After yet more stalling on property-tax reform, Ohio’s House of Representatives went home for the summer Monday, calling to mind the Bard’s words about “sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
The only action the House’s GOP majority took was to override one item-veto Republican Gov. Mike DeWine made in the new 2025-27 state budget, House Bill 96.
As passed by the House and Senate, the budget aimed to ban property-tax gobbledygook that can imply (wrongly) that some proposed levies (examples: “replacement” or “emergency” levies) won’t boost the real-estate taxes property owners would have to pay.
DeWine said he killed that budget provision because “[such types of] levies serve as important tools for school districts as they seek to maintain their long-term financial stability. The DeWine-Tressel Administration recognizes the great need for property tax reform in Ohio and will convene a working group that will include legislators, agency officials, school officials, community members, and property tax experts to ensure this critical topic is given the attention deserved.”
The governor subsequently appointed a Property Tax Reform Working Group and named as its co-chairs ex-state Rep. William G. Seitz, a suburban Cincinnati Republican whom DeWine recently appointed to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals, and ex-U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, a suburban Columbus Republican who’s president and chief executive officer of the Ohio Business Roundtable.
The Ohio House vote to override DeWine’s veto of that property tax item was 61 “yeas” to 28 “nays.” With 60 votes required, 61 of the 62 House Republicans present voted to override. One Republican, Rep. Scott Oelslager, of North Canton, once chair of the budget-writing Finance Committee, opposed the override.
Three House Republicans were absent: Former Speaker Jason Stephens, of Lawrence County’s Kitts Hill, and Reps. Cindy Abrams, of suburban Cincinnati’s Harrison, and Sharon Ray, of Wadsworth.
All House Democrats present voted “no” on the override, led by Minority Leader Dani Isaacson, of Cincinnati. Seven Democrats were absent: Ex-Minority Leader Allison Russo, of Upper Arlington, and Reps. Munira Abdullah, of Columbus; Rachel Baker and Karen Brownlee, both of Cincinnati; Chris Glassburn, of North Olmsted; Lauren McNally, of Youngstown; and Joe Miller, of Amherst.
Will last week’s veto override help reduce the growing property-tax load that Ohio’s homeowners now shoulder? No. And the fact that Speaker Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican considered by many bystanders to be the House’s supremo, didn’t muster the necessary votes for any other veto overrides last week was … interesting.
If a Republican Ohio House can barely buck a lame-duck governor, you have to wonder what the fight card might look like in, say, 2027, when it’s possible Upper Arlington Republican Vivek Ramaswamy will have succeeded DeWine.
Ramaswamy, a Cincinnati native amid a relentless quest to reach the White House, wouldn’t likely be in the mood to be distracted by the small-town Republicans in Ohio’s General Assembly.
RIP Jack Cera: Former state Rep. Jack Cera, a Bellaire Democrat whose life was ended by cancer on July 13, at age 69, was a class act – a constructive and thoughtful Ohio officeholder who, like so many other Southeast Ohioans of both parties in the General Assembly, worked endlessly to advance the people and communities of Appalachian Ohio.
Cera served in Ohio’s House of Representatives from 1983 through 1996, then from 2011 through 2020. He was a graduate of the Ivy League’s Brown University, but never, ever, forgot where he came from or the men and women back home.
Thomas Suddes, a member of the editorial board, writes from Athens.
To reach Thomas Suddes: [email protected]
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