Part I: The Legislative Process in Ohio
The legislative process begins once the need for a law is recognized. Although the legislator is the primary sponsor of a new law in the legislature, the need for a new law comes from the constituents. The legislator requests the Legislation Service Commission (LSC), which is a nonpartisan agency responsible for drafting bills requested by legislators. The LSC gives the new bill a number. The relevant committee will then analyze the bill before proceeding to hold public hearings to collect the views of the residents, such as the nurses. The state of Ohio has a bicameral legislature (The Ohio Legislature, 2020). The new bill ends if it fails to pass through the first house. However, the bill is sent to the next house if it passes the first house with majority votes. The same process is repeated in the other house whereby the House Speaker and the President of the Senate sign the bill and forward it to the Governor once it has passed with majority votes (The Ohio Legislature, 2020). The state Governor can either sign the bill into law or veto it. Nevertheless, the Governor’s veto can be overridden if three-fifths of legislators in each house are opposed to it. On the other hand, the bill automatically becomes law if the Governor fails to sign or veto it within ten days.
Part II: Current Political Issue
In the 2019-2020 Regular Session, Senator Matt Huffman sponsored bill number S.B No. 25, which was about the educational requirements for the Medicaid program. The cosponsors of the bill were senators Andrew O. Brenner, Bill Coley, Bob D. Hackett, Stephen A. Huffman, Kristina Roegner, Lou Terhar, and Joe Uecker (Senate Bill 25 | The Ohio Legislature, 2020). The bill states that everyone aged between eighteen and sixty-five years and is eligible for Medicaid must be employed for a minimum of twenty hours a week, except for college students, those in rehabilitation programs, mentally unfit individuals, children with serious medical conditions, and those caring for children under twelve months. According to Senator Huffman, employers find it difficult to maintain their workers because most able-bodied individuals have been quitting their jobs to qualify for Medicaid programs (Senate Bill 25 | The Ohio Legislature, 2020). Thus, the new bill aims at ensuring that the beneficiaries of Medicaid also make significant economic contributions in society. However, Senator Peggy Lehner argued against the bill stating that the proportion of jobs to workers keeps changing making it difficult to force people to work for some minimum hours to qualify for Medicaid (Candisky, 2020). Opponents of the bill claim that the bill will prevent some people, such as those leaving jail, from getting enrolled in Medicaid. Also, children aging out of the foster system face many transition problems and the bill will only increase their challenges.
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Although implementing the new bill will bring substantial economic benefits to Ohio State, the economic gains will come at the expense of the health of Ohio citizens. According to Seiber and Berman (2017), 95% of new Medicaid enrollees in Ohio had no private health insurance option before enrolling and new enrollees were predominantly older, less educated and low-income earners. Thus, most Ohio citizens will be disadvantaged if it becomes a must for them to work to qualify for Medicaid. I feel Medicaid plays an important role in helping vulnerable and poor people access healthcare services. Thus, any new law that makes it difficult to access Medicaid services will affect the poor and other vulnerable groups of people. While politicians should always strive to improve the living conditions of their constituents, the bill sponsored by Senator Matt Huffman will block more people from accessing healthcare services, which is a primary need.
In conclusion, the legislative process involves the identification of a new law, collecting public views on the law, debating the bill in the legislature, and implementing the law. Nurses are advocates of their patients. Therefore, nurses should always attend public hearings of bills touching on the health of the citizens to make significant contributions before the new laws are passed. Senator Matt Huffman's bill should not pass because it impedes the access to healthcare services in Ohio State.
References
Candisky, C. (2020). Ohio state senator wants stricter work rules for Medicaid recipients. https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190226/ohio-state-senator-wants-stricter-work-rules-for-medicaid-recipients
Malloy, J., & Quirk, P. J. (2019). Executive Leadership and the Legislative Process. The United States and Canada: How Two Democracies Differ and Why It Matters , 79. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190870829.003.0004
Oestberg, F. (2013). Getting involved in policy and politics. Nursing2019 Critical Care , 8 (3), 48. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ccn.0000429392.92546.6f
Seiber, E. E., & Berman, M. L. (2017). Medicaid expansion and ACA repeal: evidence from Ohio. American journal of public health , 107 (6), 889-892. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2017.303722
Senate Bill 25 | The Ohio Legislature. (2020). https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA133-SB-25
The Ohio Legislature. (2020). https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/publications/the-legislative-process
