Ohio House Representatives Want to be Consulted by Federal and State Authorities on Issues Regarding East Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment

In the wake of a railroad catastrophe that has continued to worry residents in East Palestine, Ohio, a group of Ohio House members want federal and state authorities to consult with them.

A bipartisan group of 26 state Representatives have sent a letter to the Ohio and United States Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) on February 22nd requesting that the two organizations “consult and advise” them on any additional potentially needed resources.

Read More

Ohio State Representative Derek Merrin Lays Out His Republican House Priorities

Ohio House Republican Caucus Chairman State Representative Derek Merrin (R-Monclova) and his allied House Republicans released his team’s priority list for House legislation on Wednesday.

This comes a mere week after Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill), along with his Republican supporters, announced their legislative priorities following several weeks without any measures being formally submitted with bill numbers at all.

Read More

Ohio Speaker Stephens Announces Committee Chairs and House Leadership Team

New Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) has released his list of committee chairs and vice chairs with about 50 percent of those positions going to 20 of the 22 Republicans who supported him for speaker including most of the major committees, such as finance.

Earlier this month, lawmakers elected moderate Republican Stephens as the new Speaker of the Ohio House to succeed state Representative Bob Cupp (R-Lima). The choice came despite the Republican Caucus‘ previous selection in November of state Representative Derek Merrin (R-Moncolva) as the new Speaker. Although the GOP caucus voted for Merrin as Speaker of the House in December, Stephen fought in collaboration with the Democrats to collect votes and garner a win.

Read More

Governor Mike DeWine Signs 19 Bills into Ohio Law

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed 19 bills into law on Monday, the start of the new legislative session, that lawmakers approved during the lame duck session last year.

On December 22nd, DeWine’s office received a raft of 24 bills. He signed 18 of those 24 into law.

Read More

Bill to Lower Ohio Prescription Drug Costs Gets First Hearing in House

A Republican-backed bill aimed to lower prescription drug costs for Ohioans made its way to the Ohio House Health Committee for its first hearing on Tuesday.

House Bill (HB) 715 sponsored by state Representatives P.Scott Lipps (R-Franklin) and Tom Young (R-Washington Township) would require the State Board of Pharmacy to develop a program for prescription drugs to be imported from Canada.

Read More