A perennial bill to abolish Ohio鈥檚 death penalty got another hearing Wednesday morning, but there鈥檚 little time left for it to move this year, and the lawmaker who has proposed similar provisions each session for a decade said that she鈥檚 not sure it has the votes.
Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said Wednesday it鈥檚 been a slow burn, across several legislative sessions, to get colleagues across the aisle on board.
Wednesday morning was the first hearing in almost exactly a year for her bipartisan Senate Bill . An identical bipartisan bill, House Bill , has not had a hearing in more than a year. Neither have moved from their original committees.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that the votes are there at this point. And here鈥檚 the other thing, we still have yet to figure out whether there are the votes on the floor or not, and we also don鈥檛 know what in the world the House is doing,鈥� Antonio said in an interview.
A growing contingent of Republican lawmakers oppose the death penalty in practice, but Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said it鈥檚 far from most of the caucus鈥檚 members.
RELATED - Attorney general report says Ohio's death penalty is 'unworkable' as he backs bill to change it
鈥淭here may be a few members,鈥� Huffman said Wednesday. 鈥淚 do not think it will pass in this General Assembly.鈥�
Even on the Senate committee the bill is being heard, members are torn.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know where I鈥檓 going to be on this bill,鈥� said Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) on Wednesday. 鈥淭here are powerful arguments on both sides.鈥�
Among the many arguments for and against the issue, abolition advocates like Antonio say innocent Ohioans could be executed鈥攑ointing to powerful stories from death row exonerees. But the bill鈥檚 opponents often say it鈥檚 a crime deterrent reserved for 鈥渢he worst of the worst.鈥�
SB 101 bill will get at least one more hearing this year, though a vote is very unlikely.
More than 100 men and one woman are incarcerated on death row in Ohio, according to Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections data. The state has not gone through with an execution since July 2018, closing in on six years and extending the entirety of Gov. Mike DeWine鈥檚 tenure.
The standstill is due, in part, to pharmaceutical companies鈥� opposition to use of their products in the drug concoction that creates a lethal injection. A spokesperson for DeWine, a Republican, said earlier this year the governor hadn鈥檛 changed his stance on the issue, calling the use of lethal injection an 鈥渦ntenable situation.鈥�
But a few prosecutors and other backers of the death penalty have said that is an excuse鈥攚ith some in the legislature eyeing possible alternative procedures like the use of nitrogen gas.
RELATED - DeWine shares few thoughts about bill to add nitrogen to Ohio's death penalty options
Antonio believes DeWine could be an ally in her ongoing efforts, she said, by rallying fellow Republicans.
鈥淚 want to continue to have conversations with him.鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat would be wonderful if he would do that. I think it could be part of his legacy to actually end the death penalty, use of the death penalty on his watch.鈥�
Though time is running out on that front, too. DeWine has less than two years left as governor, and at least one likely candidate to succeed him鈥擱epublican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost鈥攈as been a vocal proponent of why the death penalty should remain on the books, though he calls the current system 鈥�unworkable.鈥�
