Legislative leaders need to take control

There will always be problem children, but it is especially troubling when they are elected officials whose antics attract broad attention with little, if any, corrective consequences.

That’s the embarrassing situation in the Ohio General Assembly, where legislative leaders have failed to pull wayward lawmakers back in line.

And it’s not afflicting just the majority Republicans who control both the House and Senate. House Democrats have a situation left unchecked for too long. But the GOP has the most miscreants of late.

Rep. Nino Vitale of Urbana, a state representative seeking his fourth term in November, is a prolific attention-getter in challenging science and health professionals’ advice for avoiding coronavirus infection. His latest rant came as Gov. Mike Dewine issued orders last week for people in identified highrisk counties to wear face masks in public.

“Are you tired of living in a dictatorship yet?” Vitale asked on Facebook, going on to argue, “This is what happens when people go crazy and get tested. STOP GETTING TESTED!” Vitale had irresponsibly argued in another Facebook post in May against wearing face masks because “That’s the image of God right there.”

Competing with Vitale for boneheaded opposition to good sense and sound public health policy is Rep. Candice Keller of Middletown. She refused to allow her temperature to be taken upon entering the Statehouse in May and bragged last week about shopping at a Walgreens without a mask despite a sign on the door saying a face covering was required to enter. “Be brave. Try it. You’ll like it,” Keller proclaimed.

Such brazen contempt for the governor’s effort to try to protect Ohioans from a coronavirus wildfire is not just disconcerting. With Ohio COVID-19 case counts rising steadily this month and posting a new record daily high on Friday, such behavior is dangerous and should be soundly censured.

On the Senate side, Republican lawmakers at least voiced disapproval of Sen. Andrew Brenner’s endorsement of a comparison made by his wife to “Hitler’s Germany” in criticizing comments made by Dr. Amy Acton, then-state health director.

And Sen. Steve Huffman of Tipp City lost his job as a Dayton-area emergency room physician after making racially insensitive remarks in a committee hearing suggesting that “the colored population” was more susceptible to COVID-19 because of not washing their hands “as well as other groups.” But, inexplicably, he didn’t lose his Senate seat or his assignment as vice chair of the health committee.

Democrats, meanwhile, have left the 25th District in Franklin County effectively unrepresented by failing to resolve differences with Rep. Bernadine Kennedy Kent, who has been quarreling with her party since June 2018. Kent has not been in the Statehouse since being denied entry to a caucus meeting in May 2019 by Democratic staff.

Paid more than $70,000 since then, Kent said she has continued working but without supportive services that would be helpful for her constituents.

In a world of extreme politicization and contrary views even in party ranks, it is critical for legislative leaders to seize control if they expect Ohioans to have faith that their best interests are being protected.

Otherwise, the legislature becomes a sideshow that is too sad to be funny.