One of the changes made by Ohio House leaders to the budget of their fellow Republican Gov. Mike DeWine deals with language for people who want to become parents through adoption.
DeWine鈥檚 budget had changed a reference in state law on who may adopt a child from "husband and wife" to "legally married couple."
The House stripped that change out in .
Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) proposed an amendment to restore the 鈥渓egally married couple鈥� phrase, but Republicans rejected it.
鈥淭he fact that we couldn't do a simple name change is very frustrating and plays into whether or not Ohio truly is an inclusive state where people want to move to or to stay in," Sweeney said.
Though Sweeney's amendment was rejected, along with more than a dozen others offered by Democrats in the House Finance Committee, she was among two Democrats to join all 22 Republicans in voting for the budget. She said she supported it because is included in the spending plan.
Sweeney stressed the status quo remains, and that single people and LGBTQ couples can adopt in Ohio, but says the workarounds to do it can be complicated.
After the budget vote, House Finance Chair Scott Oelslager (R-Canton) said he doesn鈥檛 think there鈥檚 any impact on adoption laws in Ohio by what he called a 鈥渃hange of semantics.鈥�
The full Ohio House approved the budget on Wednesday.
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