Ohio Senate Overrides Governor’s Veto of Tobacco Preemption Law

After more than a year of back-and-forth, the issue regarding Ohio’s preemption laws regarding flavored tobacco has been settled: cities and counties will not be able to introduce laws that are stricter than state law, a type of law known as a preemption clause.

This comes after the Ohio Senate voted 24-8 to override Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of a provision in the General Assembly’s budget that banned local governments from enacting such rules. Late last year, the Ohio House of Representatives also overrode DeWine’s veto.

This all started in December 2022, when the Columbus City Council introduced a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products. The Republican-controlled Ohio legislature was in a special session to deal with other issues but quickly passed H.B. 513, seemingly to stop Columbus, the state’s capital, from enacting these flavor tobacco sales bans.

Because of today’s vote, Columbus’ flavored tobacco sales ban is no longer legal.

---

DeWine, also a Republican, has long been a supporter of a ban on flavored vaping products. He vetoed H.B. 513 in January 2023. Because H.B. 513 was passed by one General Assembly, the newly-elected General Assembly needed to pass new legislation to restart the issue.

Over the summer, the preemption clause was included as part of the General Assembly’s state budget proposal, which was passed by the legislature seemingly to set up DeWine’s veto and the subsequent votes to override the veto.

The rules prevent cities and other local governments from passing their own laws that would have been more restrictive than state laws regarding the “giveaway, sale, purchase, distribution, manufacture, use, possession, licensing, taxation, inspection, and marketing of tobacco products and alternative nicotine products.”

DeWine vetoed the provision, saying that while he would prefer “an effective and comprehensive statewide flavored tobacco ban” that would include menthol, he called local government bans essential in helping to reduce access to flavored tobacco products.