Ohio lawmakers are coming back into session next week. And they are expected to tackle a long list of things during the next few weeks.
The lame-duck session of the Ohio Legislature is the last few weeks of the year when bills are on a timeline to expire at the end of the two-year session in December. So bills can pass quickly, without much public scrutiny.
It’s the time when lawmakers who are leaving office and those who are newly re-elected and don’t have to face re-election for two more years can feel free to vote for or against bills without worry of political retribution.
Among the bills on the table are ones that would reform education standards and unemployment compensation, weaken alternative energy standards, put more regulation on health-care professionals who deal with prescription drugs and dissolve some state agencies.
Lawmakers could handle a perennial favorite – raising their own pay. They haven’t had a pay raise since 2008.
