Gayle Manning on the hot seat

Gayle Manning has been identified as a weak link in Republican resistance to a Republican governor. In a message sent last week, a representative of a group fighting what it has called "the COVID lie" appealed to supporters to contact Manning, of North Ridgeville, and another Republican member of the state House, Dave Greenspan of Westlake, concerning GOP Gov. Mike DeWine's veto Thursday of a bill that would limit his administration's authority to issue public health orders during emergencies. "EVERYONE needs to call, email and push these two until we get a public commitment that they will vote for the override," Thomas Renz, a lawyer representing Ohio Stands Up!, wrote. Robert Gargasz, the Republican lawyer who lost last month's election for Lorain County prosecutor, also has represented the group. Manning told me Friday that she had seen the plea and had received messages. She speculated that she and Greenspan had been targeted because they were the only Republicans to vote against a predecessor bill in May. That bill would have limited the authority of the state's health director, who at the time was Dr. Amy Acton, and the bill that DeWine vetoed was a successor to it. Unlike the first bill, though, the one that DeWine vetoed got the support of both Manning and Greenspan. In fact, the vote was entirely along party lines in the House, with 58 Republicans supporting it and 32 Democrats opposing it. It would, among other things, allow the General Assembly to rescind state Health Department orders intended to prevent the spread of contagious diseases and bar the department from imposing regional or statewide quarantines for people who haven't been directly exposed to or diagnosed with a disease. Manning justified her support on the grounds that the bill would provide "checks and balances" on the administration, but DeWine, calling it "not in the best interest of protecting the health and safety of all Ohioans," stressed the objections of health experts in his veto message. The state Department of Health's chief medical officer, for example, testified that the bill would limit how public health officials could respond to future infectious disease outbreaks and possible acts of bioterrorism. DeWine also said the bill would prevent Ohio from imposing a quarantine on people coming into the state from "a disease hotspot," likening such a quarantine to the ban on travel from Wuhan, China, that President Trump imposed earlier this year to limit the spread of the virus. Similarly, DeWine recounted how public health and law enforcement officials had quarantined people "and entire physical buildings" to deal with an anthrax bioterrorism attack unleashed almost two decades ago in the wake of 9/11. In response to the veto, Senate President Larry Obhof of Medina said he hoped to work out a compromise with DeWine, although a day earlier he had threatened a veto override as soon as this week. Noting the potential for compromise, Manning told me, "I think that would be great." I find it ludicrous to accuse DeWine of acting irresponsibly in trying to control the surging pandemic. His seriousness of purpose, his reliance on scientifically proven strategies and his compassion come through in every one of his semiweekly afternoon news conferences on the virus. But Renz, of Ohio Stands Up!, has accused the state of conducting "a war against freedom, the elderly, and business." Manning is right that "people are really split on this." For some, particularly at the extremes, winning is everything. As Renz put it, "This veto must be overridden." In fact, if every senator who voted for the bill also backed an override, it would succeed. The bill passed 20-13, with only four Republicans opposed, just enough to meet the state Constitution's requirement of a three-fifths majority to override a veto. (Sen. Nathan Manning, Gayle Manning's son, was in the majority.) The House majority, 58 votes in favor, was short of the 60 necessary for an override, but some members who did not vote that day probably would have been in favor if they had. Still, as Manning told me, it's one thing to vote for a bill and another to vote to override the governor. Especially the governor of one's own party at a time when he's battling to keep hospitals from becoming so overwhelmed by virus patients that they must limit care for other patients. Compromise is the right prescription for the legislature, not victory for its own sake. Andy Young is editor emeritus of The Chronicle-Telegram. Contact him at (440) 329-7111 or ayoung@chroniclet.com.