COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Republicans, despite having a supermajority, are unable — and unwilling — to work together to pass a spending bill to fund community projects to benefit the state.
State senators announced and passed a surprise spending proposal, giving $1.4 billion to communities and projects around Ohio. This was a shock to the House, who already passed a different spending bill.
"ODNR is fixing up lodges... We're building school buildings," Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said.
There are four main aspects to this pool of money for fiscal year '24 and '25. There is $600 million is going to K-12 education; $575 million to public works; $196 million to the state fair and $38 million to the state’s adoption grant program.
"The grant is $10,000 to someone who adopts a child — there's a lot of expenses to get into — $15,000 If it's a foster child, $20,000 if it's a disabled child," the president added.
In addition to those four, there is also a section of funds being reappropriated, however, the senate leaders did not have numbers on that at this time.
Although Democrats raised slight concerns about how fast this bill was going through, considering it was a floor amendment tacked on to an unrelated bill about college financial aid, the legislation passed in a bipartisan fashion 30-2, with one Democrat and one Republican opposing.
State Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) know that despite the passage, there will be a roadblock.
"The legislature is not working," DeMora said. "The House hates the Senate; the Senate hates the House."
Huffman and House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) have continued to fight about seemingly everything since the fall.
The president is expected to challenge Stephens for House speakership next January. He has a faction of supporters within the House currently, and candidates have told News 5 that Huffman has helped support their bid to knock out the Stephens team incumbents.
The House passed a spending bill, H.B. 2, in early February that the Senate is ignoring.
"We in the House have a saying, 'nothing good comes back from the Senate'," state Rep. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) said in a previous interview about the Senate's behavior.
After the Senate passed their version Wednesday, House leadership insinuated, and members told News 5, that they plan to ignore that bill.
"We look forward to the Senate taking up Substitute House Bill 2," Stephens said in a statement.
All the infighting does is prevent Ohioans from getting beneficial projects done, DeMora said.
"The House and Senate leaders can't work together and can't do anything — they can't get anything done," the Democrat added, exasperated. "It's unbelievable."
The president said he won't bring the House's version to the floor because he doesn't trust it.
"I'd be asking them to vote on things that are — could be suspect," Huffman said, previously emphasizing that the House had proposed their $2 billion proposal and logistically didn't take public comment for it. "It's the kind of due diligence that we get elected to do."
H.B. 2 passed in a bipartisan manner and also funded schools and community projects.
"As for due diligence, the Speaker and House Leadership stand by the memo that was sent out last week and our comprehensive package passed by our chamber three weeks ago," House spokesperson Pat Melton said.
Huffman sent out a memo the day Stephens' passed H.B. 2 saying, "Approving a large spending bill without additional debate would be irresponsible and an abdication of the duties of the Senate."
Statehouse reporter Morgan Trau asked Huffman about his criticism of the House's timeline, as he also was passing spending bills at an expedited speed, as it was just a floor amendment, without substantive debate from the public, either.
"I'm not criticizing them for moving quickly," Huffman responded. "I'm making clear that the Senate doesn't have an agreement with the House that we approved all their projects."
Backtrack
It was not included in the Senate budget, but the Ohio House passed the One-Time Strategic Community Investment Fund, which includes $700 million in for community projects. The House and the Senate agreed that each chamber would get to decide on half of it — or $350 million, according to House Finance Chair Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville).
"It was also agreed upon at that time that our $350 wouldn't be touched by them," Edwards continued. "Their $350 wouldn't be touched by us — they get to spend their $350 however they want."
The legislation also passed $1.65 billion in other bondable appropriations — totaling about $2 billion.
In plain English: the projects slated to receive the $1.65 billion are typically in the capital budget — however, the House Finance leaders wanted to get the projects done before the full and extensive capital budget comes out.
From talking with numerous high-ranking Republican senators, all have said that they never agreed not to touch the House's half, meaning all of the House's projects could be dead.
"The bill passed by the House did not include negotiations or discussions with members of the Senate or with the Senate President," Huffman wrote in his memo.
Read more about the proposal fight by clicking or tapping here for an in-depth play-by-play and a history of why the Republicans refuse to get along on everything — not just money.
Present
House members were annoyed by the Senate's proposal — especially because they had no clue it was happening, representatives told News 5. Several made sure to point out that the Senate never discussed their version with the House, either.
Now, pressure is on to see which leadership caves to get the proposals done. Until then, no funding.
Stephens' full statement:
"Three weeks ago, the House passed Substitute House Bill 2, which would ensure that time-sensitive construction investments such as building K-12 schools, making local capital improvements, upgrading higher education facilities, and funding local jail construction would stay on schedule with the traditional timeline.
The House has remained very transparent about ensuring money is readily available for the beginning of the summer construction season, and we look forward to the Senate taking up Substitute House Bill 2 and adding their $350 million portion of the One-Time Strategic Community Investment Fund. We believe the sooner this is accomplished, the better for Ohio."
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