CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM, COLUMBUS, Ohio- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine plans to veto any bill that comes his way that limits authority from him or Ohio Public Health Director Dr. Amy Acton relative to the coronavirus outbreak, Acton now with the authority under the current state law to order what she wants and to do as she pleases during a pandemic, unlimited authority that has triggered a bill that passed the House on Wednesday that requires approval from a legislative panel to extend any health order beyond 14 days.

The controversial legislative measure now heads to the Ohio Senate for possible approval.

The dispute, which is bipartisan and a showdown between DeWine and state legislative leaders in Ohio, comes as the popular governor has begun to reopen Ohio in phases, his somewhat-still-in-place stay-at-home order expiring on May 1.

Ohio's state legislators from the Ohio House and Senate, all of them part of a Republican dominated general assembly, say the authority of both Acton, which is outlined under state law, and DeWine, some of it ministerial, is too broad, and must be narrowed.

They want the authority to decide what is best for Ohio during a pandemic.

A former U.S. senator and state attorney general, DeWine, also a trained lawyer, is fighting back, a governor with the highest approval rating as to coronavirus performance of all of the nation's governors, and at 83 percent, polls show.

Ohio has reported some 21, 131 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,272 deaths, the nation reporting nearly 1.3 million confirmed cases and more than 77,000 deaths.

Worldwide there are more than 3.9 million confirmed cases and more than 271,000 deaths.

A strong governor by most standards, DeWine has vowed to fight hard to gradually bring Ohio's economy back and has said that "that is our commitment to you."

His decision to lift his stay-at-home order this month follows protests at the statehouse demanding that the governor get businesses and people back to work, similar protests occurring across the nation, including in North Carolina and neighboring Kentucky and Michigan, Michigan of which, along with New York and New Jersey, are states with high coronavirus death rates.

President Donald Trump, a Republican like DeWine, and his political ally, supports reopening the nation in phases in respective states as the governors', like them or not, retain the autonomy to decide how and when their respective states will reopen, absent court intervention.

And while federal guidelines have been issued by the president for reopening the economy in respective states utilizing a three- phase process, some governors say the guidelines are vague, and that questions still remain.

The president's foes and some experts say it is too soon and literally dangerous to reopen America right now, a decision complicated by rising deaths, a lack of coronavirus testing and testing resources, and inadequate contact tracing.

Black leaders and Democrats traditionally oppose reopening America as the death rate among Blacks in America is two to five times higher than Whites.

They say that reopening the economy is an effort by the president to shift his responsibilities to the states so he can blame governors for growing dissatisfaction on how his administration has handled the fallout from the virus.

Some states, data show, are slower at peaking, and leveling off, and it would not be wise for governors in this instance to reopen the states right away, pundits say.

The U.S. leads the nation in both confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths as the president battles criticism and damning data that reveal he ignored protocol early on to minimize the outbreak of the deadly disease.

The president faces a tough battle for reelection against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in November, polls show, and Ohio is a pivotal state that he won in 2016 over then Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.