Ohio Republicans have only a few weeks left of total control of the Statehouse, where their large majorities in the House and Senate allow them to set the legislative policy agenda and override vetoes from the governor.
To lessen the GOP’s need to cooperate with Democrats, whose big wins in the midterm elections last Tuesday weakened the Republicans’ influence, one House Republican wants to change the rules to preserve the party’s power while it still can.
State Rep. Ron Ferguson of Wintersville has proposed a plan to amend the Ohio Constitution to reduce the number of votes needed to override a sitting governor’s veto. The proposal, called House Joint Resolution 11, is aimed at cutting Gov.-elect Amy Acton’s power, which is bolstered by Democratic victories in legislative races that broke the GOP’s supermajority in the Ohio House.
The GOP currently holds 65 of 99 seats in the Ohio House, above the 60-vote supermajority needed to overturn a governor’s vetoes. Republicans are set to fall to between 53 and 55 seats, depending on the results of ongoing recounts.
Ferguson’s proposal would lower the number of votes required to override a veto to 50 in the Ohio House. It also would lower the requirement in the Senate from 22 of the chamber’s 33 votes to 16 votes. Republicans are set to hold 22 Senate seats following last week’s elections.
GOP leaders are publicly uncommitted to changes
Republican House Speaker Matt Huffman, who has the ultimate say over what gets voted on by the House, told reporters Tuesday there “are a lot of people” pushing him to dilute the power of the governor and other statewide offices before Democrats take office in January.
He also said there are only two specific plans – Ferguson’s and another that would require the governor’s office to give greater advance notice to a legislative panel that considers state spending changes.
But Huffman said his office is reviewing the powers of the governor and other statewide executive offices to see which are governed by regular laws and which are protected by the state constitution.
“We are always looking at things that make sure that the legislature stays in a position where they can monitor what the executive branch is doing,” he said.
The Republican leader of the Ohio Senate, Rob McColley, told reporters that there have been “no discussions” about voting to limit the governor’s power before the end of the year.
Republicans face pressure to check Democratic influence at the Statehouse
The legislature started its “lame duck” session on Tuesday – the name for the legislative meetings held after the election but before newly elected officials take office in January. These final meetings, which will happen weekly until the December holidays, will be Republicans’ last chance to pass legislation before they face potential vetoes from Acton after she takes office in January.
Republicans are under pressure from GOP state activists to pass Ferguson’s resolution and proposals like it while they still can. Some are active on social media.
“Our neighbors Indiana and Kentucky currently have this system. Be courageous and do what it takes to save Ohio!” Brandon Rossi, a field representative with Turning Point Action, a conservative youth advocacy group, said on X.
Huffman referenced the lobbying when he was asked on Tuesday whether Republicans might look at adjusting the legal authority of other executive offices that Democrats won, such as secretary of state or attorney general. These offices control or influence important state government functions such as corruption enforcement, voting procedures and citizen-proposed ballot issues.
Huffman wouldn’t rule out changing the executive offices’ authority. But he said he wants to hear specific ideas.
“There are a lot of people who’ve called up and said ‘Oh, we should do this or we should do that.’ Great. Let’s see a specific proposal.”
“And I said this to my caucus yesterday, that if you have proposals, if there are things that you think we’re going to do, then we’re going to talk about it.”
Outgoing Republican Gov. Mike DeWine told reporters last week he won’t support any attempts to lessen the power of the governor’s office. That could mean he would veto any bills along those lines that Republicans pass.
But the governor has no authority to determine which constitutional amendments go to voters, such as Ferguson’s proposal to lower the threshold for overriding Acton’s vetoes.
Dani Isaacsohn, the top Democrat in the Ohio House, said Tuesday that Republicans need to respect the will of the voters, who elected Acton by a margin of 8 percentage points. Other Democratic victories were closer.
“I think it is the worst possible time to ignore the will of the voters right after they’ve expressed it,” Isaacsohn said. “It is so anti-democratic.”
