in there as a big surprise and we’re not pulling a fast one here in the dark of night," Swearingen said.
One thing that didn’t get through – a pay raise for elected officials, including next year’s state legislature. Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said there weren't enough votes to reach the two-thirds majority needed to pass the pay raise as an emergency measure.
"The increase for legislators in my caucus was absolutely not going to happen. We probably had about 10 people, maybe 11 or 12, who would vote for that if the legislator part wasn't in it."
