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One of the two bills that came out of the special session could face a legal challenge.

Months after marijuana became legal in Ohio, sales are set to start soon.

And a former speaker gets a welcomed letter from the FBI.

That's this weekend.

The state of Ohio.

Welcome to the state of Ohio.

I'm Karen Kasler.

The special legislative session the last week of May ended with the two bills that governor Mike DeWine wanted.

State lawmakers to pass.

He signed them into law last weekend.

But a legal challenge seems likely for one.

The ban on foreign contributions and the ballot issue campaigns in Ohio.

DeWine said this week he thinks the law was needed, even though contributions by foreign nationals to candidates or campaigns is illegal under federal law.

The goal here is pretty simple to state, and that goal is to make sure that, people who are not citizens of the United States, are not able to send millions of dollars into Ohio to affect, one way or the other, a ballot initiative.

I think if you ask the average Ohio and, virtually everybody would say, that's a great idea.

We don't think that non-citizens should be able to influence our ballot by putting a bunch of money here.

whether it will be effective, I don't think anybody knows because we don't know what course we'll do.

you know, and any kind of controversial bill that's passed or even partially controversial, ends up in court.

Some Republicans, including the bill's sponsor, representative Bill Seitz, raised concerns about an amendment to the bill, including permanent, lawful residents of the U.S., also known as green card holders, in the ban because that could conflict with federal law.

DeWine suggested that is appropriate.

You could have a billionaire who a green card holder, and that doesn't happen.

And, you know, you would want to make sure that those individuals are included as well.

I don't think anybody's worried about average green card holder, but we are worried about somebody who got no money to to tilt the scales in an election, in the state of Ohio.

Who can't vote?

but they can come in here and they only live here, but they can come in here and dump a bunch of money at.

The understanding from publicans on the floor, because it was that, federal law says green card holders and.

Well, that's why there's an old judge once told me a long time ago, that's why, we have courts and, so we'll see what the courts know.

There was no emergency clause for either the foreign money ban or the change in the candidate certification deadline from 90 days to 65 days to ensure President Biden is on the fall ballot.

Recreational marijuana has been legal in Ohio since December after voters passed issue two.

But while it's no longer against state law to possess, grow or use marijuana, there's no place in Ohio to buy it legally.

That's about to change.

With sales at existing medical marijuana dispensaries set to begin in the next few weeks and other sites later on.

But there are still a lot of questions about what the rules are surrounding legal pot.

I talked with Tom Herron, the spokesperson for the issue two campaign, who is now representing the adult use cannabis industry in Ohio.

The timeline that the state has is using is such that the applications, aren't necessarily due for the new dispensaries, what we call the ten B licenses, until Friday of next week.

the application period opens this Friday.

And so this Friday, every existing medical license holder will be able to apply to convert their existing medical license to dual years, as well as to begin the application process for these new dispensary licenses that will be popping up throughout the state of Ohio over the next year or so.

as far as when will sales begin?

It sort of depends on how quickly the division of cannabis control processes, processes these applications and how quickly the license holders themselves are able to begin selling to Ohio adults.

You know, some licensees may want to take some more time to do modifications at their site or to make some changes.

Others will be ready closer to the the first day that they're able to to start selling.

So it'll be a little bit of a rolling process.

What will be the difference between medical marijuana sales as they are right now, and what recreational sales will be like?

Besides, there won't be a need for people to get that medical marijuana card.

Yeah, for the first several months, there's not going to be much of a difference.

Like, frankly, the products will be sold in dispensaries to adults will be the same types of products that are sold under the existing medical marijuana program.

The dispensaries themselves will continue to look like medical marijuana dispensaries.

The processes and procedures that these dispensaries use will be a lot like the processes and procedures that they use within the medical program.

A lot of the regulatory framework will still match a lot, from the medical marijuana program.

So for the first several months, it's really going to be, you know, existing medical dispensaries selling the same types of medical marijuana products.

It'll just be that every adult who's older than 21 will have the ability to buy them.

Obviously, you brought issue two to voters, so you're probably some experience in figuring out what the interest is going to be like.

What will what do you expect to see?

Look, as we said for a long time, I think Ohioans are excited about the opportunity to no longer have to buy cannabis products from an illicit market drug dealer.

I think they're excited about not having to drive to Michigan and generate tax revenue in that state up north.

I think there's a lot of interest for medical patients that we're not able to access the medical marijuana program for one reason or another.

Now that barrier will come down.

So, you know, we expect that there will be a lot of interest, but I don't think you're going to have a lot of brand new cannabis consumers, right?

This is going to be transitioning folks from the illicit market, transitioning folks from buying in in Michigan.

who now we're bringing into a regulated, taxed, tested a don't use program.

So while we saw lines when when medical marijuana started sales in Ohio, do you expect to see lines with recreational marijuana sales when those sales begin?

I think there might be lines at some dispensaries throughout the state.

To the extent there are lines, I don't expect that to be a long lived phenomenon.

Right.

As more and more of these dispensaries begin converting from medical only to dual use.

The choices that consumers have will continue to grow, and supply will continue to ramp up to ensure that the regulated program is meeting consumer demand.

The rules for recreational marijuana are, as they were in issue two.

There's no specific ban on public smoking.

Homegirl is permitted for up to 12 plants per household.

There's a 10% tax with that money going to social equity and jobs programs, education, treatment for addiction and also administrative costs.

But all of that could change.

The Senate passed a bill that would raise the tax and change where those cut home, grow to six plants and ban public smoking.

Are you concerned about changes that the legislature might make versus what voters approved?

Are you working with lawmakers on some of those changes?

Well, to be clear, the language in the existing statute does include a ban on public consumption of marijuana.

So that is that's already done.

right now we're focused on is, working with the division to roll out the adult use program, in accordance with the initiated statute.

And the division has, quite frankly, moved heaven and earth to get us to this point.

I mean, we're ahead of schedule from the deadlines that were, laid out within the initiated statute.

The staff at the division has been working tirelessly to ensure that we can provide a quick alternative to the unregulated market to Ohio consumers.

So, that's where the focus is, right?

It's on rolling out what the voters passed in the divisions did a really good job of that over the last several months.

Are you concerned at all, though, about changing that midstream, so to speak, that the rules that maybe Ohioans will see now might change?

Are you concerned about that at all?

Well, I think what people will find is the rules continue to be developed, is that the current statute gives broad rulemaking authority to the Division of Cannabis Control, and they're using that authority right there, using that authority to ensure that there are rules about packaging, about labeling, about not marketing to children, about, yo procedures and safety rules and operational requirements and security requirements.

So all of these adult use locations.

So I think what you'll see is, like we saw when the medical program rolled out, people had a lot of questions until they saw how the regulators were going to regulate, the program itself.

Around 50 cities and townships have banned marijuana businesses, including many suburbs around Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Does that concern you at all?

You know, it is concerning because what that means is that those cities will not have the opportunity to take advantage of the new tax revenue that will be generated under the adult use program means that people who live in those communities, will still use adult use cannabis products.

They just will have to go to another town and generate tax revenue in that town when they make their purchases.

You know, the date has been pretty clear.

when a legal, regulated cannabis business opens in a community, you know, property values go up, tax revenue gets generated, areas around that cannabis business generate more economic development because these facilities are under 24 over seven.

Video surveillance.

They're well-lit.

They're secure facilities.

These are the exact types of businesses that other businesses want to be around, because they're safer than in in some other areas.

And, you know, we did see a similar phenomenon when the medical program began.

A lot of communities passed these moratoriums.

But then as subsequent licensing rounds happened, they looked around the state and said, oh, it actually hasn't been a problem at all in those other communities.

So we should rescind our moratorium.

And we should be open to welcoming.

You know, at the time, medical marijuana dispensaries to their communities.

I think the same phenomenon will happen within the adult use program.

One substance that's been legal all along is delta eight, or intoxicating hemp, which is not affected by laws on marijuana and which governor Mike DeWine has asked lawmakers three times to ban so far, no bills have been proposed by state lawmakers to do that.

But a federal ban on Delta eight has been included in the 2024 farm bill.

Cliff Rosenberger, whose resignation in 2018 opened up a revolving door of Republican Ohio House speakers, has been told by the FBI that he is no longer a target of investigation.

Rosenberger, who became the state's youngest ever House speaker in 2015, stepped down as word leaked that the feds were looking into his connections to the payday lending industry.

I talked with Rosenberger lawyer David Axelrod, who's a former assistant U.S. attorney and former special prosecutor for the state of Ohio.

So tell me about this letter.

What exactly did the letter to this former speaker say?

And is there any reason to read any more into it than what was actually in that letter?

Well, what the letter says is that he's no longer the subject or target of an investigation.

That's important because a target is somebody under the Department of Justice manual.

A target is somebody that more or less this is not a precise definition, but more or less the government has decided they want to prosecute and they're building their case.

They send that sort of a letter to a prospective defendant so that he doesn't inadvertently waive his or her constitutional rights, not knowing that he's a target, a subject, though, and that's really what's most important here.

The subject is a very broad term.

A subject is technically, according to the Department of Justice manual, the subject is anyone who's involved in the events under investigation.

Now, here, you know, Speaker Rosenberger was clearly involved in House Bill 123 payday lending reform, which was the subject of the investigation.

But by excluding him as a subject, that means he's he's nothing but a witness.

I mean, ultimately, it means that this means they have closed their investigation after six long years.

You know, this investigation seems as if it's gone on forever.

we calculated the other day, and since this investigation started, since Speaker Rosenberger resigned, there have been four House speakers and three United States attorneys.

Think about it there.

There was, Ryan Smith, Larry Householder, Bob camp, and now Jason Stevens in the US Attorney's office.

There was was, Ben Glassman, David de Villiers, and now there's Ken Parker.

All of that happened during the during the period of this investigation.

And a clear answer closure letter is very rare.

It is.

I'm aware of 3 or 4 that they have issued in this district in the last 20 years or so.

The first of those was to Larry Householder.

I was just going to say one of those was to Larry Householder, and I want to get to that.

but first I want to ask you, Speaker Rosenberger put out a statement saying, quote, it feels so good to finally be vindicated of all charges.

Do you see this as a vindication, or is there a difference between vindication and just the closing of an investigation?

Well, technically, it's just the closing of an investigation.

As a practical matter, it's indication we've been making presentations to the US Attorney's office and arguing with the US Attorney's office and been scrutinized by the US Attorney's office for years.

Multiple presentations, sworn statements by people who were involved in the investigation.

We had sworn statements from, for example, Kirk Sharing, who managed House Bill 123 payday lending reform through the House and through its eventual passage.

And he said that Speaker Rosenberger did absolutely nothing to impede the end of the legislation and actually supported it.

We had a declaration, sworn declaration from Bill Seitz, who was then House majority majority floor leader.

I think that said essentially the same thing.

He had been involved in it.

So we've submitted all sorts of evidence and other information and documents to the US Attorney's office, made PowerPoint presentations and been scrutinized to the nth degree.

We've been under the microscope and, as it as you might gather from the fact that they issue these letters so rarely, they're very, very careful about doing it.

And I don't believe they would issue a letter to somebody against whom they had any significant evidence.

You mentioned a former speaker householder.

Why do you think former Speaker Rosenberger was a target in this case?

You've connected it to Larry Householder.

Well, we actually filed a motion directly to this.

We weren't successful with the motion, but the motion restricted very sharply.

The evidence that we could introduce.

We were only allowed to introduce evidence from the householder trial and not other kinds of evidence that we had found.

So ultimately, it was denied.

But what we spelled out in that motion was that it was important to get rid of Speaker Rosenberger, because First Energy had requested a bailout from him, and he had said, no, not going to do it.

Bad policy.

So he was in their way.

They needed to get rid of him to make room for Larry Householder to become speaker.

So they could do that.

The House Bill six $61 million scheme.

Now, you mentioned to that Larry Householder was one of those who's received a closing letter, and now here he is in federal prison.

But that was a different case that the FBI was looking at in 2006.

It was about a pay to play scandal involving vendors and kickbacks and that sort of thing, that there were no charges filed in.

Yeah, it was that it was a very different scheme.

But I guess the whole idea that a closing letter doesn't absolve you of every potential investigation, it just says the one that we're looking at right now, you are no longer the subject or target of.

Well that's true.

the House Bill six, scheme didn't exist when they issued that closing letter, so it couldn't absorb into the closing letter.

He's different from Speaker Rosenberger because he came back.

Speaker Rosenberger has never been suspected of wrongdoing of any kind other than the unfounded suspicions.

for which he was set up in connection with payday lending reform.

And he has been, in my judgment, absolved of that completely.

And those suspicions, it was, alleged connection between former Speaker Rosenberger and payday lenders and some international travel.

Tell me what the circumstances were surrounding this.

Well, the allegation was that he agreed to slow, slow walk or kill payday lending reform in exchange for payday lenders funding a trip to London for him and other legislators to to attend a conference on the leadership style of Winston Churchill and really learn how Churchill handled certain kinds of problems and so that they could inform what they do with what he did.

Well, the trip actually was funded by Go Pack by a Republican PAC, and it was funded in a way that's fairly commonplace and is absolutely legitimate.

Speaker Rosenberger ran the ethical traps on that.

And all of these travel.

We have a whole series of, opinions from the joint legislative Ethics Committee that say that spell out what he's allowed to do and what he's not allowed to do, and the trip was perfectly lawful.

It was in part funded by a payday lender, but it was funded by many other companies as well.

So it was not just payday lenders giving him money.

And it was a it was what, to most people might seem like a lot of money, but in the in the scheme of this kind of thing was a very small amount of money.

It was a stipend of $2,500 and a couple of nights in a hotel.

and he actually took another legislator with him at his own expense.

In other words, the stipend was not enough to cover air travel for both of them.

So Speaker Rosenberger paid the additional eight $800.

I think it was out of his own pocket.

And you've made the point that this was not the only travel that Rosenberger did, because he was in office at a time.

That was he was the youngest speaker in Ohio history.

He was the first speaker of Asian descent in Ohio history, that he was moving around a lot.

He was not only the young, the youngest speaker in Ohio history.

He was at the time and maybe still the youngest speaker in the in the country.

I believe he was 33 when he became speaker.

So he was a very young man.

He was very much in demand for the reasons that you identified.

He was an officer of various various legislative groups, and he had to go to their meetings.

He was on the executive boards of several.

So the travel was not something that he invented.

The travel was thing was to go places that he was invited.

And, you know, organizations have meetings in.

They don't they don't go to cold and wet places to have meetings.

They go to nice places.

And so as a result, he wound up going to nice places to discharge his duties as speaker.

The other thing to keep in mind is that Ohio is a big state, and there's a lot of money that makes up the Ohio economy.

And it's important for for Ohio to be out there and gathering support and talking to businesses about coming to Ohio and doing those sorts of things.

So there's there's a lot of value that in many other ways, legislative travel is valuable.

And so what is the former speaker doing now and how does he look back on this after six years since he resigned?

all the things that happened, there was an FBI search of his office and a whole detailed list of all the things that were taken and all the things that, happened to bring us to this point.

Well, I can't really say how he looks back on it.

I mean, he's been doing some independent consulting, but that's the problem.

He hasn't been able to get a job in his in his area, in politics because of the the investigation hanging over his head.

There was one incident that he told me about where he interviewed for a job in Washington and was explicitly asked about the investigation.

His answer was, it's over.

And they said, you have to give us a piece of paper to show us that it's over.

And there was no piece of paper until this letter.

So he's been prevented from essentially pursuing his profession for six years.

And that's why you made the, request to be for him to be acknowledged under the federal Crime Victims Rights Act.

Oh, that's correct.

I mean, that's a little different.

The Crime Victims Rights Act required us to show that he was a victim of criminal activity.

The criminal activity in this case would have been the House Bill six conspiracy.

And the effort to get rid of him to make room for Larry Householder.

So we we made that motion.

As I said, we were not successful because we were prevented by the statute and by the case law from putting in all of our evidence.

So I think that if one looks at all of our evidence, one would reach the conclusion, really, it's inevitable, the inevitable conclusion that he didn't do anything wrong.

And I think that's why we got the closing letter.

Rosenberg's official portrait as speaker was unveiled at the state House in April and is now outside the chamber where he used to preside.

Spoke about it in the past ten years.

And this week, some state lawmakers and community members kicked off celebrations of June as the month of freedom.

It is a reminder of the resilience, the strength and unwavering spirit of African-Americans who endured and overcame, the horror at the vicious and malicious brutality of slavery and a time for reflection on the progress we have made and the challenges that still lie ahead, and our ongoing pursuit of equality and justice.

You see, Juneteenth is not merely a date.

It is a powerful symbol of our collective struggle and our triumph.

It reminds us of the resilience, unyielding hope, and the wavering spirit of those who fought for their freedom and dignity against insurmountable odds.

As we celebrate today, we also remember the long journey that followed six months later, the 13th amendment was ratified, ensuring that all enslaved people in America were declared free.

Juneteenth on June 19th honors.

The day in 1865, when the Emancipation Proclamation was finally enforced in Texas, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln announced it would go into effect, and after all other states had ended slavery.

And that is it for this week, for my colleagues at the Statehouse News Bureau of Ohio Public Radio and Television.

Thanks for watching.

Please check out our website at State News Talk or find us online by searching State of Ohio Show.

You can also hear more from the Bureau on our podcast, The Ohio State House scoop.

Look for it every Monday morning wherever you get your podcasts, and please join us again next time for the State of Ohio.

Support for the Statehouse News Bureau comes from Medical Mutual, dedicated to the health and well-being of Ohioans, offering health insurance plans as well as dental, vision, and wellness programs to help people achieve their goals and remain healthy.

More at Med mutual.com.

The law offices of Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur LLP Porter Wright, is dedicated to bringing inspired legal outcomes to the Ohio business community.

More at porterwright.com Porter Wright inspired Every day in Ohio Education Association, representing 120,000 educators who are united in their mission to create the excellent public schools.

Every child deserves more at OHEA.org.