Nickie Antonio

For the sixth time in a decade, a Democratic state lawmaker has proposed a bill to end the death penalty in Ohio. But this time the measure has significant Republican support.

Democrats in Ohio’s Senate have laid out their priorities for the upcoming budget. 

Former Governor Ted Strickland is officially joining the effort to repeal capital punishment, saying he regrets the way he handled Ohio’s death penalty while he was in office. 

Abortion was a big issue in Ohio in 2019, as it has been for several years.  A strict abortion ban was one of the 21 bills that passed, and more bills are still under consideration. 

Ohio law permits pharmacists to give the overdose drug Naloxone without a prescription to people who deal with opioid addicts. But one state lawmaker says many pharmacists are not doing that.

The Ohio Senate has passed and sent two controversial abortion bills to the Ohio House. One involves abortion reversal, a practice that is not backed by mainstream medical professionals. That other subjects doctors to steep penalties for failing to deal with aborted remains in a particular way. 

The Ohio House’s two year state budget repeals tax breaks for personal aircraft or private planes. Now Senators are being urged to remove that provision by an official from one of Ohio’s two companies offering part ownership of private jets. 

A group of Democratic and Republican senators want to prohibit the use of restraints, such as shackles or handcuffs, on pregnant inmates once they've reached their third trimester.

Backers of gender equality legislation that’s been proposed again in Ohio say they are making slow headway in getting the civil rights protection they think the bill would afford them. 

The Human Rights Campaign estimates there are 1.8 million LGBTQ Ohioans and their allies. And there’s an effort to get those voters to the polls next month, with key statewide races and Ohio’s Congressional delegation on the ballot.

A two term Democratic state representative from Cleveland has suddenly resigned his seat.

Two Democratic women state representatives have asked Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor Mike DeWine to reopen an investigation into comments made by the Majority Floor Leader at a going-away party in January. They say they’re concerned not only about the alleged conduct of Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati), but with a previous investigation that cleared him of wrongdoing.

Four Democratic women lawmakers are calling on the head of the House to take action against a key Republican lawmaker for derogatory comments he recently made at a going away party for a former staffer. 

A bill that would ban discrimination in housing or employment based on sexual gender or identity has been introduced in the legislature. And it’s not the first time.

Democrats in the Ohio Legislature say the opioid abuse crisis is so bad that all state lawmakers should be called together at the Statehouse to deal with it.

Ohio’s 34 House Democrats are all up for re-election, along with their 65 Republican colleagues. But they’re not letting their low numbers set them back as they think about what bills they plan to push in the lame duck session this fall and beyond.

Democrats in the Ohio Legislature say state leaders need to do much more to deal with opioid abuse and deaths.

While people are still reeling in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Orlando, leaders in Ohio say it’s time to add more protections for the LGBT community. 

A northeast Ohio man who’s accused of shooting and killing his wife and then himself had been ordered by a judge to stay away from her after threatening to kill her. Now some Democratic state lawmakers are urging passage of a bill they say would make it harder for people convicted of domestic violence to own guns.

Advocates for clean energy usually lean on the environmental benefits. But one group says their effort is more personal.