A group of lawmakers appears to have listened to advocacy groups and ordinary Ohioans, as they have stepped away from sections of state House Bill 795 that would have banned family members from serving as paid caregivers in the state.

The anti-fraud effort is understandable, but as is often the case in Columbus, lawmakers took it a step too far.

“How dare you come in my house and tell me who can care for my child! I’m not standing here telling you thank you,” Marlana Kendrick said last week, according to Statehouse News Bureau. “I drove two and a half hours from Cleveland with my son and nobody is here to help me. I don’t care if the bill changed. It should never have been in there is what I’m saying.”

State Rep. Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, agreed on the absurdity of having included family caregivers in the broad effort to combat fraud.

“The family caregiver piece was never part of the fraud. I’m not sure how it got in there or why it got in there, but I’m glad that it is out,” Stephens told Statehouse News Bureau.

It is telling that lawmakers like Stephens had to remind the rest that modern communication is not universal in Ohio. Regarding the requirement for electronic visit verification, he pointed out the problem that poses in his rural district.

“We have a good portion of my district that EVV may or may not work. It depends on which side of the hill you are on and where the cellphone antenna is,” Stephens said. “So we don’t want to penalize people for that type of a situation.”

Everyone — with the possible exception of actual fraudsters — wants lawmakers to put together policy that supports the needs of vulnerable Ohioans while also keeping an eye on the proper expenditure of taxpayer dollars. It is encouraging that, in this instance at least, they appear to have realized they were trying to dig too deep while rooting out the real problem.