COVID conflict: The battle between Gov. Mike DeWine and GOP lawmakers over the governor’s coronavirus powers escalated Thursday, as DeWine vetoed legislation that would strip his administration of the power to issue health orders to statewide, according to Jeremy Pelzer. Shortly before the veto was announced, more than 30 members of the Ohio House introduced a bill that would no longer require companies to allow government inspections to ensure DeWine’s mask mandate is met. , Pelzer Reports.

Come friday: DeWine is expected to release details of the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine on Friday, possibly at a press conference. Evan MacDonald explains what we know so far: CVS and Walgreens will be involved in the distribution of the vaccine to nursing homes; About 98,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine will arrive in Ohio around Dec. 15, among other details.

Abortion invoice: Ohio House passed a bill requiring fetal remains from surgical abortions to be cremated or buried, Laura Hancock reports. Violation of Senate Bill 27 is punishable by first degree misdemeanor.

Put on the map: Now that Ohio’s seven-day coronavirus test positivity rate is above 15%, the state is on its own coronavirus travel advisory card, which shows 13 other states also with rates high positivity from which travelers are advised to self-quarantine, Hancock Reports.

8 purple counties: A record eight Ohio counties is now on highest purple alert for coronavirus with the addition of five northeastern Ohio counties – Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark and Summit. In addition, Cuyahoga, Madison and Fairfield were on the “watch” list to possibly switch to purple next week, Rich Exner Reports. There was a bright spot. Franklin County went from purple to the lower concern level of red.

Thursday’s numbers: Ohio has reported 8,921 new cases and 82 additional deaths, Hancock Reports.

About racial disparities: The Health Policy Institute of Ohio analyzed coronavirus data released by the state and found that the breed is underreporting. DeWine wanted racial and ethnic information online to help the public understand the racial disparities linked to the coronavirus. But consider this: As of September 9, only 11.8% of cases were of an “unknown” race. It rose to 19.2% on November 30. During this same period, the percentage of hospitalizations for people of unknown race increased from 2.8% to 5% and the percentage of deaths of unknown race increased from 1% to 4%.

Time concern: The Ohio House voted 58-32 Thursday to urge Congress to make daylight saving time permanent, ending the annual daylight saving time change, Andrew Tobias reports. With the Senate having already approved The Sunshine Protection Act, Ohio becomes the 14th US state where lawmakers have urged Congress to end the practice of rolling back the clocks one hour each fall.

In the Senate: The Ohio House passed House Bill 305 on Thursday, 84-8, which revises how the state funds K-12 education. The bill is now heading to the Senate, where it faces a challenge since some key Republicans believe there isn’t enough time to properly review it before the end of the year, when all bills die.

Shooting in advance: A new invoice it would increase the cases in which a person who uses force in self-defense does not have a duty to retreat can walk past the Ohio house as early as next week, Speaker of the House Bob Cupp said on Thursday . Cupp said the focus on this bill is why the House delayed the vote on separate legislation which would grant civil immunity to nonprofit organizations in the event of death, injury or loss resulting from handgun incidents. Cupp also said it was “quite doubtful” that the House would act on any of the DeWine’s gun reform proposals before the end of the session.

Journalists commemorated: A privately funded memorial for foreign journalists will be built on federal land in the District of Columbia under legislation championed by U.S. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, who recently passed both houses of Congress. A statement from Portman noted that last summer marked the second anniversary of a fatal shooting of five journalists at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, and said the memorial “will serve as a fitting tribute to both men and women. journalism, including those in the Capital Gazette, who made the ultimate sacrifice in defending the First Amendment.

New concert: U.S. Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty was elected Thursday to chair the 59-member Congressional Black Caucus at the upcoming Congress, Sabrina Eaton Reports. A Beatty statement pledged to “use my voice to address persistent economic and health disparities and fight to break the chains of systemic racism that have held back the black community for far too long.”

Musical chairs: Toledo Democratic Representative Marcy Kaptur on Thursday abandoned her candidacy for the presidency of the House Appropriations Committee and gave her support to the candidate who had secured the support of a panel that selects the chairmen of the party’s committees, Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut. Kaptur said DeLauro assured her “that she is determined to work with our Great Lakes and Heartland region to secure her place at the committee’s deliberations table and in our efforts to bring all of America back to good health. and economic prosperity “.

Small business loss: After several terms as the first Republican on the House Small Business Committee, Cincinnati Republican Steve Chabot will hand over the job to Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri next year due to a GOP rule that places term limits on leaders of its committees. A party steering committee refused to grant a waiver to let Chabot retain the post, leaving Jim Jordan of Champaign County as Ohio’s only Republican to take a high-level position in the United States House of Representatives next year. He heads the contingent of his party’s House Judiciary Committee.

Then: Antoinette Wilson, CEO of Triumph Communications, threw his hat in the ring as a possible successor to Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper. Wilson has led numerous candidates statewide, including Jennifer Brunner in her successful run for the state Supreme Court this year.

Benefits Report: New and ongoing unemployment benefit claims each rose in mid-November to levels not seen since July, Pelzer Reports. However, the number of complaints last week decreased slightly compared to the previous week.

Question: In the 1993 film “The Fugitive”, Harrison Ford plays a prominent surgeon who is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife. Which Ohio case inspired the film and a previous TV series?

Send your response by e-mail to [email protected]. The first good respondent will be mentioned in next week’s newsletter.

Thanks for answering last week’s trivia question:

Ohio ranked 10th in the country last year for turkey production. How many millions of birds have Ohio farms produced? (Here’s a clue, the number one state was Minnesota, which produced 40 million birds.)

Answer: Ohio farms produced 5.9 million turkeys in 2019, or 23.6 million pounds worth $ 152.3 million, according to last year’s US Department of Agriculture “Poultry – Production and Value” report.

Capitol Letter reader Barry Lowe was the first to send in the correct answer.

Lanny Erdos was confirmed Thursday by the US Senate as director of the Office of Surface Mine Recovery and Enforcement of the US Department of the Interior. Erdos, who has served as the office’s senior deputy director since 2019, previously worked in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for 31 years, including as head of the ODNR’s Mineral Resource Management Division.

Friday: Former US / State Representative-elect Jean Schmidt

Saturday: Aaron Mulvey, deputy Republican press secretary at Ohio House; DJ Eckert, Republican political advisor

Sunday: Bill Beagle, former lawmaker and senior director of policy and program administration for the Ohio treasurer’s office; State Representative Tom Brinkman

“My experience is that amazing things can happen to Lame Duck, so we’ll see.”

-Gov. Mike DeWine Thursday after being asked about the status of his STRONG Ohio gun control bill. It has been a year since the legislation was heard, but DeWine said he had had good conversations with legislative leaders.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct and timely information to those who care deeply about decisions made by the state government. If you are not already subscribed, you can subscribe here to receive Capitol Letter free of charge in your inbox every day of the week.