COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Republican in-party fighting continues at the Ohio Statehouse between Senate President Matt Huffman and Speaker of the House Jason Stephens. The Ohio House and Senate passed a total of 19 bills this week. However, only two of the bills were approved by both chambers.

What You Need To Know

  • The GOP in-party fighting continues at the Ohio Statehouse 

  • The legislature is slowly working together to pass legislation 

  • Political scientist David Niven does not believe the in-party fighting will stop anytime soon

"You have a Republican state senate, a Republican state house, and a Republican governor," said political scientist David Niven. "They agree on probably 98% of everything. And, they can't do anything. This last session, has been the least productive on record. It continues to be, not because they aren't doing anything, but because they aren't doing anything to completion, which in our system requires working together." 

About two dozen bills have passed both the House and Senate. This week, each chamber passed several pieces of legislation, but many of the bills that passed the Ohio Senate were not brought to the Ohio House floor, and the Senate floor as well. Niven believes it has to do with strong leadership personalities of both Senate President Matt Huffman and House Speaker Jason Stephens.

"They disagree on tactics and they disagree about who's going to get the credit," Niven said. "So as a consequence, they both wind up spending an awful lot of time on things that don't actually amount to anything." 

Among the bills that have not been able to get through is one that would ban foreign contributions to statewide ballot campaigns. It is an issue both chambers seem to agree on in principle, but they disagree on the nuances. This is leading  to longer debate, discussion and different approaches to the situation. 

"What if a Ukrainian puts money in the plate, and we end up buying yard signs for an issue? Will that be a problem? A foreign national," said Huffman, R-Senate president) 

"All it does is take the same rules that apply to candidates and campaigns and apply that to statewide ballot initiatives," said Stephens, R-speaker of the House. 

Niven said political battles are common throughout different legislatures. He said it is natural for people to disagree, not get along and have debates. However, Niven said the extent of the in-party fighting of this term is a little unusual. 

"I think what's different here is just how entrenched the camps are and the degree to which they would be willing to put aside even their own priorities just to stop the other side," Niven said. "I mean, that's been the main accomplishment of this legislature, is the factions have stopped each other."