COLUMBUS — Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R., Kitts Hill) said Thursday he believes it is time that Ohioans revisit legislative term limits that he said are sending talented lawmakers home too soon.

While he said he would like to see another constitutional amendment, he stressed he has no specific proposal in mind.

“I think there's a lot of people thinking about a constitutional amendment...,” he said. “I think it's something people should think about because you come in as a state rep ... and, boom, you've got $100 million of budget to figure out in six months, and you don't know where the bathrooms are.

“...You're trying to do that, and in less than a year you're running for re-election, and it makes it very difficult to have that stability, not to mention what that does for the leadership of the House or Senate,” Mr. Stephens said.

He stressed he's not talking about eliminating term limits altogether or having any change affect him personally.

In 1992, Ohio voters adopted a constitutional amendment that limited the 99 members of the state House of Representatives to four elected two-year terms and the 33 members of the Senate to two four-year terms. After maxing out those eight years in one chamber, lawmakers may switch chambers an unlimited number of times.

Mr. Stephens, a former commissioner and auditor from Lawrence County at Ohio's southern tip, is currently in his second full two-year term in the House, having risen relatively quickly to the speaker's podium. He could serve two more terms as speaker before running up against term limits, although there are those would prefer his stay is much shorter.

He has presided over a divided House GOP caucus, having worked with minority Democrats to win the gavel on the House floor after a majority of his caucus selected Rep. Derek Merrin (R., Monclova Township) behind closed doors as their choice.

The two factions of the Republican caucus are now in court fighting over who controls the purse strings of the caucus campaign committee that will play a critical role in next year's races for House seats.

Senate President Matt Huffman (R., Lima) — who, like Mr. Merrin, is term-limited this year — is expected to run to return to the House in 2024 and may have his sights set on Mr. Stephens' job.

“I don't worry about that that much,” Mr. Stephens said. “I really don't. I work hard. We work hard. Our staff works really hard to make good policy. When you do that, good things happen.”

Despite complaints that the chamber has not been in session as often in part because of the dissent within the GOP caucus, he pointed to passage of the two-year state operating budget complete with a major tax cut, the transportation budget, and an eight-year state legislative map with bipartisan support as examples of accomplishments this session.

“The horse races and the castle drama, it's always going to happen, but people will stand back and look at the results and look at the scoreboard and say, 'You know, things are going pretty well,'” he said. “That's where I'm at.”

Wednesday marks Ohio's deadline for candidates to file petitions for 2024, and some lawmakers who supported Mr. Stephens over Mr. Merrin are already drawing primary opponents.

“I'm sure there will be plenty of drama to write about that, but I don't know that there will be two sets [of candidates]...,” he said. “I think our incumbents are going to run a very strong campaign that will highlight the things we've done here in the state.”

Mr. Stephens said he hopes to get a capital budget — the state's priority list for brick-and-mortar construction and equipment projects — out of the House in January, well before the March 19 primary election. Earlier passage would allow incumbents to campaign on getting those projects funded.

“I would like to see us get it passed so that those funds are put into place for the 2024 construction cycle,” Mr. Stephens said. “I think that makes sense with inflation going like it is. I don't know that there's any way that we should delay...”

He said he believes the Senate is looking at April.

First Published December 14, 2023, 9:27 p.m.