CLEVELAND — Ohio's Republican-controlled Legislature voted Wednesday to limit Gov. Mike DeWine's authority to issue public health orders in a state that has recorded more than 1 million coronavirus cases.
By votes of 23-10 in the Senate and 62-35 in the House, legislators overturned DeWine's veto of a bill that will give them more power to reject his moves.
The override sets up a power struggle with DeWine, a Republican who has mandated masks and balanced other social distancing regulations against the reopening of schools and businesses. DeWine's moves, which got bipartisan praise at the beginning of the pandemic, have provoked tension within the party's conservative base and stoked chatter of a viable primary challenger when he is up for re-election next year.