Ohio Statehouse sends Biden ballot fix, foreign money ban to DeWine's desk

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Lawmakers finalized a bill on Friday to ensure President Joe Biden is on Ohio's November ballot and another to ban noncitizens from donating money to statewide campaign issues.

The Ohio Senate approved House Bill 1 with a vote of 24 to seven on Friday, legislation to prohibit foreign nationals for contributing to voter-lead issue campaigns. However, Democrats who rejected the measure argue the bill was prioritized by the Statehouse's Republican majority to stifle a redistricting amendment and a minimum wage initiative voters could see on November's ballot.

"It's a red herring," said Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) of the Republicans' effort to ban foreign donations. "It was used to frighten people. This is often the case when the majority is trying to really push and usurp power. It was a power play more than anything else."

Still, Sen. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) said the bill is necessary to implement punishments so people wanting to fund campaigns from out-of-state are deterred. McColley argued those actors could ignore the statute and still aim to influence Ohio's elections if a measure does not include a penalty.

"Let's keep in mind that we're talking about multi-million dollar schemes, sometimes orchestrated by groups that have over a billion dollars ... or billionaires who are trying to come in and put their thumb on the scale in Ohio," said McColley.

Statehouse Republicans advanced H.B. 1 as a trade-off for also passing House Bill 2 on Friday with a vote of 30 to one, legislation that moved Ohio's filing deadline from 90 days before the election to 65 days. The two bills now head to the governor, who convened lawmakers for a special Statehouse session after the legislators failed to agree on a solution to place Biden on the ballot.

Sen. President Matt Huffman said DeWine helped get H.B. 1 "across the finish line and protect our elections." He said, "I am grateful for the governor’s strong statement supporting the Senate’s efforts to ban foreign contributions to ballot initiative campaigns," and noted the legislature "needed to ensure that President Biden is on the ballot in November and it needed to be done legislatively."

Biden is not set to be nominated until the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, nearly two weeks after Ohio's original filing deadline of Aug. 7. Nearly all senators supported the deadline change, though Senator Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson) said "it is tempting to say to the DNC that if you can't follow Ohio existing law you don't deserve to have your candidate on the ballot, but two wrongs don't make a right."

Roegner said "bring it on, Ohio is Trump Country."

The Ohio legislator's solution could be moot given the Democratic National Committee announced it will hold a virtual roll call ahead of its Aug. 19 convention to choose Biden as their nominee. Still, Republican lawmakers forged ahead with the special session to advance H.B. 1, which Democrats also said is redundant given it's already illegal for non-U.S. citizens to donate to candidates in Ohio.

Antonio called the measure a "poison pill," and said she believes "there is enough poison in this bill to kill the will of the people as they go and bring forth ballot initiatives." The minority leader also railed against the provision allowing the state's attorney general to prosecute foreign money violations, arguing Attorney General Dave Yost has shown himself "to be partisan on many issues that's he taken up."

McColley noted a previous statewide ballot initiative where Ohioans approved a measure preventing non-citizens from voting. "I suspect the will of the people would also be that non-citizens shouldn't be able to donate in Ohio elections," said McColley.

H.B. 1 also departs from federal law by including Green Card holders in the bill's definition of foreign nationals. Sen. Niraj Antani (R-Miamisburg) introduced a failed amendment on Friday to remove the Green Card provision, arguing Democrats could choose to bring a lawsuit against the H.B. 1 given it differs from federal law. Antani was also the lone member of the Senate to vote against H.B. 2, arguing "Biden had plenty of time to adequately qualify for the Ohio ballot and I will not support a special favor for him."

However, Biden's scheduling snafu is not the first time a presidential candidate has run into the issue in Ohio. In the past, both Democratic and Republican nominees have had to find workarounds to the state's filing deadline. Despite lawmakers on both sides of the aisle signaling the possibility of passing a bill to implement a permanent solution, the legislation did not advance.