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The State of Ohio

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Lame duck legislating is well underway, with less than a week left before the planned end of the two-year session. And a conversation with a longtime lawmaker on his way home for good. Studio guest is retiring lawmaker Bill Seitz (R-Cincinatti).

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00:00:38	lame duck
00:00:38	legislating is well underway.
00:00:41	With less than a week
00:00:42	left before the planned
00:00:42	end of the two year session
00:00:45	and a conversation
00:00:46	with a longtime lawmaker
00:00:46	on his way home for good.
00:00:49	That's this
00:00:49	week in the state of Ohio.
00:01:09	Just.
00:01:10	Welcome to the state of Ohio.
00:01:11	I'm Karen Kasler.
00:01:13	It's lame duck season,
00:01:14	and lawmakers
00:01:14	are counting down the days
00:01:16	till the end of the two year
00:01:16	session.
00:01:18	They stay
00:01:18	a little late this week,
00:01:19	passing some measures
00:01:19	and working on others
00:01:22	with a few big issues
00:01:22	remaining to be resolved
00:01:25	among the bills
00:01:25	headed to governor Mike DeWine
00:01:27	after clearing both chambers
00:01:27	is one that adds
00:01:30	nuclear energy to the state's
00:01:30	definition of green energy,
00:01:33	and extends the standard lease
00:01:35	terms of contracts
00:01:35	to frack under state parks.
00:01:38	Another bill would toughen
00:01:38	the penalties
00:01:40	for third
00:01:40	degree felony domestic
00:01:41	violence convictions,
00:01:41	starting next year,
00:01:44	also increasing sentences
00:01:44	and creating presumptive
00:01:47	prison terms for those
00:01:47	with prior convictions.
00:01:51	But there are still
00:01:51	a lot of bills
00:01:52	left, though few that stand
00:01:52	a real chance of passing
00:01:55	both the House and the Senate
00:01:55	by the middle of next week.
00:01:58	One is House Bill eight,
00:01:59	the so-called parents
00:01:59	Bill of rights.
00:02:01	It would require parents
00:02:01	to be notified of any content
00:02:04	or discussion about sexuality
00:02:04	in public K-12 schools
00:02:07	so they can remove
00:02:07	their child.
00:02:09	The bill would also require
00:02:11	school personnel to report
00:02:11	if there are changes
00:02:13	in a student's
00:02:13	mental or physical health,
00:02:15	such as if they ask
00:02:15	about counseling.
00:02:18	A Senate committee
00:02:18	added in the requirement
00:02:20	this week that schools
00:02:20	allow students to leave during
00:02:23	the day for religious
00:02:23	education classes off campus.
00:02:27	Neither the Senate president
00:02:27	nor the House
00:02:28	speaker will predict what
00:02:28	will happen with that bill.
00:02:31	The question is
00:02:33	what are the other things
00:02:33	that are going into it at the
00:02:36	we don't want to
00:02:36	just pass a bill to say, yeah,
00:02:38	we want to pass a bill
00:02:39	that the House
00:02:39	is going to concur on.
00:02:41	There are multiple things
00:02:41	that the the chair
00:02:44	and the committee
00:02:44	are considering, that
00:02:48	House
00:02:48	members want or don't want,
00:02:50	and some Senate members don't
00:02:50	or don't want.
00:02:52	So I think it's one of those
00:02:52	big lame duck bills
00:02:56	where we want
00:02:56	to accomplish something.
00:02:58	And so we're going to try to,
00:02:59	work
00:02:59	through that the next week.
00:03:02	So I think it's important
00:03:02	when you have a bill
00:03:04	like the parents
00:03:04	Bill of rights,
00:03:06	where you have,
00:03:06	other types of bills
00:03:09	that are that touch a lot
00:03:09	of those types of things.
00:03:13	It's very important to be,
00:03:16	I think you say more by saying
00:03:16	less,
00:03:19	in a lot of language,
00:03:20	if that makes sense, and
00:03:20	by being specific and adding
00:03:23	on a lot of other things,
00:03:23	it can be,
00:03:27	there may be unintended
00:03:27	consequences of there
00:03:29	may be things
00:03:29	in, in a bill like that
00:03:31	that may have not been
00:03:32	thoroughly vetted or discussed
00:03:32	or have, you know,
00:03:36	turn around
00:03:36	and mess something else up.
00:03:38	Especially
00:03:38	especially this now or,
00:03:40	you know, the parents
00:03:40	Bill of rights
00:03:42	was, you know, House
00:03:42	Bill eight.
00:03:44	So it's
00:03:44	one of our priority bills.
00:03:46	We could have easily
00:03:46	loaded it up
00:03:47	with a lot of
00:03:47	different things on our side,
00:03:49	but we wanted to make
00:03:49	a clear, clean statement
00:03:52	with that legislation
00:03:53	that parents
00:03:53	have a right to know
00:03:54	what's going on
00:03:54	in the schools,
00:03:56	with their children.
00:03:57	That's pretty much it.
00:03:57	It's pretty basic.
00:03:59	And to complicate it
00:03:59	and make it more complex,
00:04:03	because the underlying bill
00:04:03	is, is pretty straightforward.
00:04:07	I think, makes it harder
00:04:07	to make that fair statement.
00:04:10	So Democrats in the House
00:04:12	and Senate are opposed
00:04:12	to the provisions
00:04:14	in the parents Bill of rights.
00:04:16	There's also no agreement
00:04:16	on regulation of delta
00:04:18	eight THC, also known
00:04:18	as intoxicating hemp,
00:04:21	which is not regulated
00:04:21	like marijuana.
00:04:24	DeWine has called
00:04:24	for some restrictions
00:04:26	on the sale of Delta
00:04:26	eight for nearly a year,
00:04:28	noting that it's available
00:04:29	at gas stations
00:04:29	and convenience stores
00:04:31	where kids
00:04:31	have been able to buy it.
00:04:33	But a bill that addresses
00:04:35	that seems unlikely
00:04:35	to make it to his desk.
00:04:38	we've been pretty clear on our
00:04:40	think
00:04:40	so on our, position on Delta
00:04:42	is it's pretty much treated
00:04:42	like you would, tobacco,
00:04:45	you know, 20 minute
00:04:46	limit on it, put it in a place
00:04:46	that, kids are not allowed
00:04:50	to, to access,
00:04:50	but still make it available
00:04:53	for a lot of folks,
00:04:53	use those products.
00:04:56	But we want to make sure
00:04:57	that it's not falling
00:04:57	into the hands of kids.
00:04:58	Whether there's
00:04:58	more dispensaries or
00:05:00	or we restrict
00:05:00	the number of dispensaries to,
00:05:03	a number
00:05:03	in a particular city.
00:05:06	Those are things
00:05:06	that can all be discussed.
00:05:09	I don't, at least
00:05:09	from what I've heard.
00:05:12	I don't think the House
00:05:12	is interested in doing that.
00:05:14	That shouldn't be a surprise
00:05:14	to anybody,
00:05:16	because they weren't
00:05:16	interested in what we,
00:05:19	the governor in the Senate,
00:05:19	sent over in December
00:05:21	of a year ago,
00:05:23	trying to clear up
00:05:23	some of the problems
00:05:26	with the marijuana,
00:05:26	initiative.
00:05:29	So, I think
00:05:29	if the answer simply is
00:05:34	we're not going to pass
00:05:34	anything regarding restricting
00:05:38	hemp,
00:05:38	and we're
00:05:39	not going to restrict people
00:05:39	from selling these things
00:05:42	for anything, well, then
00:05:42	we'll probably pass the bill
00:05:45	that we think is the best
00:05:45	and say, we've done our job.
00:05:49	There's only
00:05:49	so much we can do.
00:05:51	So A bill that got bipartisan
00:05:51	support in the House was
00:05:54	an enhanced property
00:05:55	tax credit for some older
00:05:55	and disabled Ohioans.
00:05:58	It nearly doubles the state's
00:05:58	homestead exemption,
00:06:01	expanding it to $50,000
00:06:01	of a home's fair market value.
00:06:05	The homestead
00:06:05	exemption assists
00:06:07	property owners
00:06:07	who are over 65 permanently
00:06:10	and totally disabled
00:06:10	or 59 and older,
00:06:13	and the surviving partner
00:06:14	of a person
00:06:14	who previously received it.
00:06:17	It's now headed to the Senate.
00:06:18	But lawmakers
00:06:18	on both sides of the aisle
00:06:20	admit it's
00:06:20	just scratching the surface
00:06:22	and that more needs to be done
00:06:22	on property tax relief,
00:06:25	the Senate approved a bill
00:06:27	that seeks to define
00:06:27	antisemitism and state law
00:06:29	for universities and state
00:06:29	agencies, investigating
00:06:32	whether ethnic intimidation
00:06:32	has been committed.
00:06:35	Pro-Palestinian activists
00:06:35	walked out
00:06:37	of the Senate chamber
00:06:37	after it passed 27 to 4.
00:06:40	Backers say the bill is needed
00:06:40	following
00:06:42	pro Gaza protests on campuses
00:06:42	around the Israel-hamas war
00:06:46	earlier this year,
00:06:48	which sponsoring
00:06:48	Republican Senator
00:06:49	Terry Johnson said
00:06:49	showed, quote,
00:06:51	disturbing displays
00:06:51	of aggression and intolerance,
00:06:54	and that, he said targeted
00:06:54	Jewish students.
00:06:57	Many prominent Jewish groups
00:06:57	support the bill, but critics,
00:07:00	including the ACLU of Ohio
00:07:01	and those who demonstrated
00:07:01	on campus, say
00:07:04	this bill would criminalize
00:07:04	free speech.
00:07:06	The bill has not had a hearing
00:07:06	in the House,
00:07:08	so with the two year
00:07:08	session ending
00:07:10	next week,
00:07:11	it's unlikely the bill will
00:07:11	pass that chamber in time.
00:07:14	For most of the past
00:07:14	25 years, Bill Seitz
00:07:16	has been a fixture
00:07:16	at the state House.
00:07:18	The conservative Republican
00:07:18	from Cincinnati
00:07:20	has served in the House,
00:07:20	then the Senate,
00:07:22	and now he's finishing up
00:07:22	eight years back in the House.
00:07:25	He's visible, vocal
00:07:25	and a firebrand on issues
00:07:28	such as his support
00:07:28	for criminal justice reform,
00:07:31	legalized
00:07:31	gambling and vouchers,
00:07:32	and his opposition to traffic
00:07:32	cameras, Ohio's month
00:07:36	long early voting period,
00:07:36	and state mandates in general.
00:07:39	His encyclopedic knowledge
00:07:39	of state law and his outspoken
00:07:43	and sometimes combative style
00:07:43	have made him
00:07:46	someone to watch in committee
00:07:46	and on the floor.
00:07:49	He's been long associated
00:07:49	with the American
00:07:50	Legislative Exchange Council,
00:07:52	which drafts right leaning
00:07:52	model legislation on guns,
00:07:55	LGBTQ rights,
00:07:55	school choice and tax cuts.
00:07:59	And he has weathered
00:07:59	some controversies.
00:08:01	For instance,
00:08:01	some women lawmakers wanted
00:08:01	his resignation for comments
00:08:05	at a private after hours party
00:08:05	several years ago
00:08:08	for which he apologized.
00:08:09	Well, Seitz has clashed
00:08:09	with Democrats over the years.
00:08:12	He's also criticized
00:08:12	some fellow Republicans,
00:08:15	but his two and a half decades
00:08:15	at the state House
00:08:17	have also resulted
00:08:17	in bipartisan friendships.
00:08:20	I talked with Bill Seitz
00:08:20	this week.
00:08:22	you were in the house
00:08:23	and you're in the Senate
00:08:23	and eight years in the House.
00:08:25	So why did you choose
00:08:25	to retire
00:08:27	instead of running again as
00:08:27	some of your colleagues have?
00:08:30	Well, well, I would have to
00:08:30	run for the Senate.
00:08:34	And in order to do that,
00:08:34	I would have to run against my
00:08:37	very good friend,
00:08:38	Bill blessing,
00:08:38	who is our current senator.
00:08:41	And as you may recall,
00:08:41	I served with
00:08:43	and greatly admire his dad.
00:08:45	And then Bill, too.
00:08:47	And Heather,
00:08:47	his wife, who is in our
00:08:47	legal department in the House.
00:08:51	So I wasn't about to do that.
00:08:52	And I'm 70 years old
00:08:52	now, so I figured, well,
00:08:56	you know, there's there's
00:08:57	the game of musical chairs
00:08:57	has ended for me,
00:09:00	and there's no open
00:09:00	chairs, so.
00:09:02	So, I will go on and pursue
00:09:02	other interests, too, now.
00:09:05	Right.
00:09:06	You have taken
00:09:06	some controversial positions.
00:09:08	You voted against a crackdown
00:09:08	on payday
00:09:10	lenders, against closing
00:09:10	the marital rape loophole,
00:09:12	against the collective
00:09:12	bargaining
00:09:14	law known as Senate Bill five,
00:09:16	against academic distress
00:09:16	commissions.
00:09:18	You did not vote for Larry
00:09:18	Householder for speaker.
00:09:21	And proposed the measure
00:09:21	to remove him as speaker.
00:09:24	But you oppose the effort
00:09:24	to expel him from the House.
00:09:27	You have said on this show
00:09:27	that you regret your vote
00:09:31	to extend 28 days
00:09:31	of early absentee voting.
00:09:35	Are there any positions
00:09:35	or other things that you
00:09:37	would like to take back
00:09:37	that you wish you hadn't done?
00:09:41	Well, the ultimately
00:09:41	the marital rape exception
00:09:45	bill I voted for, okay,
00:09:45	I was not happy
00:09:48	with the wording
00:09:48	of some of the prior attempts.
00:09:51	We finally got it right.
00:09:53	We passed it.
00:09:54	I'm very proud to have stood
00:09:54	against Senate Bill five.
00:09:57	I tried to
00:09:58	tell my Republican colleagues
00:09:58	that they were
00:10:00	overshooting the mark,
00:10:01	and that this would end badly
00:10:01	and blow up in their faces.
00:10:04	A truer words
00:10:04	were never spoken.
00:10:07	And so we were able to
00:10:07	rebut that.
00:10:10	As far as academic distress
00:10:10	commissions, I just felt like,
00:10:15	that was administering
00:10:15	the guillotine
00:10:17	to school districts
00:10:17	when we should be trying to
00:10:20	work with them
00:10:20	to improve their performance.
00:10:22	So I, I don't I don't take
00:10:22	I don't take that back.
00:10:25	And,
00:10:25	you know, you've mentioned
00:10:27	all the things
00:10:27	I voted against, but
00:10:29	but there's plenty of other
00:10:29	things that I voted for there.
00:10:31	Get to that.
00:10:32	That became, that became law
00:10:32	and are still law today.
00:10:34	And and even as we speak,
00:10:34	are being upheld by the Ohio
00:10:38	Supreme Court.
00:10:39	Just yesterday, for example,
00:10:39	they upheld the, product
00:10:43	liability law
00:10:43	that we passed
00:10:44	as part of our tort
00:10:44	reform efforts back in the
00:10:46	beginning of the 2000.
00:10:48	So, you know,
00:10:49	that's been on a lot
00:10:49	of things I voted against,
00:10:52	but a lot of things
00:10:52	I voted for.
00:10:53	And on the election,
00:10:55	28 days, remember,
00:10:55	it was 35 days originally,
00:10:59	and they were having
00:10:59	a situation where you could
00:11:02	register to vote
00:11:03	and vote on the same day,
00:11:03	so called golden week.
00:11:06	Golden week.
00:11:07	So I led the charge to pare
00:11:07	that back, which we did.
00:11:11	I still think we offered,
00:11:11	way too many days,
00:11:14	of, of early voting.
00:11:16	And the irony is when when
00:11:16	we did that originally the
00:11:20	the reason was to cut down
00:11:20	on long lines on election day.
00:11:25	Made sense. Right.
00:11:27	Well, now
00:11:29	you have long lines outside
00:11:29	the early vote centers.
00:11:32	So what was really gained
00:11:34	other than having 28 days
00:11:34	to do it?
00:11:36	So and the lines at the polls
00:11:36	are not so long now.
00:11:39	So, you know, I just think
00:11:39	it should be Election Day.
00:11:43	I don't believe it should be
00:11:43	election month.
00:11:45	I do think no fault absentee
00:11:45	voting has a place,
00:11:48	but 28 days is too long.
00:11:50	And, you know,
00:11:51	I've been very active
00:11:51	in the election space.
00:11:54	Working with a secretary,
00:11:54	Lee Rose,
00:11:55	both when he was in the Senate
00:11:57	and now that he's
00:11:57	been secretary of state
00:11:59	and working with the election
00:11:59	officials, who I think
00:12:02	should be listened to
00:12:04	more than we do,
00:12:05	because they're the people
00:12:05	that actually have
00:12:07	to administer these things.
00:12:08	I was just going to ask you,
00:12:09	you've done a lot on election
00:12:09	loss.
00:12:11	For instance,
00:12:11	what you just said there,
00:12:14	you had a bill to shorten
00:12:14	the actual, period
00:12:17	in which people could use
00:12:17	ballot drop boxes.
00:12:19	You did, back in 2016, sponsor
00:12:21	a law that would require
00:12:21	polling places
00:12:23	that would stay open past 730
00:12:23	to post a bond.
00:12:26	John Kasich vetoed that.
00:12:28	Is there anything
00:12:28	what would you like to see
00:12:30	your colleagues do on election
00:12:30	related laws now?
00:12:33	Is there any changes
00:12:33	that you'd like to see made
00:12:35	other than perhaps
00:12:35	shortening that early?
00:12:37	Well, yes.
00:12:37	My understanding
00:12:37	is the Senate just this week,
00:12:41	put four election
00:12:41	related, efforts into a bill,
00:12:45	one one is to make sure the,
00:12:49	the voting machine examiners
00:12:49	examine all of the technology
00:12:52	and all of the, equipment
00:12:52	that is used.
00:12:54	there are
00:12:54	those changes that are good.
00:12:57	And I
00:12:57	also just, you know, I'm
00:12:57	a fair guy.
00:13:00	Lynn Rose proposed getting rid
00:13:00	of drop boxes altogether.
00:13:05	And I said, well,
00:13:05	you know what?
00:13:07	I would be for that.
00:13:09	But my advice would be,
00:13:09	don't try to pull that off
00:13:12	in lame duck with no process
00:13:12	and no discussion.
00:13:16	I said we would be run through
00:13:16	the coals for having done
00:13:19	something of that significance
00:13:19	with no real discussion.
00:13:23	I do think
00:13:23	they should be abolished,
00:13:25	because we saw in this past
00:13:25	election in Oregon and other
00:13:29	places, people did exactly
00:13:29	what I apprehended through
00:13:34	to flammable things
00:13:34	into the drop box and
00:13:37	burned up hundreds of votes.
00:13:39	So that's voter suppression
00:13:39	of the most lethal kind.
00:13:43	And so I don't think we need
00:13:43	drop boxes.
00:13:46	You can simply walk
00:13:46	into the Board of Elections
00:13:48	and cast your vote securely.
00:13:50	But I again, I did not
00:13:50	think it would be appropriate
00:13:53	for us to do something
00:13:53	like that in Lame duck.
00:13:56	And they're not doing that
00:13:56	in Lame Duck.
00:13:58	You've been vocal
00:13:58	on a lot of issues,
00:14:00	such as traffic cameras,
00:14:00	green energy mandates.
00:14:03	Oh, you admitted
00:14:04	you voted for the law
00:14:05	that created those mandates,
00:14:06	and you've put solar panels
00:14:06	on your house.
00:14:08	That's right.
00:14:09	You support vouchers,
00:14:09	but have also supported
00:14:12	restrictions.
00:14:13	And, then
00:14:13	in terms of transparency
00:14:15	and requiring that,
00:14:15	what issues
00:14:17	do you feel are being left
00:14:17	unresolved energy.
00:14:21	We are running out
00:14:21	of electricity.
00:14:23	We have demand
00:14:23	that is going like this
00:14:26	because of AI,
00:14:26	crypto mining, data centers
00:14:30	and electric vehicles.
00:14:31	So demand is up.
00:14:34	The supply of baseload thermal
00:14:34	power plants is going down
00:14:38	because of federal
00:14:39	and blue state headwinds
00:14:39	that make it difficult
00:14:42	to construct gas powered new
00:14:42	power plants and make it all
00:14:46	but impossible to continue
00:14:46	to operate coal plants.
00:14:50	So, when that happens,
00:14:50	when demand is here
00:14:53	and supply is here,
00:14:53	only two things can happen.
00:14:56	And neither one of them are
00:14:56	good.
00:14:58	You either have prices
00:14:58	that will skyrocket,
00:15:01	or you will have to ration
00:15:01	the available commodity,
00:15:05	to people,
00:15:05	which means brownouts,
00:15:07	which means blackouts.
00:15:09	For example, in December 2022,
00:15:09	only two days before
00:15:14	Christmas, there was something
00:15:14	called winter Storm Elliot.
00:15:18	And in that, in that instance,
00:15:21	the gas fired
00:15:21	power plants were not working.
00:15:25	Thank God we had the two
00:15:27	nuclear plants that we tried
00:15:27	to save and House Bill six.
00:15:31	Thank God
00:15:31	we had the ovac coal plants
00:15:34	that were still operating.
00:15:36	Otherwise, people would have
00:15:37	awoke on Christmas morning
00:15:37	and found no power.
00:15:41	Okay.
00:15:42	So I believe in fuel
00:15:42	diversification.
00:15:44	I believe we need a good,
00:15:44	diverse supply of fuel
00:15:47	with which to make
00:15:47	electricity, including energy.
00:15:50	Green energy,
00:15:50	including green energy.
00:15:52	Look, green energy is great
00:15:54	if they ever can solve
00:15:54	the intermittency problem.
00:15:58	The intermittency problem
00:15:58	is very simply stated.
00:16:01	When the sun doesn't shine
00:16:01	and the wind doesn't blow,
00:16:04	these resources
00:16:04	do not show up for work.
00:16:07	So what we have to do,
00:16:07	and they've yet to do
00:16:09	it, is to come up with a cost
00:16:09	effective
00:16:12	method of storing the energy.
00:16:15	When the wind does blow
00:16:15	and the sun does shine,
00:16:17	then you'd have something
00:16:17	to talk about.
00:16:19	But until that time, it would
00:16:19	be foolish in the extreme
00:16:23	to rely
00:16:23	solely on renewable energy,
00:16:25	because when the wind
00:16:25	does not blow
00:16:27	and the sun does not shine,
00:16:29	you have to fall back on
00:16:30	your thermal
00:16:31	baseload power plants, be
00:16:31	they nuclear, coal or gas.
00:16:34	You have been here
00:16:34	for almost 25 years, 24 years
00:16:38	at this point.
00:16:38	You've been in leadership
00:16:38	your entire
00:16:40	last term in the House here.
00:16:41	This legislature
00:16:41	has been called
00:16:43	the most unproductive
00:16:43	in a half a century.
00:16:45	Is that fair?
00:16:45	Do you agree with that?
00:16:46	Well, I look,
00:16:48	it has been less productive
00:16:48	than many previous
00:16:51	general assemblies.
00:16:52	And I will say
00:16:52	when speaker, householder
00:16:55	was speaker and speaker,
00:16:55	he stood with speaker, and he.
00:16:58	Speaker
00:16:58	Rosenberger was speaker.
00:17:00	We got a lot more done.
00:17:02	But you do not judge
00:17:02	the quality of a general
00:17:05	assembly
00:17:05	by the number of bills
00:17:07	that pass,
00:17:07	but rather by the significance
00:17:07	of the bills that do
00:17:11	and falling back on our most
00:17:11	recent biennial budget.
00:17:14	I'm very proud of the fact
00:17:14	that we not only adopted
00:17:17	universal school
00:17:17	choice vouchers,
00:17:20	which I support,
00:17:21	but also made sure
00:17:21	we continued
00:17:23	to fully fund the Cut
00:17:23	Patterson Fair School
00:17:26	funding plan
00:17:26	for our public schools.
00:17:28	That was a big argument.
00:17:30	The Senate wanted universal
00:17:30	vouchers.
00:17:32	Speaker Stevens
00:17:32	and I and others said, well,
00:17:34	that's fine
00:17:34	as long as we're doing right
00:17:36	by the public schools.
00:17:37	And so we did. That's good.
00:17:39	We delivered massive tax cuts
00:17:39	in that budget.
00:17:41	Income tax cuts
00:17:41	and got tax reductions.
00:17:44	So that was very positive.
00:17:45	Our transportation budgets
00:17:45	have been very robust.
00:17:48	That's important
00:17:48	infrastructure.
00:17:50	I've always said I'm
00:17:50	an infrastructure Republican.
00:17:53	And I believe that we need,
00:17:55	to focus on that
00:17:56	as one of our primary
00:17:56	functions of government.
00:17:58	So those
00:17:58	things have been good.
00:18:02	You've
00:18:02	seen it and I've seen it.
00:18:04	There was a somewhat fractious
00:18:06	situation in the Ohio House
00:18:06	Republican caucus,
00:18:10	and that probably impeded
00:18:12	progress on some of these
00:18:12	bills because, well, if it's a
00:18:16	if it's your side's
00:18:16	bill, we're not for it.
00:18:19	And if it's your side's
00:18:19	bill, we're not for it.
00:18:21	And that's
00:18:21	just been unfortunate.
00:18:22	Okay.
00:18:23	That was just
00:18:23	an unfortunate, event.
00:18:26	So what can I say?
00:18:26	Life goes on, right?
00:18:28	For those people
00:18:29	who are not familiar
00:18:29	with your work on the floor,
00:18:32	you have quoted or sang
00:18:32	The Tax Man, The Gambler,
00:18:36	Beverly Hillbillies,
00:18:36	the $5 foot long jingle,
00:18:39	including you actually
00:18:40	brought a $5 foot long to a
00:18:40	farewell speech you gave. Yes.
00:18:44	You have some catchphrases.
00:18:46	The national nanny state
00:18:46	mandate mountain,
00:18:49	the intersection of gin
00:18:49	and vermouth.
00:18:51	You have
00:18:51	some really interesting ways
00:18:51	of presenting ideas
00:18:54	on the floor.
00:18:55	I think, Karen,
00:18:57	I think that's very important,
00:18:57	because the purpose of floor
00:19:00	speeches is not just to dryly
00:19:00	go through
00:19:04	what is in the bill.
00:19:05	The purpose is
00:19:05	to not only educate people
00:19:08	as to the details of the bill,
00:19:10	but do so with a little bit
00:19:10	of humor and panache.
00:19:13	Okay.
00:19:13	A little bit of humor
00:19:13	goes a long way.
00:19:16	A great example is that
00:19:16	Beverly Hillbillies issue.
00:19:19	That issue, as you recall,
00:19:19	came up when we were first
00:19:23	discussing fracking.
00:19:25	And, and, Senator Shindell,
00:19:28	who was a big
00:19:29	environmentalist, was giving
00:19:29	a long, eloquent speech
00:19:32	about all the
00:19:32	perceived dangers
00:19:32	of fracking environmentally.
00:19:36	And I made
00:19:36	a calculated decision
00:19:38	then and there
00:19:38	that I was not going to engage
00:19:40	with him
00:19:40	in that kind of discussion.
00:19:43	I was rather going to point
00:19:43	to the larger issue
00:19:45	that by reason of fracking,
00:19:47	a large part of Ohio
00:19:47	that had been ignored
00:19:50	and was poor as a church mouse
00:19:50	for the last hundred
00:19:53	years, was all of a sudden
00:19:53	going to become quite wealthy.
00:19:57	And that's exactly what
00:19:57	the story
00:19:59	of The Beverly
00:19:59	Hillbillies was all about.
00:20:01	So I figured the best way
00:20:01	to refute Senator Shindell
00:20:04	and to make the point
00:20:05	is to sing the Old Beverly
00:20:05	Hillbillies song.
00:20:08	And by the by the way,
00:20:10	by the time
00:20:10	we got done with it,
00:20:11	I had half of the Republicans
00:20:11	joining in.
00:20:14	Okay,
00:20:14	so that was a lot of fun.
00:20:15	You have clashed
00:20:15	with members of the,
00:20:19	Democratic Party
00:20:19	in very various times,
00:20:21	in committee hearings,
00:20:21	even on the floor.
00:20:23	But you've also been asked
00:20:23	and not participated
00:20:27	in farewell speeches.
00:20:28	Chris Redfern,
00:20:28	the former chair
00:20:29	of the Ohio Democratic Party,
00:20:29	gave, an introduction to you.
00:20:32	You offered a farewell for
00:20:32	Representative Martin Sweeney.
00:20:34	That was pretty hilarious
00:20:34	to listen to.
00:20:36	Is that
00:20:36	kind of by partizanship
00:20:40	going away?
00:20:41	Look, not with me.
00:20:43	I think if you look at this
00:20:44	last General Assembly session
00:20:44	that is drawing to a close,
00:20:48	I will.
00:20:48	I will bet
00:20:49	you a dollars to donuts
00:20:49	that no one other than me
00:20:53	has co-sponsored
00:20:53	more bills with Democrats.
00:20:57	All right, in the House,
00:20:57	nobody.
00:20:59	Okay.
00:21:00	So my joint co-sponsor was,
00:21:00	Democrat
00:21:04	on many of these bills.
00:21:05	Look, we're going to disagree
00:21:05	with Republicans
00:21:08	and Democrats on things
00:21:08	like abortion and guns
00:21:12	and maybe election law
00:21:12	and probably tax policy.
00:21:16	But there's a lot
00:21:16	we can agree on.
00:21:18	There's a lot
00:21:18	in the criminal justice space
00:21:20	that I've done with Democrats,
00:21:20	of which I'm very proud.
00:21:23	We all believe in
00:21:23	giving people second chances
00:21:26	and in
00:21:27	trying to reduce the rate
00:21:27	of recidivism, repeat offenses
00:21:30	through programs that get
00:21:30	people trained and educated
00:21:34	while they're in prison,
00:21:36	so that when they're out,
00:21:37	they don't immediately
00:21:37	revert to a life of crime.
00:21:40	That's just one
00:21:40	example of an area where hours
00:21:43	and days can collaborate,
00:21:43	perhaps for different reasons.
00:21:46	But we've collaborated and,
00:21:46	you know,
00:21:48	so many of those bills I did
00:21:49	with Senator Shirlee
00:21:49	Smith back in the day.
00:21:51	It would be
00:21:51	a good example of that.
00:21:53	I've done two bills
00:21:53	this session
00:21:55	with, representative LaTanya
00:21:55	Humphrey,
00:21:57	an African-American.
00:22:00	I did a bill with, Dan Davis.
00:22:02	Gerald's,
00:22:02	which is a great bill.
00:22:03	I'm sad the Senate
00:22:03	didn't take it up,
00:22:05	but it's a bill
00:22:05	that creates a foster
00:22:07	scholarship program
00:22:07	for higher ed for kids
00:22:10	that were in foster care, from
00:22:10	and after age 13.
00:22:13	Those people have a rough way
00:22:13	to go.
00:22:16	And I.
00:22:16	And so Dan Tobias
00:22:16	and I said, let's do what 33
00:22:19	other states
00:22:19	have already done,
00:22:21	and that is create
00:22:21	a separate scholarship fund
00:22:24	for those kids to go
00:22:24	to college, community college,
00:22:27	get a certificate, get a trade
00:22:27	school, all that stuff.
00:22:30	Great. Great idea.
00:22:32	But the Senate came back
00:22:34	and said, well,
00:22:34	we're not going to do that
00:22:35	because there's
00:22:36	an appropriation in there
00:22:37	and we're not going
00:22:37	to appropriate
00:22:38	any more money this year,
00:22:39	and we'll have to deal
00:22:39	with that next year.
00:22:41	Said, well, okay.
00:22:43	And in fact,
00:22:44	Governor Strickland,
00:22:44	Democratic governor,
00:22:46	was at your farewell party.
00:22:48	Yes. Along with, Governor
00:22:48	Taft and other, yes.
00:22:51	Yeah, we we had quite a
00:22:52	we had quite a long list
00:22:52	of hours and days.
00:22:55	Marty Sweeney came down from,
00:22:57	from, Cleveland
00:22:58	and offered the closing toast
00:22:58	with his usual,
00:23:01	Irish panache.
00:23:03	My old friend, Senator
00:23:04	John Eklund, now a judge,
00:23:04	came down from Georgia County.
00:23:07	I even had
00:23:07	one of my former aides
00:23:09	who now lives in Chicago,
00:23:11	catch a plane
00:23:11	and come down here.
00:23:13	And that was just a, a real,
00:23:14	a real joy
00:23:14	to see all those people.
00:23:16	So, you know,
00:23:16	it's been a great career.
00:23:19	The, the best part of
00:23:19	this is meeting
00:23:21	so many wonderful people.
00:23:23	And, doesn't mean you
00:23:23	always agree with them, but
00:23:27	they've been a great
00:23:27	opportunity to meet folks.
00:23:29	And,
00:23:29	when you're in this business,
00:23:32	you have to kind of be
00:23:32	a people person.
00:23:35	Well, we see you again.
00:23:36	Are you are you running
00:23:36	at the state House?
00:23:37	Well, I'm not dead.
00:23:38	You know, and I don't know
00:23:38	what I'm going to do.
00:23:41	And as you know,
00:23:42	there are ethical restrictions
00:23:43	on what you can
00:23:43	try to line up for yourself
00:23:46	while you're still in office.
00:23:47	So I haven't really done
00:23:47	much in that regard.
00:23:50	I've been fortunate
00:23:50	to have been a,
00:23:53	a member of two very large law
00:23:56	firms over my career,
00:23:56	going back to 1978.
00:23:59	I'm still at the Densmore
00:23:59	civil
00:24:00	law firm down in Cincinnati.
00:24:02	I will be there,
00:24:02	practicing law as I've done
00:24:06	throughout the whole 24 years.
00:24:08	I've had two jobs.
00:24:09	I've had my statehouse job
00:24:09	and my law job.
00:24:12	So that's a lot to do.
00:24:14	I said, and all told,
00:24:14	I've had 34 years of service
00:24:19	in elected office
00:24:19	continuously between
00:24:19	the Cincinnati School Board
00:24:22	being township trustee
00:24:22	and then the 24 years up here.
00:24:26	That's a pretty long career,
00:24:26	you know?
00:24:28	So, I don't think I'll
00:24:28	ever run for office again.
00:24:32	People have said, well,
00:24:32	why don't you
00:24:34	why don't you put your name in
00:24:34	for U.S.
00:24:36	Senate with DeWine?
00:24:38	They're not going to pick
00:24:38	a 70 year old.
00:24:40	They want somebody
00:24:40	that's young,
00:24:41	that is going to hold
00:24:41	that seat for three terms.
00:24:44	So they're not going to
00:24:44	do that.
00:24:45	why don't you become a judge?
00:24:45	They said, well,
00:24:47	You can't become a judge once
00:24:47	you're 70 years old.
00:24:50	You're aged out.
00:24:50	So that's not in the cards.
00:24:52	And, you know,
00:24:52	but there's other ways
00:24:56	to be influential
00:24:57	in the making
00:24:57	of public policy,
00:24:59	which I've greatly enjoyed
00:25:01	and which I will
00:25:01	probably pursue
00:25:03	in some capacity or another.
00:25:05	You know.
00:25:06	cites as his work on tort
00:25:06	reform to reduce
00:25:08	personal injury civil lawsuits
00:25:08	is what he's most proud of.
00:25:12	He notes that before a law
00:25:12	limiting asbestos cases, by
00:25:15	requiring people who file them
00:25:17	be currently sick
00:25:17	with asbestos related disease
00:25:20	passed in 2003,
00:25:20	there were 45,000
00:25:23	pending asbestos
00:25:23	cases in Cuyahoga County
00:25:26	and within a year
00:25:26	that number dropped to 8000.
00:25:29	Another veteran lawmaker
00:25:29	leaving
00:25:31	the legislature is Democratic
00:25:31	Representative
00:25:33	and former Senator
00:25:33	Michael Swindle.
00:25:34	We'll hear from him
00:25:34	in an upcoming show.
00:25:37	And that's it for this week
00:25:37	for my colleagues
00:25:39	at the Statehouse News
00:25:39	Bureau of Ohio Public Media.
00:25:41	Thanks for watching.
00:25:42	Please check out our website
00:25:42	at State News Talk or
00:25:45	find us online by searching
00:25:45	State of Ohio Show.
00:25:48	You can also hear more
00:25:48	from the Bureau
00:25:50	on our podcast,
00:25:50	The Ohio State House scoop.
00:25:52	Look for it
00:25:52	every Monday morning
00:25:54	wherever
00:25:54	you get your podcasts.
00:25:56	Thanks for watching and please
00:25:56	join us again
00:25:57	next time
00:25:57	for the state of Ohio.
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Note : Transcripts are compiled from uncorrected captions