Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) prepares for the 135th General Assembly on Tuesday morning.
Precious Grundy | The Lima News
COLUMBUS — On Tuesday, the 135th Ohio General Assembly began. The morning was filled with Senate members taking an oath to faithfully steward their positions.
Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) commemorated the day by bringing Lima to the Ohio Statehouse. Senate members gathered for a lunch to start with Kewpee and Beer Barrel Pizza while the Lima Symphony Orchestra performed.
“It is a little interesting to think of the 135th assembly, which we have every two years,” said Huffman. “We have two parts to this. The Senate will begin by convening the elected members, the members who were just elected or in the middle of their terms. We will swear everyone into their term today. Then we will take votes for leadership. The House will do the same thing. These are constitutional things we have to follow and some of them seem antiquated.”
Huffman also said he is looking forward to the next two years.
“When you are a leader in a big state of one of the chambers you really get an opportunity to have an impression on public policy,” added Huffman.
The Ohio Senate President has served for the Lima City Council, the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate. He was sworn in on Tuesday to continue to serve District 12 and begin his second term.
“Part of this job is not ‘here is what I want done,’ it is managing the expectations and the desires of all 32 members,” said Huffman. “You really have to understand what people want and try to do what they want.”
Huffman brought a taste of Lima to Columbus to continue the Statehouse tradition.
“When Keith Faber was sworn in, there were some Mercer County things that were a part of the swearing-in,” added Huffman. “Two years ago the ceremony was a little stilted because of the pandemic. I was sworn in on the front porch of my house. They said we could do some great 12th District things. I don’t think that Lima is known better than for great hamburgers and Kewpee.”
Huffman added he graduated with Beer Barrel owner John Heaphy.
Huffman honored the Ohio Senate by acknowledging the Statehouse is full of great staff.
The hope of this General Assembly is to focus on budgeting, the medical marijuana policy and education in the State of Ohio.
“Some of the things coming will be how we review education K-12,” said Huffman. “We have to get this medical marijuana thing taken care of. The details of how money is spent. We need to better coordinate those things. In the Senate, we will have a committee dealing with social services. We want to make sure if we are spending lots of money on a particular program that it is not just paying people to run the program; it is actually helping the people it is supposed to help.”
“Hope springs eternal at the beginning of any endeavor,” added Huffman. “I think we have a pretty good General Assembly last time and I think we will again this year.”
Reach Precious Grundy at 567-242-0351.
