Outbreak might stop important work at Statehouse
By Thomas Suddes Contributed Commentary
Absent contact tracing, there’s no way to know how at least three or four members of the Ohio House of Representatives contracted the COVID-19 plague. But it’s fair to wonder (though likely impossible to determine) if the House’s refusal to require masks was a factor.
That refusal, while grossly irresponsible, can’t have surprised anyone who’s watched our increasingly clueless legislature, particularly on questions of (self-defined) manhood, such as guns. But Ohioans don’t want to finance a remake of “Rambo.” They just want a state government that’s led by adults (e.g., Gov. Mike DeWine).
Cluelessness aside, if enough COVID-19 cases turn up among legislators, that might bring Ohio’s 133rd General Assembly to a premature close. (Legally, its life ends on Dec. 31.) Normally, an adjourned legislature is a legislature that can’t further damage Ohio.
Trouble is, the 133rd put off lots of work in order to campaign for reelection or, for term-limited members, to campaign for new jobs. Meanwhile, while the House Bill 6 scandal has rocked the Statehouse, it hasn’t rocked it enough, yet, to get HB 6 repealed.
Incidentally, given maskfree legislators, remember that many, perhaps most, so-called General Assembly conservatives opposed Medicaid expansion. But they’re covered by health insurance that Joan and John Taxpayer help pay for. (Ohio expanded Medicaid anyway, thanks to Gov. John R. Kasich.)
To give credit when it’s earned, the Housed did pass, in a bipartisan 87-9 vote on Dec. 3, what looks like a genuine solution to Ohio’s school-funding mess (House Bill 305). But … the Senate is refusing to act on the bill until next year, which sends the whole package back to square one.
Among House members voting “yes” on the school-funding reform was former Speaker Larry Householder, from Perry County’s Glenford; the
DeRolph school-funding lawsuit, which prompted the 1997 Supreme Court’s decision demanding school funding reform, originated in Perry County.
The nine House members who voted “no” on the school-funding bill included the four state representatives who want the House to impeach
Mike DeWine: GOP Reps. John Becker, of Clermont County, Candice Keller, of Middletown, and Paul Zeltwanger, of Mason, and Nino Vitale, of Urbana.
Impeachment won’t happen. Still, slow as the Statehouse pace is, that probably won’t keep the legislature from trying to appease the gun lobby, which is impossible. Reduced to essentials, the guns for everyone, everywhere, push inside the General Assembly amounts to a calculated slap at
DeWine. He called for better gun laws after 2019’s Oregon District mass murders.
DeWine’s evident fault in the eyes of some General Assembly Republicans is his belief that consistent right-to-life politics means protecting the lives of Ohioans imperiled by guns. Agreed, that’s pretty abstract for literal-minded (or cynical) legislators: These are not high-concept people.
Things might be better if Democrats were within a mile of being competitive in Ohio General Assembly races. Instead, voters gave additional House seats to Republicans last month. And a recount confirmed the reelection of state Sen. Stephanie Kunze, a suburban Columbus Republican. Kunze won by 130 votes. She had been considered (by both parties) this year’s most vulnerable GOP state Senate candidate. (In 2016, Democratic presidential nominee Hilary Clinton had carried Kunze’s district.)
True, many voters don’t concern themselves with General Assembly elections; the legislature to them is just a farm team for the big leagues (president, governor, senator). But the big leagues don’t have much to say about how Ohio’s utility rates are set or about many other real, day-to-day details of life in Ohio. The Ohio House and state Senate determine those details. And it shows.
Thomas Suddes is an adjunct assistant professor at Ohio University. Previously, he was a veteran Statehouse reporter for The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.