Oelslager, Seitz Issue Statement on Special Session

COLUMBUS, OH—Speaker Pro Tempore Scott Oelslager (R-North Canton) and Majority Floor Leader Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) issued the following statement regarding the Special Session of the Ohio General Assembly:

“As members who were present for the last special session, we cannot follow the logic being used by the Senate to conduct business during this special session. The Ohio Constitution clearly outlines the parameters for a special session, and prior precedent dictates the procedure.

In consultation with the House Clerk, we have reviewed all available journals from previous special sessions and have found no precedent for the actions of the Senate. While there is ample precedent for the principle that bills from the first year of a two-year General Assembly session carry over to the second year, those precedents are not applicable because a special session is not considered to be any part of the regular session.

Furthermore, the structure of both Article II, Section VIII, and Article III, Section VIII, of the Ohio Constitution requires that any special session be wholly contained, and that new legislation must be drafted. Thus, using HB 271 from the regular session of the 135th General Assembly is in our view unprecedented because it includes provisions that are extraneous to the Governor’s call for a special session.

The characterization of this session as consistent with prior precedent is incorrect. The way the Senate is conducting business is constitutionally and procedurally questionable, and it presents undue litigation risk that can be wholly avoided by reaching agreement between the chambers on a correctly numbered bill addressing foreign money in Ohio elections.”