Legislature Prepares for Final Week before Summer Recess

The Ohio Legislature was not in session last week, but plans to wind up its legislative activities this week before going into a prolonged recess.  Except for a couple session days (if needed) the Legislature may not come back until after the November General Election.  The session schedule for November and December is scheduled to be very active as is typical for a “lame duck” session at the end of a two-year legislative session.

The major focus of this week’s session will be working out differences in the House and Senate version of the Budget Corrections/Capital Budget (HB 562).  There is also the possibility that the House, Senate and the Governor may come to agreement on legislation and a constitutional amendment that would go before the voters this November relating to the Great Lakes Compact which is a multi-state agreement that sets the rules for how Great Lakes water would be used in the future.  A related issue is the property rights of people who own property bordering the Great Lakes.

Fight for Control of Ohio House Heats Up

As OAHU has previously reported, the Republicans currently hold a 53-46 majority in the Ohio House, which means that a pick-up of 4 seats by the Democrats this November would give the Democrats a one-vote majority.  Most political observers believe that either party could win control and that regardless who wins the majority, the numbers of seats held by each party will be very close.

On the Republican side, even if they retain control a new Speaker of the House will have to be chosen because current Speaker Jon Husted is term-limited and is running for a State Senate seat.  The leading candidate for Speaker if the Republicans retain control is Representative Matt Dolan (R-Novelty) who is being challenged by Representative Bill Batchelder (R-Medina).

On the Democrat side, there has been considerable jockeying for the top spot as either House Minority Leader or Speaker depending on whether they win the majority.  Just this week, it was reported that Representative Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) and Representative Matt Szollosi (D-Oregon) have agreed on promoting Budish for the top spot and Szollosi for the number 2 spot.  They are the House Democrats two most prolific fundraisers with Budish raising $737,000 and Szollosi $528,000 since the beginning of 2007.  However, Representative Ted Celeste (D-Grandview Heights) who is also interested in the top spot says that the decision should be deferred until after the November election when the official vote will take place.

School Employees Health Care Board Meets this Week

This Wednesday, June 18th the School Employees Health Care Board will meet.  This will be an opportunity for their subcommittees to resume deliberations.  Recently, the subcommittees were reorganized into the following four subcommittees:  Research & Measurement, Plan Design, Procurement & Vendor Management, and Certification & Education.

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