State lawmakers could return during their holiday break to override vetoes on the so-called Heartbeat Bill abortion ban and on the Stand Your Ground self-defense bill, though they did remove a provision Gov. John Kasich didn’t like. But the Republican leader of the House is suggesting there may be another veto in the works that they could push back on.
Speaker Ryan Smith (R-Bidwell) told a statewide gathering of county commissioners that he’s backing a plan to hike the pay of all local, county and state officials and state lawmakers starting next year. But he’s saying Kasich might oppose it.
“It’s also not welcomed by this administration that we take on a pay raise bill right now – probably to the extent that they’ll try to veto that,” Smith said.
And Smith suggested that the relationship state lawmakers will have with incoming governor Mike DeWine will be better than the one with Kasich.
“I think the conversation going forward is going to be much more amenable to how we can do things together instead of just being told how we’re going to do it,” Smith said.
Lawmakers have overridden 12 vetoes in the last two years, and Smith is hinting that they won’t try to override any of Kasich’s 36 remaining vetoes, but could be called back to override new ones.
