MARCH MADNESS ENDS
The last full week of March turned out to be an action-packed time at all levels of government. Members of Congress sent President Obama a far-reaching health care reform bill, the Ohio Supreme Court issued several decisions that are victories for Ohio employers, and the Ohio General Assembly passed a slew of bills before recessing for a two-week Spring break. Amid plenty of controversy, the U.S. Congress passed a far-reaching health care reform bill in the wee hours of the morning on Monday, March 22. After sending the bill to the President for his signature, one more unusual maneuver was added to the suspenseful and creative legislating that surrounded the controversial bill. The House sent the Senate a "reconciliation" bill that included a number of changes to the freshly-minted health care reform measure, most of which were necessary to achieve the majority needed to pass the first bill. Following a final glitch in the Senate, where even further changes were added to the reconciliation bill, on Thursday, March 25, the House concurred with the Senate amendments and sent the bill to the President's desk for his signature. Now, maybe members of Congress will have time to learn just what they've enacted and how they've saddled the American people, and especially small businesses, with the huge cost of this mammoth reform package. For more information on federal health care reform, contact Carrie Haughawout at chaughawout@ohiochamber.com. Two Ohio Supreme Court decisions announced this week provided some good news for Ohio employers. In Stetter v. R.J.Corman Derailment Services and Kaminski v. Metal & Wire Products Co., the Court held that Ohio's intentional tort statute is constitutional. Enacted in 2005, the intentional tort statute limits an employee's ability to file a lawsuit for damages related to a workplace injury outside of the workers' compensation system. This will give employers greater predictability and limit costs associated with high jury awards. For more information about these decisions and how they may affect your business, contact Tony Seegers at aseegers@ohiochamber.com. In a flurry of activity before recessing for a two-week Spring break, both chambers of the Ohio General Assembly passed a number of bills of interest to Ohio businesses. On the way to Governor Strickland for his signature are bills that: 1) enact a comprehensive update of Ohio's oil and natural gas laws (SB 165); 2) redirect money from a fund used to cleanup scrap tire sites to soil and water conservation districts (SB 155); and 3) establish requirements and responsibilities for the new Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board (HB 414). For information on these bills, contact Jennifer Klein a jklein@ohiochamber.com. The Ohio General Assembly also enacted HB 48, a bill that provides two weeks of leave for any employee who is the spouse or parent of a member of the uniformed services called to active duty, injured, wounded or hospitalized while serving in a combat zone. For information on this bill, contact Tony Seegers at aseegers@ohiochamber.com. These and other bills that saw committee or floor action this week are listed in the "Current Legislation" section of this Legislative Update.
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