COLUMBUS, Ohio — The House Government Oversight Committee met Tuesday afternoon to discuss various bills including wo major pieces of introduced legislation.
House Bill 16 is the major Ethics Reform Bill introduced by Republican State Rep. Derek Merrin. House Bill 21, introduced by Democratic State Rep. Daniel Troy, would potentially change the date of Ohio’s Presidential-year Primary.
The meeting began with State Rep. Merrin’s testimony about ethics and lobbying. Specifically, the potential that the bill could have on creating a fair system. Merrin had a few questions, but overall committee members were not against the introduced legislation. They only asked for clarification on what lobbyists should report on their overall income and receipts.
“This legislation seeks to address five major areas while making simple changes to clarify ambiguous language, streamline reporting and codify existing guidance by regulatory entities into law,” said Merrin, (R) Monclova. “I certainly do not claim this bill solves or addresses every ethics issue that exists, but it is a good faith effort to begin the process of reform. I’m open to having this bill amended and used as a vehicle to fix additional issues if the committee deems that appropriate.”
The next piece of legislation was discussed by Representative Troy, where he talked about changing the Presidential-Year Primary Election.
No one on the committee interjected or had any other comments to make.
“God forbid that we have two primaries again like we had in 2022,” Troy, (D) Willowick said. “It will also shorten the election season and potentially allow us more time for governing and less time for partizan politics. My proposal has already received support from the leaders of the Ohio Association of Elections Officials, which is the most bipartisan group you can find because it’s 50/50.”
These two bills were discussed among the committee where lawmakers thoroughly study them.
Through this process, members could change the bills with amendments or choose to take no action at all.
