COLUMBUS, Ohio — As Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says his administration is cautiously taking steps toward re-opening the state’s economy, he’s facing pressure from state lawmakers within his own party who are growing impatient and increasingly skeptical of his administration’s measures that have put hundreds of thousands of Ohioans out of work.
DeWine said Friday that his staff would spend the weekend working on a plan to gradually re-open the state. Bringing it up several times during coronavirus briefings over the past week, he and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted have telegraphed that it will be a rolling re-open, undone in stages. But they’ve said it’s unlikely large public gatherings will be allowed anytime soon.
DeWine during his Friday coronavirus briefing reiterated the measures have saved lives and prevented the state’s hospitals from being overwhelmed.
“That’s not going to happen overnight,” said DeWine, a Republican. “That’s not going to happen by flipping a switch and everything’s back to normal.”
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are working on their own plans. House Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican who has praised DeWine’s leadership while also at times challenging aspects of his administration’s response, convened a task force last week that will study how to best re-start Ohio’s economy.
The group, which met virtually on Wednesday and will meet again on Monday, is working toward producing a report with policy recommendations by the end of this week.
State Rep. Paul Zeltwanger, a Warren County Republican chairing the House economic task force, said he’s not diminishing COVID-19 as a serious public-health threat.
But, he said the state needs to plot its way toward managing the disease, so leaders are prepared to re-open segments of the economy once health data improves. He said he’s heard from some who have questioned whether the number of deaths from the disease — 253 as of Sunday — justify the extensive closures, which have put hundreds of thousands out of work.
“If the data doesn’t support it, then we need to open up,” Zeltwanger said. “Everyone is getting really antsy.”
Some task force members in their questions last Wednesday struck a skeptical tone. Rep. Jon Cross, a Kenton Republican, questioned whether public-health officials were playing too large of a role in weighing competing policy priorities. Rep. Nino Vitale, an Urbana Republican, brought up the huge financial hit state health-care providers are taking — and the ways patients may be suffering — as the health-care system has delayed routine care and shifted its resources toward preparing for COVID-19.
And Householder himself, in a comment to the Dayton Daily News published Friday, questioned the DeWine administration’s decision to, under new federal guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, begin counting “probable” COVID-19 cases in its running totals. State health officials say the new number captures presumed cases, like symptomatic residents at a nursing home where others have tested positive, while preserving the state’s scare supply of tests.
“Now Department of Health is just saying if you have symptoms, we are saying you are positive. How does that make any sense? Unless you are trying to escalate your numbers,” said Householder, a Perry County Republican. “But 700,000 Ohioans are unemployed now while they are escalating their numbers to justify the policies.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican who’s next in line to lead the Ohio Senate, wrote DeWine late last week. He said his Western Ohio district — and rural Ohio generally — should be re-opened as soon as possible.
“Although I’m sure you are aware, I think it must be stated that many small business owners have no income while closed,” he said. “Many employees who go on unemployment will be receiving more money from the state and federal unemployment benefits than they were while working. Additionally, those working in most positions in government, by and large, continue to receive their paychecks.”
As of now, DeWine’s “stay at home” order and school closures run through May 1. But Mike Venerable, CEO of a Cincinnati tech-investing firm who led Wednesday’s briefing for the House task force, said lawmakers should be looking at the start of next school year as the first major milestone to getting back to normal. Hopefully by then, he said, testing will be more widely available and effective treatment measures will be better understood.
“I’m pretty confident no K-12 schools in the country are going to go back to school until August,” Venerable said.
DeWine has been widely praised for his aggressive coronavirus response, and Ohio has avoided a spike in cases like in New York and has only one-quarter the cases of Michigan, which has 2 million fewer people than Ohio.
But frustration from some Ohioans was on display at the Statehouse last Thursday, with about 70 people gathering to protest during his coronavirus briefing.
How is DeWine’s public support holding up in a broader sense as closures have dragged on? It’s hard to tell, with limited polling available on the subject.
A March 25 poll from Baldwin Wallace University, conducted in the early days after DeWine ordered the state’s bars and restaurants closed, found 80% of Ohioans approved of the governor’s response, compared to 49% in a different poll last December. Three national polls conducted earlier this month found an average of 69% Americans approved of their state governor’s response, although the numbers weren’t broken out by state.
DeWine was asked on Friday about doubts Ohioans may have whether the threat of COVID-19 justifies his response. He said people should check out news reports of deaths and overwhelmed medical systems in New York City or Italy, as a possible outcome had Ohio not done what it did.
He also tried to explain why it’s important for Ohioans to continue to maintain social distancing measures even though the state’s projections of COVID-19 cases and related hospitalizations have been revised dramatically downward.
“This is deadly. This isn’t some kind of game. This isn’t something where I woke up one day and decided I’m going to impose these regulations on the state,” he said. “Ohioans have done well…Ohioans have changed the outcome. And what we did was stay home, by and large. We stopped school. We did many things that are uncomfortable and we continue to do them.”
“But no one should think this thing is over,” he added.
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