COLUMBUS, OH (WLIO) - With the swing of a hammer, the 135th General Assembly has now officially begun.
Lima native Matt Huffman has served as senate president since 2020 and says that the ceremony to mark the beginning of the session, and the swearing-in of senators and representatives, is an important one.
"These constitutional provisions are important because sometime in the past, there was a problem," said Huffman. "In the past in the Ohio Senate, they went several months without being able to meet because they couldn’t elect the President of the Senate. Because there wasn’t a majority and there were no provisions to end that."
And Huffman brought the taste of Lima to celebrate the session, with Kewpee and more filling the stomachs of politicians from around the state.
"I don’t think -- but maybe -- there’s nothing that Lima is known better for than great hamburgers and Kewpee Restaurants," stated Huffman. "At formal dinners, presidents would ask for, some people may have prime rib or something like that. I’m more of a burger, pizza guy. And I think more people would appreciate that more anyway."
At the start of the general assembly, there are already a variety of issues that will be brought up.
"We still have transportation issues, education, criminal justice issues, there’s always issues in personal freedom, state government versus local government. So those issues always remain the same," said Huffman.
And while there may be tension on the floor discussing these issues — Huffman says it’s a process to iron out what can help Ohioans.
"And yeah there is a lot of discord and people getting mad at each other, and sometimes people say bad things about you publicly," said Huffman. "But if you keep that in perspective and understand that you are here to do the job and you are here to do things that people have elected you to do, then days like today are just sort of gravy."
