COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — There is a rush to get bills passed at the Ohio Statehouse, as there are just two weeks left of scheduled sessions before the end of the year.    

Here are three areas lawmakers could focus on. 

“Diet Weed” regulations    

Lawmakers are mostly concerned about a product called Delta 8, a low-level THC that can give the user a high similar to marijuana.  

Right now, the product is not regulated nor does it have an age restriction for purchase. 

“I think we need to get that regulated, because essentially this is some other form of marijuana, but it’s not, it’s a THC, its being sold in stores with no regulation,” Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said. “We have to do something about the hemp-based products.”    

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle across both the Ohio House and Senate agree something needs to be done, but the extent to which the product would be regulated is a point of debate. 

The Ohio Senate is working on Senate Bill 326, an outright ban on “intoxicating hemp” products.

“I think even in the Senate, there are problems with that,” Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said.    

“We’ve been pretty clear on our position on Delta 8,” Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) said. “Pretty much treat it like you would tobacco, 21 [and older], put an age limit on it, put it in a place that kids are not allowed to access but still make it available.”   

The Senate bill is scheduled to be amended on Tuesday, and House lawmakers are hopeful a compromise can be reached. 

“A lot of a lot of folks use those products, but we want to make sure that it’s not falling into the hands of kids,” Stephens said. 

“We need to do better than what we’re doing because it is too readily available, especially to minors,” Russo said. “Do I think that a full ban is necessary? No. There’s a lot of work that can be done there and I think there’s room for compromise.”    

Property Tax Relief 

Ohio lawmakers have introduced several bills to bring Ohioans relief on rising property taxes. Several lawmakers say this is the number one issue they hear about from constituents, but still, little has been done to remedy the issue.    

“If property taxpayers are paying less, either the local community or the local organization, fire department, school, whatever, is getting less money where the state is paying more to subsidize that,” Stephens said.    

On Tuesday, the Ohio House plans to vote on House Bill 274, which would expand the homestead exemption for homeowners 65 and older who meet the income equalization. Homestead exemption reduces the amount of the value of the property that is taxed. The bill is estimated to help 450,000 households.    

“It does provide some relief, which is good,” Russo said. “Do I think that it goes far enough? No.” 

Even after two years of work on property tax legislation, it is seemingly unlikely that this bill makes it to the governor’s desk before the end of the year. 

“A lot of it is setting the stage for next year’s budget,” Stephens said. “I also think it is an important policy that we need to take a look at.” 

“Parents’ Bill of Rights” 

House Bill 8, which some call the Parents’ Bill of Rights, addresses the involvement parents have in their child’s public school education. 

“We wanted to make a clear, clean statement with that legislation that parents have the right to know what’s going on in the schools with their children,” Stephens said. “That’s pretty much it. That’s pretty basic.” 

The bill would allow parents to opt their students out of “sexuality content,” would require that parents be notified about changes in their child’s mental, emotional or physical health, and prohibit school personnel from encouraging a student to withhold information from a parent, unless it would result in abuse, abandonment or neglect.  

The bill could be amended in the Senate to include several other provisions, like one that requires public schools to allow students to leave campus during the day for religious instruction.  

Stephens said that ideally, he wants to see a clean bill pass, without other legislation tacked on as a means to fast-track it before the end of the year. 

“Adding on a lot of other things, there may be unintended consequences or there may be things in in a bill like that that may have not been thoroughly vetted or discussed or turn around and messed something else up, especially at this late hour,” Stephens said.    

“We have lots of concerns that that bill, even without the amendment,” Russo said.   

House Bill 8 is expected to pass from the Senate on Wednesday. If it does, the House must concur with the changes made to it.  

Gov. Mike DeWine has said not only has he been involved in crafting the bill but is poised to sign it so long as certain changes are made. 

“We’ve been looking at the language and I’ve had some suggestions and changes I wanted to make, additions wanted to make,” he said. “The additions that I think will be made by the legislature will provide so that I will be able to sign the bill. We’ve been working directly with the legislature. I was looking at it Friday, we were working on the language, had some additional kind of clarifications that wanted to see in there.” 

Whatever lawmakers do not get through by the end of the year will have to start from scratch in the new year.