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Locals sponsor LGBTQ, abortion bills

The two state senators who represent the Mahoning Valley are sponsoring a number of bills in the General Assembly, including two that are particularly interesting.

State Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, who represents Mahoning and Columbiana counties, already had a couple of bills pass in the Senate this year while Sen. Sandra O’Brien, R-Knox, whose district includes Trumbull County, had one approved by the Senate after serving there for less than three months.

It was a week ago that the Senate approved separate bills by the two related to $765 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds.

O’Brien’s bill called for $465 million in federal funds to go toward helping state residents having trouble paying their rent and utility bills because of the pandemic.

Rulli’s bill provides $300 million to businesses with half going to small businesses that have already been approved for aid but haven’t received money because of a lack of program funding and $112.2 million to reimburse child-care providers for pandemic-related expenses. The rest is for indoor entertainment businesses that lost revenue because of the pandemic, new businesses that opened after Jan. 1, 2020, for fairs and the state’s two veterans’ homes.

The bills head to the House, where they likely will pass.

Rulli also sponsored a bill the Senate approved earlier this month to repeal the nuclear subsidy involved in the controversial House Bill 6. That law is the $1 billion bailout of Ohio’s two nuclear power plants at the center of criminal cases involving an alleged $60 million public corruption scheme.

Rulli, who’s shown a knack for getting bills passed during his two-plus years in the Senate, is sponsoring more than a dozen other pieces of legislation.

They include a nonbinding resolution urging Congress to adopt an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to fix the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices at nine. The proposal is in response to Republicans concerned that a Democratic majority in Congress and a Democrat in the White House will look to expand the court.

Another is an effort to loosen the state’s fireworks restrictions, which would help Phantom Fireworks, a local retail fireworks business, and he’s proposing a bill to allow Lordstown Motors to sell its electric vehicles directly to commercial and fleet customers in the state, bypassing dealerships.

Rulli also is sponsoring the Ohio Fairness Act, a bill to prohibit the discrimination of LGBTQ Ohioans. The bill calls for the end of discriminatory practices based on sexual orientation and gender at work, housing, education, credit and other areas.

That bill has been proposed several times before — including the last session with Rulli as a lead sponsor — without passage.

What’s unique about this bill is Rulli is a conservative Republican and the other lead sponsor is Sen. Nickie J. Antonio, D-Lakewood, the Legislature’s only openly gay member.

Explaining why he’s sponsoring the bill, Rulli said Ohio “has to be all inclusive to all people,” and “a place where our kids can build meaningful and fulfilling lives.”

Meanwhile, O’Brien has introduced three other bills in this session.

One allows county probation departments to accept credit card payments and another requires the state Environmental Protection Agency director to adopt a maximum contaminant level for aluminum in drinking water.

The other is considerably more controversial.

The Human Life Protection Act would ban all abortions, except to save the mother’s life, in Ohio that would take effect immediately if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. (Rulli is a cosponsor.)

While pro-life supporters believe the existing court is prepared to get rid of the 1973 decision that ruled it constitutional for women to have the right to terminate their pregnancies without excessive government restrictions, most of the court’s justices haven’t shown a desire to revisit the case.

Known as a trigger law, the Human Life Protection Act was introduced in the Ohio House two years ago, but no vote was taken.

O’Brien says the bill “is a vital step forward in ensuring that the most vulnerable members of our society are protected. It’s time to imagine an Ohio without abortion, one where every precious human life is cherished and where no woman is victimized by the profound loss of abortion.”

Under the proposal, doctors who perform abortions could be charged with felonies and those involved in the medical process could face wrongful death civil lawsuits.

Women who have abortions would have immunity against prosecution under this proposal.

Skolnick covers politics for the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com

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