COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tension at the Ohio Statehouse continues to escalate. Rep. Jason Stephens, Speaker of the House, and the State Sen. Matt Huffman, Senate President are at odds with the scheduled dates of planning next year's capital budget.
Usually, the legislature begins planning for next year at this time to create an easier process. However, the process could be prolonged this time around.
What You Need To Know
- Planning for the capital budget usually begins toward the end of the year
- This year the Ohio House Speaker and Senate President are at odds over the scheduled dates
- The House wants to get a spending package finalized by April 1, 2024, but the Senate wants to get it done by April 8, 2024.
“It looks like the Senate is delaying their budget process until after the primaries in the spring,” said David Cohen, Political Science Professor at the University of Akron. “That’s being done in order, I believe, to see what the primary results are. I mean, many of the 22 people that supported the Speaker in his election are being challenged in primary elections.”
The Ohio House hopes to get the spending package finalized by April 1, 2024. But Senate President Matt Huffman is suggesting to start the process on April 8, 2024. However, political experts believe next year’s election could be the reason for what’s behind it all.
“The Senate is under the control of Matt Huffman, who is term limited out at the end of 2024,” Cohen said. “He is running for the House and is thought to be running for the Speaker position in 2025. And, so by delaying the budget process in the Senate, you can see, you know, which of those 22 republicans have won back their seats and how much support Speaker Stephens has in remaining as Speaker of the House.”
“I think Senator Huffman is interested in is electing people to the state legislature, the lower house, who will be favorable towards his speakership,” said Paul Beck, a Political Science Professor at Ohio State University. “And, because of that, he has wanted to determine when the budget will be voted on and make that determination different than the one that the current Speaker of the House seems to want to put in place.”
The last capital budget was the largest one Ohio has ever passed, and it included $3.5 billion in appropriations.