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A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
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Lawmakers have gone home for the next few weeks, finishing up a few bills but leaving a lot of work for themselves when they return. They sent to the governor 10 bills, including the $3.2 billion capital reappropriations bill for construction projects around the state and an expansion of the DNA testing program on felons. But key bills remain to be finished - one on texting behind the wheel and two more on immigration. And lawmakers in the House also said final goodbyes to Rep. Peter Ujvagi (D-Toledo), who will be replaced by Lucas County Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Walter.
The passage of the federal health care law brought lots of reaction at the Statehouse. Supporters say by 2014 as many as 900,000 Ohioans will have access to health insurance. Meanwhile, Republicans started circulating a petition to urge Attorney General Richard Cordray to join 14 other state attorneys general to challenge the health care reform law. And Tea Party activists have announced they'll take to the ballot a change to the Ohio constitution that they feel will allow the state to opt out of the new federal mandates.
Ever looming for lawmakers to consider when they come back to the Statehouse after spring break is the budget deficit, estimated between $6 billion and $8 billion. Two lawmakers who will likely have to deal with it directly are Rep. Ron Amstutz (R-Wooster) and Rep. Jay Goyal (D-Mansfield). Both are on the House Finance Committee, and both are members of the Budget Planning and Management Commission, a committee of six lawmakers that was created in July but has yet to meet even once.
There are no campaign ads and no yard signs, but voting has begun for a critical issue for some Ohioans - who will represent the state in a new statue in the Capitol Building in Washington DC. There are 10 candidates for a statue to replace Gov. William Allen, whose statue is being recalled because of criticism about his anti-slavery views. Voting is underway at 36 historic sites around the state through June 12. Kim Schuette at the Ohio Historical Society explains, and more information is available at www.legacyforohio.org.
The passage of the federal health care law brought lots of reaction at the Statehouse. Supporters say by 2014 as many as 900,000 Ohioans will have access to health insurance. Meanwhile, Republicans started circulating a petition to urge Attorney General Richard Cordray to join 14 other state attorneys general to challenge the health care reform law. And Tea Party activists have announced they'll take to the ballot a change to the Ohio constitution that they feel will allow the state to opt out of the new federal mandates.
Ever looming for lawmakers to consider when they come back to the Statehouse after spring break is the budget deficit, estimated between $6 billion and $8 billion. Two lawmakers who will likely have to deal with it directly are Rep. Ron Amstutz (R-Wooster) and Rep. Jay Goyal (D-Mansfield). Both are on the House Finance Committee, and both are members of the Budget Planning and Management Commission, a committee of six lawmakers that was created in July but has yet to meet even once.
There are no campaign ads and no yard signs, but voting has begun for a critical issue for some Ohioans - who will represent the state in a new statue in the Capitol Building in Washington DC. There are 10 candidates for a statue to replace Gov. William Allen, whose statue is being recalled because of criticism about his anti-slavery views. Voting is underway at 36 historic sites around the state through June 12. Kim Schuette at the Ohio Historical Society explains, and more information is available at www.legacyforohio.org.
March 26, 2010