House Votes to Limit Ohio Health Director’s Authority

This week, the House voted 58-37 to approve amended legislation that, if signed into law, would curtail the state health director’s ability to issue orders limiting business operations and the movement of Ohioans.

Under the amended Senate Bill 1 — a regulatory reform bill — the health director’s orders would be limited to 14 days. Any order lasting longer than two weeks would need to be approved by the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.

It is unknown if the Senate will support this provision. A spokesman for Gov. Mike DeWine said the governor would veto the bill if it reached his desk as passed by the House. 5/7/2020