In the wake of Democrat Amy Acton’s gubernatorial victory, political experts and Democratic lawmakers have speculated Republican lawmakers in Ohio might take measures to limit the executive powers of the governor’s office.
Republicans, who hold supermajorities in the state House and Senate for the rest of the year, said those worries are unfounded.
“These are rumors and strictly that. There is no validity to any of these claims,” Olivia Wile, majority press secretary for the Ohio House of Representatives told The Center Square.
Yet a new resolution filed by a Republican representative in the Ohio House would change how many votes the GOP would need to override any Acton veto.
For more than 100 years, lawmakers have needed a three-fifths vote to override a governor’s veto. Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Steubenville, wants to change that to a simple majority.
The Nov. 3 election eliminated Republicans’ supermajority in both the House and Senate and eliminated any chance to override a veto without support from Democrats.
House Joint Resolution 11 does not require a governor’s signature to reach the state ballot. Instead, a three-fifths vote by lawmakers would send it to voters. Republicans will hold a three-fifths majority in both houses until Jan. 1.
Recently, current Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, also addressed concerns of Republican potentially removing gubernatorial power.
“Look, I don’t think any governor would approve anything, whether Democrat or Republican, that would dramatically change the powers of the governor,” DeWine said. “I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, had words of warning for Republican lawmakers.
“For the Republicans to do some kind of last-minute dirty trick would be shortsighted,” Antonio told The Center Square. “It would be a slap in the face to the people of Ohio who sent a message that the majority is not working for them.”
The Buckeye Institute, a conservative, non-profit, policy think tank is adding to concerns by making recommendations that may indirectly limit certain executive powers.
Its recommendations include “cutting red tape” around legislation and requiring legislative approval for gubernatorial emergency rules.
The institute pushed back on concerns, stating that the recommendations are not targeted toward a Democratic governor’s office, Greg R. Lawson, senior research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, said.
“There have been efforts by the general assembly to put up guardrails around the executive under governors of both parties,” Lawson told The Center Square.
Lawson also said Republican lawmakers can use their supermajority powers to override budgetary vetoes from the governor’s office.
“For example, in last year’s budget, legislature lowered the amount of money the Controlling Board, which moves funds unappropriated by legislature, can appropriate to $100 million,” Lawson said. “This was line-item-vetoed by Gov. DeWine. The legislature could override this. The Controlling Board has legislators on it as well as gubernatorial appointees. Could you argue this limits the governor? Somewhat, but it also restricts the legislature.”
Both parties are concerned with restricting the use of taxpayer dollars.
“We can all agree we need to put guardrails up around when we can use unclaimed funds,” said Antonio. “We had a notorious case in Ohio where unclaimed funds were used to pay a sports team for their new facility. The money has to be there for the people because it’s their money.”
Acton Spokesperson Virginia Schaus told The Center Square the governor-elect is ready to get to work in January.
“Governor-elect Acton is a common sense public servant who looks forward to working closely with partners on both sides of the aisle to deliver on bipartisan solutions and make life better for Ohioans,” Schaus said.