Senate Passes Legislation Protecting Religious Freedoms

COLUMBUS—State Senator Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) announced today that the Senate passed House Bill 272 which included an amendment prohibiting any public official from universally closing places of worship in the state of Ohio. "It has been both fascinating and terrifying to observe the response to the pandemic event by the individual states and territories of our great nation; fascinating, in the sense that this event and the response to it have been unprecedented in American history; terrifying, as we have seen the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights trampled by many states," Johnson said. "The First Amendment in particular, the one that guarantees freedom of worship and assembly, was disregarded by at least 10 states, and was severely curtailed by 20 or so other states. While Ohio thankfully imposed no such restrictions on our rights of worship, and presently has no plans to do so, I offered this amendment today to ensure that going forward, actions to infringe our religious freedoms will not occur in Ohio." The underlying legislation in House Bill 272 expands Ohio's court jurisdictions, enabling more Ohioans to seek justice from companies or individuals who are not based within the state. The bill now returns to the House for concurrence. To read more about the amendment that was added, click here. Senator Johnson's floor speech regarding the amendment can be watched here.