Thomas Suddes: How will Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine use his freedom, new House speaker in 2023?
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Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. tsuddes@gmail.com
The General Assembly’s marathon Dec. 14-15 session, which ended close to dawn, may or may not be one for the record books for the greatest volume of hot air ever exhaled in a confined space.
But there was at least one notable feature amid the dreck: The Senate’s attempt to ram through a combined 2,188-page bill to give Republican Gov. Mike DeWine control of the state education department — and a to forbid transgender girls to play on scholastic sports’ female teams.
Giving the governor control of the Ohio Department of Education (to be renamed the Education and Workforce Department) would make the State Board of Education and state superintendent of public instruction, which the board hires, fundamentally irrelevant to what goes on in Ohio’s K-12 classrooms and career centers.
And truth to be told, that’s pretty much exactly what HB 151 aims for -- pushing aside or at least shaking up the state’s education bureaucracy.
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The sausage-grinding that crafted House Bill 151 is dismal but fairly common Statehouse procedure: Lashing two bills together to get them passed as a package.
In this instance, the key feature was that state Senate Republicans evidently thought they had a deal with House Republicans to pass it.
Trouble is, either someone didn’t tell enough House Republicans, or a lot of them were in an independent mood. Because 11 House Republicans voted “nay,” as did all House Democrats present, on the education department/transgender athletes’ bill.
Result: With 50 House ayes required, and 11 House Republicans opposed, House Bill 151 only drew 46 “ayes,” killing it.
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Technically, the bill could be revived by a Senate-House conference committee, but that’d have to happen by Saturday, which is highly unlikely. Barring that, the bills will have to start their dreary procession through the Statehouse all over again in 2023.
More:Four things to know about Ohio's new House speaker, Derek Merrin
The 11 House Republicans who voted “nay” on the Senate’s version of jury-rigged HB 151 were Reps. Thomas Brinkman, of Cincinnati; Bill Dean, of Xenia; Ron Ferguson, of Wintersville; Sarah Fowler Arthur, of Ashtabula; Jennifer Gross, of West Chester; Mark Johnson, of Chillicothe; Kris Jordan, of Ostrander; Jena Powell, of Laura; Jean Schmidt, of Loveland; Dick Stein of Norwalk — and Rep. Derek Merrin, of suburban Toledo.
And Merrin is expected to become House Republicans’ leader (House speaker) on Jan. 3.
More:Ohio Statehouse roundup: Which hot-button bills passed at end of 2022 session
If a tune ran through the minds of Senate Republicans after House Republicans torpedoed House Bill 151, it probably wasn’t “Kumbaya.” When the 2023 session gets going, relations among Republicans — who run both the state Senate and Ohio House — could prove … lively.
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What will happen next?
The dynamics of the new session will itself be unusual.
First off, Merrin must leave the House in December 2024 because of term-limits. That’ll make him a one-term speaker which means that backroom politicking to succeed him in January 2025 has almost certainly begun, if only in winks and nods.
Also in December 2024, also because of term-limits, Senate President Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican, and a power player at the Statehouse, must leave the Senate, which suggests some internal politicking in that chamber, also in 2023, over its future leadership.
During the arguably passive speakership of retiring House Speaker Robert Cupp, also a Lima Republican, Huffman — de facto — seems to have become the legislature’s Go-To Republican. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out with 2023-24 Speaker Merrin.
What will DeWine do?
Add to those dynamics the fact that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who turns age 76 on Jan. 5, is also term limited.
On the one hand that’ll limit the governor’s clout but on the other hand it gives DeWine more freedom than if he were facing reelection.
Example: There are 126 men and one woman awaiting execution on Ohio’s Death Row, according to the state’s Rehabilitation and Correction Department.
DeWine seemingly has never flat-out said whether he opposes or favors the death penalty. But Ohio hasn’t executed anybody since he became governor in January 2019.
And here’s what DeWine recently told Jessie Balmert, a reporter for USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau which serves the Columbus Dispatch: “We've had no executions, and I don’t anticipate any.”
Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. tsuddes@gmail.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What will 2023 mean for Ohio's lawmakers and governor?
