When the Big Show comes to town

The Ohio House couldn't resist attacking marginalized people on its way out the door to a two-month vacation.

Anti-circumcision activists were outside the Statehouse at Broad and High Streets on Tuesday.

Welcome to a special Thursday dispatch of The Rooster!

The State Legislature worked more yesterday than it had all year.

After a marathon day of business, the House used a time-honored Republican trick by passing heinous legislation before walking out the door to a likely two-month vacation.

From Haley BeMiller of dispatch.com:

The Ohio House on Wednesday voted to ban transgender students from using school bathrooms that align with their gender identity.

The surprise, late-night vote concluded a marathon legislative session before lawmakers break for the summer − and potentially until after the November election. House Republicans tacked the measure onto a separate bill dealing with the state's college credit program.

The Senate must agree with the changes before it heads to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk.

It’s depressing knowing that colleges won’t tell the state legislature to go fuck itself on this issue, though it would be cool if they did. These administrators are so scared of losing funding from the state that they’ll gladly throw transgender students under the bus to appease bigots and wouldn’t shed a tear if every higher institution of learning closed today.

The late-night, last-minute vote is another example of why Ohio voters must end the gerrymandered Republican supermajorities in November.

Phil Plummer on Ohio House Republican Caucus shining Matt Huffman’s shoes

State Rep. Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) waged a months-long campaign with the help of State Rep. Ron Ferguson’s lawyer-mother, successfully stripped Speaker Stephens of the Ohio House Republican Alliance campaign fund.

I told Plummer as I wrote yesterday—these guys should be embarrassed to immediately give the castle keys to consultants close to State Senate President Matt Huffman. It’s an ethically dubious arrangement, considering these consultants represent other interests with business in front of the state.

That didn’t stop Plummer from showing off the key to Ohio House Republican Alliance campaign office.

Regardless, Huffman’s soldiers took a loss on Senate Bill 83, an attack on collective bargaining rights disguised as “higher educational reform.” Huffman loyalists attempted to circulate a discharge petition to circumvent Speaker Stephens and force a floor vote.

Yet, the wannabe-mutineers could barely muster 40 of the 50 signatures required.

As I told Plummer, it’s another example of why I don’t think Huffman has the votes needed to become Speaker. If he did, they’d have easily overridden Stephens to neuter him.

As such, another State Legislator informed The Rooster that Speaker Stephens’ team had already established a new bank account to raise campaign money for members loyal to him. Given that Stephens still can decide what legislation lives and dies, there’s no reason to think those coffers won’t be filled shortly.

RIP Pervert Parlor Peephole

A scuffle over a picture of State Rep. Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) eating a salad on January 10th led to fogging the Pervert Parlor’s window.

The Detroit Pistons famously created “the Jordan Rules” to neutralize a young Michael Jordan.

Similarly, Statehouse sachems have seemingly enacted the Rooster Rules.

In January, I got into a somewhat baffling conflict with a woman who tried obstructing me from taking a picture of State Rep. Tom Patton eating a salad in the legislators’ lounge adjacent to the House chamber.

The woman identified herself as some director, which was apparently no lie. I argued that I was in a public building, taking a picture from a public vantage point. She disagreed.

After I got the picture off anyway, she incorrectly accused me of calling her “a whore.” I have no idea where she got that from; I don’t talk like that to anyone other than State Rep. Gary Click at the Statehouse.

Anyway, it would appear she got the last laugh. I took the stairs to observe a House Session for the first time in over a month, and the window had been permanently fogged over—thus ruining my ability to take dumb pictures of state legislators eating various things.

It’s not a big deal, but I think it sucks! But admittedly, I do find “state politicians photographed doing everyday things” to be a funnier trope than most.

I would be lying, however, if I said I didn’t feel somewhat proud knowing that as long as the Statehouse stands, that window will be fogged over because one obstinant blogger wanted to photograph a State Representative eating a salad, and some bureaucrat had to show who was really in charge.