Critics: Bill eats away protections

The bill effects consumers who sue companies for unfair sales practices.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- State lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that critics say would weaken consumer protections by placing a 5,000 limit on certain court damages and creating new protections for companies that once sold lead-based paint, which can cause neurological damage.
The GOP-controlled House inserted the provisions into a bill that initially was designed to help victims of violent crime by allowing criminal convictions to be used as evidence against their attackers in civil lawsuits.
Outraged
Democrats said they were outraged and accused Republicans of trying to rush through major policy changes without a chance for serious debate.
The bill passed in the House with a 55-33 vote, largely along party lines. Later Thursday, the Republican-led Senate approved the bill 19-12.
Gov. Bob Taft will review the changes before deciding whether to sign it into law, said spokesman Mark Rickel.
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, who sponsored the original bill when he was a state senator, issued a statement condemning the House for changing the makeup of the proposal. And Republican Attorney General Jim Petro joined Democrat Marc Dann, who takes over the office in January, in saying the bill would gut the state's consumer protection law.
"Ohio has historically led the nation in consumer protection. This bill is a step backward that would leave Ohio citizens vulnerable," Petro said.
The bill effects consumers who sue companies for unfair or deceptive sales practices. It would cap a consumer's non-economic damages -- such as pain and suffering, mental distress and emotional distress -- at 5,000. But the bill still would allow consumers to collect all the economic damages and attorneys fees awarded by a court, said Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who defended the measure.
Ohio businesses need to operate in an environment free of ridiculous damage claims, Seitz said.
But attorney general-elect Dann said the bill could undo the state's new predatory lending law, which aims to protect home buyers with bad credit or low incomes against unscrupulous lenders and mortgage brokers who push high-interest loans.
"The bill passed by the House and Senate and signed by Gov. Taft a few short months ago will help reduce Ohio's shameful home foreclosure rate and protect our neighborhoods -- now those protections and the communities they were designed to protect are in jeopardy," Dann said.
Lead-based paints
Critics also assailed another aspect of the bill that says paint manufacturers can't be sued under public nuisances laws, which some U.S. cities have used to try to force companies to help pay for the removal of lead-based paint in older homes.
The federal government banned lead paint in 1978 after studies showed that children who eat or breathe flaking paint or dust could suffer potentially severe health problems, including brain damage, behavioral disorders and even death.
Seitz said the bill is necessary because trial lawyers are using nuisance laws to achieve an end run around products liability law.
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