Ohio House of Representative Speaker Bob Cupp and Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman announced which committees will be returning as well as the addition of new committees for the 134th General Assembly. The committee announcements also brought the list of committee chair and membership makeup, in many cases, impacted by the election of the new leadership of Ohio’s bicameral legislature.
In the Senate, President Matt Huffman released the list of committees and membership of both the majority and minority party. During this year’s session members of the Ohio Senate will in some cases serve on less committees than in past years, which according to Senate President Matt Huffman will allow members the opportunity to focus more time and energy on the issues in the committees they serve on. Although there is new senate leadership to start the 134th General Assembly a familiar face is returning to helm the Senate Finance Committee, which is responsible for deliberating the state operating budget recently proposed by Governor DeWine. Senator Matt Dolan from Solon, OH was reelected to the Ohio Senate for another four-year term this past November and will return as chairman of the committee he chaired for the previous two years. The Ohio Senate will have 16 standing committees this session, which is slight increase from the previous session. Additionally, there are a few new committees or different variations of previous panels including: Financial Institutions & Technology, Local Government & Elections, Small Business & Economic Opportunity, Veterans & Public Safety, and Workforce & Higher Education.
In the Ohio House, Speaker Bob Cupp announced the House committee structure which brings a few new panels to to the list of previous committees. Like in the Ohio Senate the announcement also brings a familiar face as the head of the House Finance committee. Veteran lawmaker Rep. Scott Oelslager will return as the Chair of the Finance Committee bringing a steady hand to what will be the busiest committee in the beginning of the session as the state operating budget moves through the House and Senate. Among the announcement the House will be hearing legislation in a few new committees; the Committee on Technology & Innovation chaired by Rep. Mark Frazier, the Committee on Infrastructure &Rural Development chaired by Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus, the Behavioral Health & Recovery Supports committee chaired by Rep. Sara Carruthers and the Family, Aging & Human Services Committee chaired by Rep. Susan Manchester will provide the house with a number of new options when hearing priority legislation as the general assembly gets underway.