No vote on protecting those who clean vacant properties
The Columbus Dispatch Friday December 14, 2012 6:54 AM
State Sen. Joe Schiavoni was upset yesterday after finding out that House Speaker William G. Batchelder would not be bringing up for a vote a bill that would allow people to clean up vacant, blighted properties without fear of being cited for trespassing.
“Very, very frustrating,” Schiavoni said.
The Democrat from Boardman in northeastern Ohio said he had been told that the House would vote on the bill yesterday. The Senate passed it in March.
But Batchelder, a Republican from Medina in northeastern Ohio, told him late Wednesday that some GOP members didn’t support the bill.
Senate OKs plan to redraw districts
By Jim Siegel
The Columbus Dispatch Friday December 14, 2012 6:39 AM
Setting the stage for talks next year, the Senate voted 32-1 yesterday for a resolution that would revamp the way Ohio draws legislative and congressional districts to require bipartisan support.
The proposal will die for this session because the House and Senate adjourned for the year yesterday without the House having time to take up the proposal. But supporters expect it to be brought up again soon in the next session, either by the General Assembly or the newly formed 32-member Constitutional Modernization Commission.
House Wraps Up 129th General Assembly Agenda
Hannah Report 12/13/12
Hannah Report 12/13/12
The House finished its work Thursday with a long agenda that included 18 bills. Members breezed through much of that agenda either unanimously or with little opposition, but debate broke out over Senate amendments to education and gun bills.
Democrats complained that their counterparts in the majority were pushing forward too fast on education changes through HB555 (Stebelton-Butler). The bill that includes a letter grade system for schools came back to the House for concurrence after numerous changes in the Senate, and some of its detractors said that while the Senate version was improved, the bill is not complete. (See The Hannah Report, 12/12/12.)
Rep. Gerald Stebelton (R-Lancaster), the bill’s sponsor and chairman of the House Education Committee, had asked for concurrence on the changes, saying the bill is basically the same as the legislation that left the House. http://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=191440
Democrats complained that their counterparts in the majority were pushing forward too fast on education changes through HB555 (Stebelton-Butler). The bill that includes a letter grade system for schools came back to the House for concurrence after numerous changes in the Senate, and some of its detractors said that while the Senate version was improved, the bill is not complete. (See The Hannah Report, 12/12/12.)
Rep. Gerald Stebelton (R-Lancaster), the bill’s sponsor and chairman of the House Education Committee, had asked for concurrence on the changes, saying the bill is basically the same as the legislation that left the House. http://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=191440
The House wrapped up work Thursday on several pieces of substantive legislation, sending more than a dozen bills to the governor's desk during the last full session day of the 129th General Assembly.
Speaker Bill Batchelder (R-Medina) thanked the members for their work over the last two years, which he said constituted one of the more active legislatures he's been a part of during his decades of service.
"This was obviously a session - and I've only been here for 40 years - this was obviously a session without peer in terms of the volume of material that was handled by people here who are totally dedicated to the public and willing to take the time and have things put off that they wanted to do," he said.
"It's just been magnificent and it's been a real honor for me to have the opportunity to in a small way provide some leadership here."
With most of the action coming on concurrence votes, and relatively few bills prompting partisan angst, the lame duck's conclusion went fairly smoothly and quickly in the lower chamber despite the sheer volume of policy changes involved.
Some of the measure received more debate and discussion in the Senate earlier in the day before being sent to the House for final action.
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