Ohio Moves to Purchase Hara Arena Site for $2.5M for New Mental Health Hospital

The state is moving to allocate $2.5 million to purchase the former location of Hara Arena in Trotwood and Harrison Twp. to develop a brand new, state-run behavioral health hospital to be known as the Miami Valley Behavioral Healthcare Hospital.

The Ohio Controlling Board, which processes requests for set-aside state funding, will consider the state’s request at its Monday meeting. If approved, this would finalize the state’s search for a hospital site ever since it identified the area as an optimal spot to build Ohio’s sixth state-run mental health hospital in June 2024. Trotwood administrators and city council members are against locating the hospital at the site, however, if approved, the state expects 285,000 square feet of new construction, with the hospital’s capacity capping out around 208 beds.

GOP Leaders Eye New Stopgap Spending Measure to End Shutdown

Republican leaders are making plans for a new, longer continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government at current levels as the government shutdown drags into its fourth week.

Consensus is growing that the GOP-crafted “clean” CR to fund the government through Nov. 21 — which passed the House in September but has been voted down 11 times in the Senate as Democrats make demands on health care — will no longer allow enough time to work out regular full-year appropriations. But the timeline of the new measure is the subject of debate. Several options are under consideration, multiple GOP leadership sources tell The Hill, including one lasting until late January. One of those sources said that date seems to have the most support right now, while stressing the plans are in flux. A full-year CR through at least Sept. 30 — the end of the fiscal year — has also been discussed.

Ohio Lawmakers Weighing New Hemp Regulations in Wake of Court’s Halt on DeWine’s Ban

Ohio lawmakers appear poised to take a step toward legislative action on intoxicating hemp products this week following Gov. Mike DeWine’s attempt to ban sales through an executive order.

The House Judiciary Committee approved a substitute version of Senate Bill 56 on Tuesday after years of testimony and debate, sending the measure toward a potential House floor vote as soon as Wednesday.

The legislative move comes after Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Carl Aveni issued a temporary restraining order Oct. 16 blocking DeWine’s ban, which the governor signed the previous week. Aveni said that he was concerned that the governor was creating “new definitions” about what constitutes intoxicating hemp that don’t exist in state law. Since the legalization of recreational marijuana, a wide variety of hemp products containing low levels of THC — including candy, gummies, chocolate and drinks — have appeared at retailers throughout the state. DeWine has consistently pushed the General Assembly to enact restrictions on both hemp and marijuana products, but lawmakers have been unable to reach consensus on permanent legislation.

Judge Halts Ohio Intoxicating Hemp Ban

A Franklin County judge issued a ruling Tuesday to temporarily block Gov. Mike DeWine’s executive orders banning the sale of intoxicating hemp in the state of Ohio. DeWine’s orders, signed on Oct. 8, gave the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) the authority to change the state’s administrative definition of what counts as hemp, with the directive to exclude intoxicating hemp products that contain delta-8, THCA, or similar psychoactive cannabinoids. He also signed an order requiring that retailers get rid of their unsold intoxicating hemp products.

Those orders, effective Tuesday, were challenged in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas last week by three retailers, including Fumee Smoke and Vape in West Chester Twp. Plaintiffs in the case against DeWine and ODA argued that the governor’s attempt to unilaterally regulate intoxicating hemp usurps the legislature’s power and conflicts with settled Ohio law that legalized hemp products and defined hemp as any part of the cannabis plant that contains less than 0.3% delta-9, the psychoactive compound in marijuana that’s most commonly known as THC.