Republican News

State Representative Lynn Wachtmann (R-Napoleon), Chairman of the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC), has called on the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS) to follow state law and suspend its recent directive instructing all public institutions of higher education in Ohio to withhold an additional 1 percent from certain retirement plan participants.

The Ohio budget that was signed into law at the end of last month was not perfect, and neither is the budget process. But after all the ideas, testimony and alternatives were weighed, I think it is a budget that will continue to move Ohio in the right direction.

Entering the budget process at the beginning of the year, it was important to me that the final version be something that would further foster the economic growth and momentum that Ohio has initiated over the previous three years. During that time, our state has experienced the creation of 170,000 private sector jobs and the state’s unemployment rate has dropped steadily from nearly 11.0 percent to 7.0 percent, well below the national average.

On July 4th, I was pleased to honor nearly 80 veterans from the Korean War. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, and it’s important that we appreciate their service to our country, as well as the dedication and sacrifices of so many other military veterans throughout our nation’s history. The difference between North Korea and South Korea is a living example of the difference between democracy, free markets, and liberty versus tyranny, communism, and government control.

One of the most interesting things about the state budget is that it includes such a vast array of subject matter, it truly allows you to fit many different pieces of a puzzle together and achieve overall reform in how our state operates. The members of the House began that process two years ago, when we pulled Ohio out of its $8 billion structural deficit and made various changes to get Ohio’s economy moving, including the elimination of the death tax.

Planned Parenthood began airing an advertisement in central Ohio and online regarding certain provisions of the state operating budget. State Representatives Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) and Nan Baker (R-Westlake), who sponsored House Bill 108 on rape crisis center funding, issued the responses below.

Speaker of the Ohio House William G. Batchelder (R-Medina) and Senate President Keith Faber (R-Celina) today announced the session schedule for the second half of 2013.

With today’s signing of Am. Sub. H.B. 59 and Governor Kasich’s vetoes of line items in the budget, Speaker of the Ohio House William G. Batchelder released the following statement.

The Ohio House of Representatives today concurred on Senate changes to House Bill 29, also known as the “Boater Freedom Act,” which establishes conditions for watercraft safety inspections.