Statehouse News Bureau

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Ohio Lawmakers Return To The Statehouse Under Special Coronavirus Rules

By Karen Kasler

Published March 25, 2020 at 3:42 PM EDT

Ohio lawmakers have a lot to do in the two days they’ve planned to be at the Statehouse this week – picking a new date for the delayed Ohio primary, setting a later state tax filing day and scrapping mandatory school testing for this academic year. Both chambers have come up with special procedures for this unprecedented session.

Any of the 33 Senators who are sick or are worried about falling ill are strongly encouraged to stay home. But Senate leadership says those who’ve been around someone who’s tested positive for COVID-19 must stay home. Senators can request to sit and vote from a separate room.

And Senators are encouraged to dress casually, since for some business attire is cleaned infrequently.

The House has 98 members right now, with the sudden death of Rep. Don Manning (R-New Middletown). Manning died of an apparent heart attack, as announced by Speaker Larry Householder March 21.

House members will be assigned to groups that they will sit with and vote with, in voice votes – the House usually votes all at once.

And if ill members "insist on attending session", as the letter from House leadership describes it, they can sit in the members’ lounge, which will be a quarantine area, and the clerk’s office will record their votes through the window.