|
Joe
Uecker
State
Representative
12/21/05
Last
Sessions of 2005
With
still very much work left to do in the last half of this
General Assembly’s term, we have taken a two week recess
for the Christmas Holidays.
But this came at a high price.
Last Tuesday and Wednesday were two of the most
stressful and contentious sessions we have had since the
budget sessions.
High
on the list was Senate Bill 9, also known as the Ohio
Anti-Terrorism bill. It
is a comprehensive bill that acts to establish compliance with federal laws pertaining to
terrorism and homeland security.
The bill creates a number of new offenses such as
the criminal possession of a chemical weapon or a
biological weapon. The
bill also deals with money laundering in support of
terrorism. There
were a number of amendments that were presented on the
floor with caused a lot of delay in order for members to
discuss the ramifications of those amendments. And of
course, once again, an amendment was presented to do away
with the automobile front license plate. I made a brief
floor speech to tell the members of the House of my
experience as a police officer and how important the front
license plate was in assisting law enforcement in their
mission to protect our families and neighborhoods. Asking
that petty vanity be put aside (“it’s not cool on my
new car”), the amendment was defeated.
Perhaps the second most time consuming bill argued was House Bill 3, the
new elections law bill.
This bill was not passed by the House and sent on
to a “concurrence committee” due to some additional
amendments the Senate put on the bill that the House was
not willing to go along with.
This bill does take many actions. First, it brings
Ohio
into compliance with new federal elections guidelines.
The House wants to strengthen the security of
elections by requiring voter identification.
For those who have no identification, a simple oath
will suffice. It
is said that “democracy is not easy” but I think we
will all agree that it is important enough to be done
right with fairness and integrity of utmost importance.
To round out the day last Wednesday, the House debated the merits of HB
236 which is the bill that implements the State Issue 1
that was recently approved by the voters.
This is the Ohio Public Works and Third Frontier
programs. This
bill went through the House with a couple of amendments
approved and a couple voted down.
After a long day of debate, the House adjourned
around 7:30pm.
Next year is an agenda full of proposed laws that are hopefully more than
can be addressed. It
will be an exciting year and I am anxious to return.
Have a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Joe
Uecker
State
Representative
Ohio’s
66 District
Representing
Batavia, Goshen, Miami and Union Townships as well as the
Cities of Loveland and Milford and the Villages of Batavia
and Amelia.(614)
466-8134
District
Office (513)-248-2565
Website:
www.JoeUecker.com
Email:
Joe@JoeUecker.com |
