COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mike DeWine spoke with members of the media from his governor’s residence in Bexley about what he plans to accomplish in his last four years of governor. He will be sworn in for his last term on Jan. 9 at the Ohio Statehouse.
“We continue to focus on jobs, education and mental health,” DeWine said.
Recently lawmakers approved spending $85 million to incentivize people to stay in the mental health profession and encourage others to join by paying for internships and apprenticeships.
Mental health professionals have complained that it gets harder to stay in business when insurance companies are not being held accountable for parity laws.
Enacted in 2008, parity laws require insurance coverage for mental health conditions, including substance use disorders, to be no more restrictive than insurance coverage for other medical conditions.
“We are going to do everything we can to enforce parity law in the state of Ohio. The way it works, the majority of how it works, the parity law doesn't come under the jurisdiction of the state of Ohio. In cases where they do, we are going to do everything we can,” DeWine said.
The governor has expressed concerns about violent crime in the state.
10TV asked him about Columbus' attempt to pass strict gun laws as the state attempts to stop them.
Landers: This is a city saying 'here's a solution' and the state is saying 'no you can't do that.'
DeWine: The courts are going to decide that. We have a second amendment that is constantly be interpreted by the courts. The courts will tell us if the city of Columbus is right or whether the state was right
10TV also asked DeWine about new election laws approved by the both the House and the Senate.
The bill, that now heads to the governor’s desk, would do the following: End Ohioans’ ability to use utility bills, government documents or other ID forms in order to prove their identity, shorten the window for Ohioans to cast mail-in ballots, allow only one drop box per county, eliminate in-person voting on the Monday before Election Day, and prohibit most curbside voting.
Landers: Why do we need this? You don't seem to be overly convinced that there is a problem?
DeWine: Well, I think the burden, for those who want to change the status quo they have a burden of showing there is a real need for this, so I’m going to look at the bill I’m going to look at each separate provision and make a decision to sign the bill or veto the bill,” said DeWine.
On the topic of capital punishment, DeWine said as long as drug companies continue to threaten pull life saving drugs from the state if Ohio uses their drugs to kill people for their crimes, he said the death penalty remains off the table.
“There has been no executions since I've been governor and I don't plan on more executions as long as I’m the governor of the state,” he said.