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House and Senate Struggle to Find Middle Ground in Ohio's Budget

photo of Bill Seitz
OGT

Lawmakers in the House and Senate are working on finding middle ground on the $65 billion state budget. Both chambers must have the bill on the governor’s desk by the end of the week.

To get an idea of what leaders in the Republican-dominated legislature are hashing out behind closed doors, look no further than Representative Bill Seitz’s floor speech before he voted against the Senate’s budget last week.

The Republican from Cincinnati outlined several provisions that bothered him such as reduced Medicaid reimbursements to nursing homes, loosened renewable energy restrictions and the freeze to Medicaid expansion enrollment.

“Political strategic questions as to whether we should do it before we know which direction if any Congress and the president are going to take on the whole question on repeal and replacement on the affordable health care plan,” Seitz said.

Lawmakers want to get the bill out of committee today so they can hold a vote in the House and Senate tomorrow.

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.