Interparty deals get legislation passed in the General Assembly

Whatever a voter thinks of Ohio’s new budget or the customer bailout of Firstenergy Solutions’ nuclear power plants, they became law with backing from both Republicans and Democrats — and Republican Gov. Mike Dewine.

One reason for crossaisle deals in Ohio’s House is because it was thanks to votes from Democrats that Republican Larry Householder of Perry County’s Glenford was elected speaker in January over Republican former Speaker Ryan Smith of Gallia County’s Bidwell.

Householder won, 52-46. Of his 52 backers, 26 were Republicans, 26 were Democrats. Of Smith’s backers, 34 were Republicans with 12 Democrats. Bottom line: Householder wouldn’t be sitting in the Ohio House’s

so-called Lincoln chair (the speaker’s seat) if Democrats hadn’t supported him.

The story’s a little different in the Senate, 24-9 Republican. The GOP has run the Senate, now led by President Larry Obhof of Medina, since January 1985. (At the time, the Billboard Hot 100’s No. 1 single, Wikipedia reports, was “Like a Virgin” by Madonna; she’ll turn 61 next month.) In the Ohio Senate, Democrats have had to bargain with a Republican majority for 34 consecutive years.

Sure, Republicans could have passed the 2,602-page, $69.8 billion state budget without Democratic votes. The Senate’s budget vote was 29-1; the only “no” was Sen. Teresa Fedor, a Toledo Democrat. The significance of “yes” votes from other Senate Democrats is this: Most obviously found parts of the budget, if not congenial, then at least helpful to their districts.

The Ohio House’s budget vote, 75-17, was also crossparty; 20 of the House’s 38 Democrats joined 55 of the 61 Republicans in voting “yes.” Among Democratic “yesses” were Minority Leader Emilia Sykes of Akron and former Minority Leader Fred Strahorn of Dayton.

As in the Senate, Ohio’s budget could have passed without House Democratic votes. But more than half of the House’s Democrats evidently didn’t have huge problems with the budget, maybe because of Dewine’s big push for more and better services for children.

But the Firstenergy Solutions bailout — for which Ohio electricity customers will pay — passed only because of Democratic “yes” votes. It required 50 House votes; it got 51. Of the 51 “yes” votes, Republicans provided 42 votes, House Democrats, nine. Central Ohio House members who voted “yes” on the bailout were Republican Reps. Andrew Holmes of Zanesville, Kris Jordan of Ostrander, Jeff Lare of Violet Township, Tracy Richardson of Marysville and Gary Scherer of Circleville.

The bailout required at least 17 Senate votes. It drew “yesses” from 16 Republicans, including Sens. Andrew Brenner of Powell, Dave Burke of Marysville, Bob Hackett of London, Jay Hottinger of Newark, Bob Peterson of Washington Court House and Tim Schaffer of Lancaster.

And three Senate Democrats voted “yes,” making the tally 19-12 — and passing the bailout with two votes to spare. Democratic “yesses” were Minority Leader Kenny Yuko of suburban Cleveland’s Richmond Heights and Sens. Teresa Fedor of Toledo and Sandra Williams of Cleveland.

Dewine signed the bailout bill so soon after it passed you had to wonder if a legislative sprinter ran the bill to the governor. And rather than the kind of “greatest-thingsince-sliced-bread” press releases governors sometimes issue when they sign a marquee bill, this was all that Dewine’s release said: “Ohio Governor Mike Dewine has signed House Bill 6, the energy bill passed by the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives.” Period. The end.

Whatever the nuclear bailout’s merits and demerits, the bill’s passage — analyzed only as a Statehouse scrimmage — demonstrated Householder’s “git ‘er done” attitude. The bailout was (and to many Ohioans, will remain) a tough sell. Passing it (with “yes” votes from some Democrats) was a signal that, rather than duck, the House is prepared to deal — that is, get things done. Somewhere, the late 20-year Democratic Speaker Vern Riffe, like Householder of Appalachian heritage, may be smiling: Cross-party haggling — not party-line twaddle — is how to pass legislation in Ohio’s General Assembly.

The National Conference of State Legislatures reported last year why some legislatures — unlike Congress — negotiate policy differences rather than go into gridlock. One factor discouraging confrontation: “A determination (by state legislators) to get things done, often expressed as ‘We’re not D.C.’” No, the Statehouse isn’t. And for that, Ohioans should thank their lucky stars.

Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. tsuddes@gmail.com