The President's Corner

State Representative Jeffrey Crossman and I at the Statehouse in Columbus recently.

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This month I am continuing my series entitled Civics 101. The hope is to provide you with useful information about your local, state, and federal governments.  So far I have covered our municipal (city), school district, and county governments, as well as the judicial branch of government in Ohio. This month I will write about our state government, focusing on the executive and legislative branches.

The executive branch of our state government is headed by the separately elected governor, treasurer, auditor, secretary of state, and attorney general. Each of these officers are elected to a 4-year term and are limited to 2 consecutive terms in office. Our current Governor is Mike DeWine. The Governor acts as the chief executive officer of the state, similar to how a mayor is the chief executive of a city. As such, the Governor’s jobs include running the state government on a day-to-day basis and ensuring that state laws are being enforced fairly. The Lieutenant Governor serves alongside the governor.

The State Treasurer is primarily responsible for safeguarding most of the state’s taxes and fees and managing the state’s investments. This amounts to over $260 billion. The State Auditor, on the other hand, is primarily responsible for auditing the over 5,900 public entities in Ohio, including counties, cities, towns, villages, townships, schools, state universities, public libraries, as well as state agencies, board, and commissions, to ensure that they are running efficiently.

The Secretary of State is the chief elections official for the state of Ohio, responsible for running fair and accurate elections throughout the state. The office is also responsible for granting the authority to do business in the state of Ohio. Finally, the Ohio Attorney General is the state’s chief law enforcement officer. According to their website, they “advocate for consumers and victims of crime, support the criminal justice community, provide legal counsel for state offices and agencies, and enforce certain laws.”

The legislative branch of our state government consists of the Ohio General Assembly. Like U.S. Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature made up of the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate. The Ohio House is made up of 99 members who each represent a district. Parma is currently part of District 15 and is represented by Representative Jeffrey Crossman, who used to serve with me on Parma City Council representing Ward 9. Members of the Ohio House serve a 2-year term are limited to 4 consecutive terms.

The Ohio Senate consists of 33 members who each represent their own district, as well. Parma is a part of Senate District 23, represented by Senator Nickie Antonio. Senators have a 4-year term and are limited to 2 consecutive terms. 

The General Assembly makes laws for the state of Ohio. In order for a bill to become a law, a member of the General Assembly must introduce the bill. It must then pass both Houses of the General Assembly in identical form. Next, the bill goes to the Governor to be signed into law or vetoed. If the Governor vetoes a bill, a three-fifths majority of both houses of the General Assembly may vote to override the veto. That is, if 20 of the 33 and 60 of the 99 members of each chamber vote to override the veto, the bill becomes a law without the Governor’s approval.

Once again, I hope that you found this column informative. To find out more about any of Ohio’s executive offices or the Ohio General Assembly check out their websites. Please remember our fallen veterans throughout the month, especially on upcoming Memorial Day.