Month: February 2020

Lawmakers held the first hearing on House Bill 468 Tuesday, legislation that would make distracted driving a statewide primary offense.

Using a cellular device while driving currently is a secondary offense in Ohio, meaning police must witness another offense before pulling over a driver.

Representative  Mary Lightbody (D-Westerville) said the purpose of the bill is to keep Ohioans safe.

“What we’re doing is making it a primary offense to be using your handheld electronic device while you’re driving, other than just in a very few ways,” said Lightbody, who represents Ohio District 19, including part of Franklin County.

“The whole goal of this is to keep people safe on the highway, including nearby pedestrians,” said Lightbody. “If you can engage with your device wirelessly, without touching your device, that is allowed. You cannot engage or interact with a game or view Netflix.”

Lightbody said use of navigational apps would be acceptable, as long as the device was not being held in the driver’s hand.

“You can dial and receive a phone call, but you cannot conduct the call with the device in your hand,” said Lightbody. “The conversation has to be wireless or through speaker phone.”

The bill is in the Transportation and Public Safety Committee.

The legislator said it is already a primary offense in some cities and municipalities in Ohio to use a cellular device while driving, including Columbus, Bexley and Westerville.

Auto insurance companies and law enforcement support the bill, she said.

Lightbody said that police officers detect use of phones by watching the behavior of drivers.

“Anyone who is driving erratically, they can approach and look to see what the driver is doing,” said the legislator. “There’s a police officer in Columbus who has been very active in enforcing Columbus’s primary offense law. He looks for an activity called head bobbing. He holds his body cam up to the window, so he’s documenting that this person is using their call phone.”

In response to those that feel the law would be too far-reaching, Lightbody said, “There are laws that govern how we drive, like stopping at a stop sign or staying within the speed limit. This would be one of those laws. The whole point is to keep everyone safe including the drivers of those cars, passengers and nearby pedestrians.”

Governor Mike DeWine previously stated that he supports making distracted driving a primary offense in order to curtail the number of deaths and crashes caused by inattentive drivers.

A revised petition to allow Automatic Voter Registration on Ohio’s November ballot was submitted to state officials Monday.

The filing is the first part of a multi-step process that eventually will require the campaign to gather signatures from hundreds of thousands of Ohio voters so that the measure can be placed on the ballot.

Under the proposed constitutional amendment, Ohioans would automatically be registered to vote upon applying for or renewing a driver’s license or other state-issued ID. Supporters of automatic registration say that it increases turnout, allows for updating and correcting voter rolls, and aligns with the goal of election security.

The first draft was rejected by the the Ohio Attorney General because the summary was longer than the language for the actual constitutional amendment. The office also said the summary included a paragraph of text that’s not included in the amendment.

Opponents of Automatic Voter Registration argue that it threatens election security, creates an administrative burden on election officials, and encourages ill-informed voting.

Members of “Secure and Fair Elections” and a collection of voting rights advocates delivered the revised petition. The coalition is led by the ACLU of Ohio
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Twenty-one states currently have same-day voter registration. About a dozen more have some manner of automated voter registration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Per the Attorney General’s request, the updated summary is what advocates will use when circulating the initiative for signatures.

The group will need to collect about 443,000 valid signatures by July to qualify for the November ballot.

The measure would reinstate and expand what previously was referred to as “Golden Week,” which state lawmakers eliminated in 2014. Another element of the proposed amendment is a required, statewide post-election audit.

Proof of residency is a key requirement in all states that offer same day registration.

In a traditional (pre-Election Day) registration, which is what Ohio currently uses, election officials have time to send a non-forwardable mailing to the prospective voter in order to verify the voter’s residence before processing the registration application.

Because that isn’t possible with AVR, the prospective voter must present proof of residency at the time of registration or soon after registering. A current driver’s license or ID card will suffice in all states. In some states, documents such as a paycheck or utility bill with an address is acceptable for proving residence.

A few states also permit an already-registered voter to vouch for the residency of an Election Day registrant.

Other elements of the proposal would put guarantees in writing that military service members and overseas citizens receive their ballots on time and that voters with disabilities have equal access to the polls.

The Attorney General’s office said in a statement that its role is to determine whether the summary is a “fair and truthful representation of the proposed the group acknowledges that rejected petition language is a common practice and it says they will be refiling.”

The Ohio Republican Party’s governing body withdrew its endorsement of legislative candidate Joe Dills Thursday night, citing concerns about the candidate’s activity on a married dating website. 

Dills had the endorsement of the state Republican party until information recently surfaced of Dills’ involvement with the Ashley Madison site. This prompted the Ohio Republican Party Chairwoman, Jane Timken, to ask that Dills leave the race for the 65th House District, but Dills refused.

The candidate admitted on Facebook that he had an Ashley Madison account while a single man in 2013. In an email to cleveland.com, Dills reportedly said that while it was “wrong” for him to join the site, he intended to stay in the race. 

“It has come to my attention that there is additional information regarding Mr. Dills using a second account on Ashley Madison while he was married to his current wife,” Timken said, in a statement. “I want to be clear, Ashley Madison is a site for discreet affairs – affairs between married people.”

Dills, of Union Township,  is one of three Republicans running for the 65th House District seat, along with former U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt and pistol instructor Dillon Blevins. The district includes northern and western Clermont County.

Timken continued, “Moreover, Joe emphatically declared he never used this site while married to his current wife. I feel for his family in this time, and wish that he would have been open and transparent when the initial report came out,” said the GOP chairman. “I stand by my previous statement and urge him to do what’s best for his family and community – immediately withdraw from this race.”

Ohio GOP Communications Director, Evan Machan, said the organization recently received additional condemnatory information about Dills.

“Starting on Friday, January 24, we received information stating that Joe Dills had actively used the website Ashley Madison to meet married women,” stated Machan. “Upon receiving these reports and in an effort to shield Joe’s family from public embarrassment, at my request, and through back channels we asked Mr. Dills to withdraw from the race.”

Machan stated that the back channel discussions deteriorated and Dills stated publicly that he would not withdraw and that he never used these sites while married to his current wife. 

“Early this week, we received new reports that this was far from the truth,” Machan said in the statement. “Starting with the Cincinnati Enquirer publishing that his wife had shown up to his work and, “believed her husband was having an affair* followed by a report that he had another Ashley Madison account that was active in 2015 – a year after him and his current wife were married – it was clear that Mr. Dills lied to the public.”

*Source: Miami Township Police Report, Incident Number 1-16-000904, Narrative Reporting Office Steven Burgess

Earlier Thursday, the House GOP’s campaign arm reportedly gave state party leaders 116 pages of opposition research about Dills. The document detailed tax liens, traffic records and allegations of shoving his ex-wife.  

“Joe Dills clearly isn’t ready for this public exposure. It’s only going to get worse,” according to the document which included research by FAR Public Affairs, LLC.

Timken said she did not know the firm that had prepared the report but it contained mostly public records. 

The alleged abuse was detailed in a background investigation report completed when Dills applied to the Ohio Highway Patrol in 2015. In the report, Dills’ first wife said he “grabbed her arm, picked her up and slammed her on the ground” during a heated argument in 2010. 

Dills’ ex-wife did not report the incident to police at the time and told the Ohio Highway Patrol investigator that it was the only time Dills had laid a hand on her, according to the background report. Dills told the patrol investigator that he was defending himself and had never struck a woman.

State party officials reportedly verified the dating site information by comparing it to their own copy of the Ashley Madison files that were leaked in 2015 after the site was hacked, according to a GOP official. Following the hack, the state party downloaded all of the hacked files, which contain data on about 32 million users.

The files can be searched by the public as well, via searchable websites.

Each week, Ohio Statehouse News profiles one of our state legislators. Representative Dave Greenspan (R-Westlake) is our featured legislator this week. 

Greenspan is serving his second term in the Ohio House of Representatives. Prior to this, the legislator  served on the Cuyahoga County Council. He represents the 16th Ohio House District, which includes the cities of Bay Village, Fairview Park, North Olmsted, Rocky River and Westlake in Northeastern Ohio.

Why did you become involved in government?

My grandmother told me if you want to give something truly valuable, give of your time. Government service enables me to give back to the community. I’ve always had an interest in public policy. In 2010, I was encouraged to run for county government. Several years later, here I am serving at the state level. 

What are your legislative policy priorities or goals for the upcoming session?

My priorities focus around local government, law enforcement, anti-bullying and anti-hazing, sports gaming, quality of life issues, mental health and deadly weapons due process protocol and government transparency.  

What surprises/unexpected challenges did you encounter when you started?

We have a very diverse population in this state. One of the challenges is responding to the different sets of needs between the rural, suburban and urban areas. For example, in urban areas you’re dealing with things like food insecurity and public transportation. The suburban and rural areas have their own unique sets of challenges. You need to find a balance between what is important to your district, and what is important to the state as a whole 

If you could change one thing with the state system, what would it be?

Something that stands out in my mind is that much of Ohio’s infrastructure dates back to World War II era. Aging infrastructure and water systems is a problem for communities across Ohio. 

How do you stay in touch with your district?  

If an individual reaches out, I call them back personally whenever possible. I also stay in touch with my constituents through a quarterly newsletter, social media, outreach events and town hall meetings. We have a monthly radio show, The Advocate on 1420 AM, in Cleveland.   

What are some of the attractions or hotspots in your district? 

We’re fortunate to have so many attractions and things to do. To name a few, there’s Huntington Beach on Lake Erie, which is very popular, Huntington Playhouse, Rocky River and Crocker Park in Westlake.

Ohio is so diverse … what are the primary challenges you’re facing?

Again the different needs of rural, suburban and Urban parts of the state. 

What have you done to help your district?

I’ve been fortunate to have numerous bills passed that have benefitted, not only my district, but the state. In my district,  Bay Village emergency response boathouse, funds to shore up historical buildings, to rebuild the Nature and Science Center, Bayarts,  Fairview Park community center-Red Cross relief shelter, North Olmsted emergency services so that they can communicate more effectively, just to name a few.