COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted have announced that shortening the Ohio Administrative Code is part of their upcoming budget proposal.
The Ohio Administrative Code has exactly 17.4 million words, a lot for the average person to read.
DeWine said the code is out of date and that parts of it are not even being used anymore.
What You Need To Know
- The Fiscal Budget Proposal is still in the works
- Gov. DeWine said he is not worried about the House tension in terms of getting the proposal on the House floor
- The Governor’s Office added, “The Ohio Administrative Code” to the budget proposal
DeWine was asked about how he plans to work with the House regarding this year’s budget proposal, especially with the tension in the Ohio House.
He told media outlets he is not concerned and said the House will work it out.
DeWine and Husted say they will eliminate one-third of the Ohio Administrative Code.
They say it will help small business owners cut costs by not having to seek help from another party to understand the code.
Both DeWine and Husted say it will fix customer service in Ohio. Over the years, the issue of not understanding code has ranked No. 6 for frustration to small business owners.
“We will eliminate one-third of the Ohio Administrative Code. Think about that. One-third, one-third of that will be gone,” said Husted. “This accounts for more than five million words, 20,000 pages from Ohio’s regulatory system. That’s the equivalent of printing our U.S. Constitution 700 times. That’s what we’re eliminating today.”
“CSI (Ohio’s Common Sense Initiative) has streamlined the rule review process and started using an artificial intelligence tool to make their work more efficient and proactive,” said DeWine. “Today, CSI is not just reviewing rules that are submitted, but actually diving into the administrative and revise codes to find duplicative, outdated, and unnecessary regulations.”
In the past few weeks a rift formed between House Republicans supporting Representative Derek Merrin and those who voted for Speaker of the House Jason Stephens.
Merrin continues to proclaim himself as the “Leader of the House.” An official vote by the House declared leadership this week while Merrin supporters claimed they were being ignored and disrespected on the House floor.
However, the governor is confident it will not impact his proposals.
“I talk to every member of the House, every member of the Senate,” DeWine said. “The leader is speaker. The leader is the senate president. And the governor, those are normally considered the three, you know, who are involved directly in conversations. And that’s what will continue.”
DeWine also told Spectrum News the Ohio House historically elects its own members and that they will figure everything out.
