Thegatewaynews.com - Capital News: Eleven bills and lots of drama at Statehouse

Talk about a whirlwind week.

April 14 to 18 started with Democrats walking out of a past-midnight committee meeting in protest over the long-debated energy bill and ended with further haggling among House and Senate legislative leaders, the governor and other interested parties over that same legislation.

That's not to mention the Hawaiian pizza and pajamas -- er ... sweats.

Nor the combined 11 bills that made their way through the two chambers over two voting session days.

He's a quick recap of the latter:

* By a vote of 29-2 (with Democrats Ray Miller and Shirley Smith opposing), the Senate approved Sub. HB 46, sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Stewart, a Republican from Albany, and Rep. Timothy DeGeeter, a Democrat from Parma. Among other provisions, the legislation would allow consumers to place a freeze on their credit reports -- a move that would help combat identity theft.

* The Senate unanimously passed Amended HB 352, sponsored by Rep. Tom Patton, a Republican from Strongsville. It would expand existing definitions of "livestock," "species," "agricultural animal" and "animal" in certain sections of Ohio Revised Code to include llamas and alpacas.

* The Senate unanimously passed two bills sponsored by former-Rep. and now-Sen. Mark Wagoner, a Republican from Toledo.

Amended HB 295 relates to energy conservation efforts in county-owned facilities, while Sub. HB 332 adopts the Revised Uniform Partnership Act, essentially updating laws governing business partnerships.

* The Senate unanimously passed Amended HB 392, sponsored by Rep. Jim McGregor, a Republican from Gahanna. It would create a voluntary next-of-kin database, allowing residents to provide emergency contact information for use by law enforcement in the event of a serious accident.

* The Senate unanimously passed SB 184, sponsored by Sen. Steve Buehrer, a Republican from Delta in northwest Ohio. The legislation, coined the Castle Doctrine, provides legal protection -- that is, a presumption that they acted in self defense -- for individuals who use deadly force to thwart others who have entered their homes or vehicles.

* The Senate overwhelmingly passed two measures related to illegal immigration issues, both sponsored by Sen. Gary Cates, a Republican from southwestern Ohio.

SB 260 would allow county sheriffs to take into custody individuals charged federal immigration law violations and who are awaiting deportation. It also would allow sheriffs to assist federal officials, when asked, in investigating and apprehending illegal aliens.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 16, a mostly symbolic gesture, calls on the U.S. Congress and President "to secure our nation's borders and to aggressively enforce all existing immigration laws." It notes, "The growing number of illegal immigrants currently in the United States demonstrates that existing immigration laws and enforcement measures are not sufficient to stop illegal immigrants from crossing our borders."

Marc Kovac is the Dix Newspapers Capital Bureau chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com.