State Rep. Jim Butler lands leadership post
Lawmaker will serve as speaker pro tempore in Ohio House.
Ohio lawmakers COLUMBUS — returned to Columbus on Wednesday for housekeeping business: picking leadership teams in each chamber and electing minority party leaders.
State Rep. Jim Butler, R-Oakwood, will be the number two leader in the Ohio House, serving as speaker pro tempore. Rounding out the House GOP team will be Bill Seitz of Cincinnati as floor leader, Anthony DeVitis of Uniontown as assistant floor leader, Jay Edwards of Nelsonville as whip and Laura Lanese of Grove City as assistant whip.
State Rep. Emilia Sykes, the daughter of two Akron area lawmakers, will take over as House Minority Leader.
In the Ohio Senate, Republicans Bob Peterson will continue as president pro tempore, Matt Huffman of Lima will be floor leader and Jay Hottinger of Newark will be majority whip. Democrat Kenny Yuko of Richmond Heights will continue as minority leader.
But five weeks into the new year, legislative leaders have yet to name committee chairs or roll out the top priority bills for the new two-year session.
Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, said he will announce committee assignments and priority bills covering issues such as regulatory reform, criminal drug sentencing changes and waterway protections on Feb. 12. Committees will start meeting the following day, he said.
House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford, said he’ll name committee chairmen Thursday or Friday and talk about priority bills next week.
Obhof and Householder will also be focused on the upcoming transportation and operating budget bills.
Ohio’s two-year transportation budget needs to be signed into law by March 31. The two-year operating budget is due by July 1 when the next fiscal year begins. While transportation experts and local officials are discussing the need to raise more money — possibly through a gas tax hike — legislative leaders are so far non-commital.
Both Obhof and Householder said they want to weigh the facts and decide.
Lawmakers also set March 5 as the date for Gov. Mike DeWine to deliver his first State of the State address to the General Assembly.