Legislative Update

Belinda Jones, Capitol Consulting Group.

CHANGE IN OHIO HOUSE SPEAKER

No doubt you know about the summer arrest of House Speaker Larry Householder (R; Glenford), and four lobbyists who were close to and/or worked for the Speaker. The indictments centered around a $60 billion scheme affiliated with the passage of HB 6. Many refer to HB 6 as the bill that bails out the nuclear power plants owned by First Energy or First Energy Solutions.

After Householder's indictment, House majority republicans voted to replace him with Senator Bob Cupp (R; Lima). Cupp faced off with Householder's Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Butler (R; Oakwood).

You may recall that the House majority caucus was divided at the beginning of the General Assembly. Many republicans supported former House Speaker Ryan Smith (R; Bidwell); however, Householder was able to obtain the gavel with support from a good portion of the democratic caucus.

Cupp and many of his allies were supporters of Speaker Ryan Smith but Cupp has the support of Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken. The vote tally between Cupp and Butler was not made public but insiders say Cupp only prevailed by one vote (again indicating a deeply fractured republican caucus). Cupp will remain Speaker until the end of the calendar year and will be up for re-election as Speaker when the 134th General Assembly is sworn in in January.

One would think that Householder's arrest would take his influence out of the picture. Not so. Although removed from the Speaker post, Householder refused to resign from his House seat. Capital Square was astonished that he attended session with his head held high. He is also up for re-election to his House seat. Indictment or not, Householder likely has his finger on the pulse of the next General Assembly as he worked hard this spring recruiting and helping House candidates that would support him. In fact, he ran "Householder picks" against other republicans that had the support of the State Republican Party. Thus, depending on how the election turns out, Speaker Cupp may not have a slam dunk on re-election as Speaker in January. One possible contender is Householder supporter and veteran lawmaker Rep. Bill Seitz (R; Cincinnati).

Speaker Bob Cupp

As for Speaker Cupp, he gets an A+ for honesty, integrity and experience. Cupp grew up on his family's farm in Allen County. He earned his political science and law degrees from Ohio Northern University.

Speaker Cupp brings a wealth of experience to the gavel having served as an elected official in all three branches of government and at the local level. Cupp's resume includes: County Commissioner in Allen County; four term state senator; court of appeals judge; and Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.

Speaker Cupp has the exact skill set for healing the fractured republican caucus. He is honest and measured. With humility as a hallmark, Cupp reads, studies issues, and listens! For more information about Speaker Cupp, see the following link: http:// www.ohiohouse.gov/Assets/BioPage/4.pdf

Interesting fact: Assuming Speaker Cupp retains the seat of Speaker, this will be the first time in history when leaders of both chambers are from the same hometown. Undisputedly, Senator Matt Huffman will be the next Senate President (succeeding Senate President Obhof who is term limited). Both Huffman and Cupp are from Lima, Ohio.

DEWINE CRITICIZED BY THE FAR RIGHT FOR COVID RESTRICTIONS

Assuming you are watching/reading any news sources, you know there is a grand continuum of opinions on pandemic restrictions. For those who are fortunate enough to not have any family members suffering with or dying from COVID-19, the opinion might be opposed to these restrictions.

Some right republicans in the House have been frustrated with how the restrictions have impacted businesses and the economy. There have been several bills aimed at limiting the authority of the Governor and ODH Director. Lawsuits have also been filed on this subject and additionally, some conservative republicans and severe critics of the governor have actually introduced articles of impeachment. This impeachment campaign is a clear example of the level of frustration among the far-right fringe of the House republicans.

LAME DUCK PRIORITIES

Among the myriad of priorities for the House and the Senate, in lame duck, we expect a focus on repealing and replacing HB 6 (the subject of the Householder indictment), the nuclear bailout bill. We understand that the House and the Senate are working cooperatively on this subject now.

For his part, a crowning theme of President Obhof has been working on decreasing regulations. Obhof has studied how Ohio compares with other states relative to regulations. His focus has been on making life easier for businesses and to provide an easier pathway and/or cutting red tape for employees entering the job market. Thus, a few bills will be on his "to do" list, including bills that address reciprocity for licensees in a variety of areas.

If these concepts are of interest to you, please contact me and I will share with you SB 246 and HB 432.

Usually lame duck is a quagmire of horse trading but the pandemic may reduce the number of days legislators can be in Columbus. Stay tuned.

ODA UPDATE

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), along with most state agencies, have staff working remotely. ODA has days where associates are in person at ODA but the agency has frozen any off-site speaking engagements for their personnel.

One change worth noting is the move of ODA Assistant Director Tim Derickson from ODA to the Jobs Ohio program. I am unsure of his actual title but I have been told that he will be head of agriculture issues at Jobs Ohio. This is a great opportunity for Tim and we wish him well! He has been a great friend to the green industry.

Pesticide Recertification

One of the many issues affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is pesticide license recertification. On the one hand, ODA, with great resolve for the integrity of their program, has been reticent to move toward providing on-line options. However, because of social distancing requirements, ODA ultimately made the following statement:

"The pesticide regulation program has just produced guidance for requesting approval of live webinar events for pesticide recertification. This option is available for our traditional course sponsors that we’ve worked with in the past. There are some very specific requirements for attendance verification and data, but the goal is to help meet the demand created by COVID-19 cancellations and precautions while maintaining the integrity of the education programming."

Details are available here: https://agri.ohio.gov/wps/portal/ gov/oda/divisions/plant-health/pesticides/pesticide-onlinerecertification-classes! B

Belinda Jones can be contacted at bjones@capitol-consulting.net or 614.224.3855

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