The worst “Christmas in July” ever
The Ohio House of Representatives is slated to convene in the rancid retirement home on Monday morning. Speaker Matt Huffman's goons will have zero margin for error.
Last month, I wrote that Statehouse Republicans wouldn’t hurt us until at least September.
I had to fire the intern responsible for the error, as the Ohio House of Representatives is set to convene—at least in theory—at 10 a.m. in the Senate chamber due to ongoing HVAC work at the Statehouse.
“Clusterfuck” might be too kind of an understatement. While the House and Senate chambers are the same size, given their co-equal nature, the Senate holds 33 Senators while the House hosts 99 Representatives.
And that’s before mentioning the lack of a spectator’s balcony, considering the House’s 34 Democrats will be relegated to the couches outside the legislative floor like they’re me on a typical day in the Senate.
On the docket, at least at the time of this writing, are a proposed three overrides of Governor Mike DeWine’s line-item vetoes, which he issued in the evening hours of June 30.
From Jo Ingles of statehousenews.org:
The House plans to take up three of DeWine's four property-tax related vetoes. One measure DeWine vetoed would allow county budget commissions to reduce voter approved levies. Another would require emergency and other levies to be used when calculating the 20-mill floor that is the effective tax rate. And a third would limit districts’ power to ask for emergency levies.
There is one property tax reduction veto the House isn't expected to override, at least at this time. It would limit of property tax that districts can hold at 40% of their operating budgets, with the rest refunded to taxpayers. Republican leaders said that provision would provide immediate property tax relief but many public school districts have said would send them into financial chaos. They warned the provision could lead to more levies.
In typical fashion, the Republican junta wants to shit on public schools and local governments and call it “property tax relief.”
The prevailing thought is that, as things currently stand, Speaker Huffman’s team is short two votes of the 60 needed to override the vetoes.
If Huffman is to get these vetoes over the finish line, they will likely be with the minimum 60 votes across the board due to five members decidedly not on board for various reasons:
Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill): The People’s Speaker is on record saying he won’t attend.
Jamie Callender (R-Concord Twp.): Contrary to what I reported last week, the Gigachad will be in Columbus to vote “no” on at least two of the vetoes, and probably on the “inside millage” one as well.
Shannon Ray (R-Wadsworth): On a cruise with her grandson, which is part of a yearly tradition in honor of his birthday. I don’t expect the state plane could be scrambled to Honduras in time to get her to Columbus if it came to that.
Cindy Abrams (R-Harrison): Mother is in the hospital, slated to undergo major surgery. Abrams isn’t expected in Columbus.
Scott Oeslager (R- North Canton): Not answering calls like a boss.
Given that House leadership is operating on the thinnest of margins in the best-case scenario, Speaker Huffman has pulled out the stops with several insane asks of members:
Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) was set to take a paid junket to Taiwan until Speaker Huffman made him cancel his plans to vote on the overrides.
Diane Mullins (R-Hamilton) suffered a massive stroke recently and is set for two follow-up surgeries. However, according to multiple sources, the plan is for Mullins to be driven to Columbus and accompanied by a physician into the Senate chamber for the votes. This is something I will have to see to believe.
Kevin Ritter: Expected to land from Europe, where he’s been vacationing with his family, this morning to take the vote before flying back to Europe.
If Huffman is to get his wish, it will come on the backs of otherwise sensible Republicans who, at least on the face of things, should know better:
Haraz Ghanbari (R-Perrysburg): I had Ghanbari in the “no” camp in my last update. He’s smart enough to see through this bag of junk peddled by his superiors, but would he be willing to be the deciding vote against an override? I’m skeptical. He flew back from military duty in Rhode Island last night to make the vote.
Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville): Manning is a former public school teacher and a venerable operator. According to one source, the Speaker Pro Tempore has grown weary of being “the Shadow Speaker” without much of a policy voice. I want to think she knows better than putting even more screws to school funding. But she’s disappointed me before in that arena before.
Andrea White (R-Kettering): Another intelligent operator who’s not nearly as extreme as some of her colleagues. She should know better than to override the governor. And she has only won her last two elections in an educated district by a combined five percentage points, which is about as competitive a district as you’ll see in the Ohio House of Representatives.
And what of our beautiful troll, Rep. Ron Ferguson (R-Wintersville)?
As The Rooster reported last week, Ferguson has encouraged multiple colleagues to skip the vote.
Since then, however, I’ve talked to multiple Republicans over the weekend who believe that Ferguson can’t afford not to vote to override the governor, as he’s facing a stiff primary challenge in former State Senator Frank Hoagland (R-Mingo Junction).
The attack ads could write themselves. But Ferguson’s critics can say what they want about him, but he’s consistently proven he’s willing to put a thumb in Speaker Huffman’s eye.
As for the likes of Levi Dean, one of the hard-liners who voted against the budget alongside Ferguson, one Republican colleague mentioned that “Dean hates the governor more than the budget,” so we should expect him to override.
I think that’s a good rule of thumb for other Republicans who voted against the budget, like Reps. Tim Barhost (Fort Loramie) and Michelle Teska (Clear Creek Township). I expect those two to vote with Dean.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the drama. I am, at heart, a government nerd, and seeing a vote that isn’t a foregone conclusion is a refreshing change of pace around Capitol Square.
Expect a right-wing hit on Congressman Max Miller as soon as today
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