Local reps stripped of committee posts as Ohio House speaker closes ranks

May 3—Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens has stripped five fellow Republicans, including three from southwest Ohio, from committee posts as punishment for financially backing challengers to Republican incumbents in the GOP primary.

The Wednesday move was one of the strongest actions taken by Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, to date. He's been a target of friendly fire ever since he was elected to lead the House with unanimous support from Democratic lawmakers and a only minority of Republicans.

A memo obtained by the Dayton Daily News shows that Stephens removed local Reps. Phil Plummer, R-Butler Twp.; Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria; and Scott Lipps, R-Franklin from their positions as committee chairs and removed them from their committees altogether.

Also listed were Reps. Marilyn John, R-Richland County, and Adam Bird, R-New Richmond.

"Chairmen should be trustworthy and operate with integrity," Stephens said in a statement to reporters. "The trust has been broken. What members can trust them at this point?"

Stephens' move came soon after campaign finance reports for March's primary election were finalized and showed that each deposed chairman spent considerable amounts of money against their GOP House colleagues.

Campaign finance data shows that Plummer spent the most, shelling out $45,000 to unseat three of his GOP colleagues in the House. He spent:

—$15,000 on Ty Mathews, who defeated GOP incumbent Rep. Jon Cross, R-Findlay;

—$15,000 on Gina Collinsworth, who lost to GOP incumbent Rep. Justin Pizzuli, R-Scioto County;

—$15,000 on Heidi Workman, who defeated GOP incumbent Rep. Gail Pavliga, R-Portage County.

Meanwhile, Creech spent $7,500 on Mathews and Lipps spent $2,350 on Collinsworth.

The five lawmakers Stephens took action against were among the majority of House Republicans who opposed Stephens for speaker. Cross and Pavliga — two of those targeted by local reps — both supported Stephens in his race for speaker.

Stephens declined to appoint chair replacements, which leaves the House's agriculture; constitutional resolutions; energy and natural resources; primary and secondary education; public health policy; and state and local government committees without leaders.

Chairing a committee comes with a financial bonus and a promise of real power within the Ohio House, as chairs generally have the ability to prioritize (or brush aside) legislation before it ever makes it to the House floor for a vote.

Creech, a farmer who chaired the House Agriculture Committee, said it was "a very bold move" by Stephens. He told the Dayton Daily News that he first heard of his removal from a lobbyist friend, not House leadership.

On Facebook, Creech said he's been frustrated with how things have gone this General Assembly. "The House has no organization, it's been extremely slow and has a fractured structure," he wrote, adding that it took a turn for the worse with Stephens' decision.

"This should be concerning to all Ohioans as a significant amount of institutional knowledge in key areas was set aside for politics vs. doing what's best for the 11.5+ million people in our state," Creech wrote.

Lipps also said he found out from a lobbyist.

"I never got a call from Stephens about this," Lipps told the Dayton Daily News. "I feel this is very unprofessional."

Lipps said Stephens is building a coalition to get him reelected as speaker in the next General Assembly and that the speaker is alienating his own GOP caucus as a result. He also said there are a number of bills that are in various points in the legislative process and he's not sure what will happen to them with the committee chairs being removed.

Lipps, who is finishing out his fourth and final term in the House, characterized the environment as "toxic."

"I'm too old to play kindergarten games," he said.

The Dayton Daily News also reached out to Plummer who did not respond to a request for comment.

Plummer has had his own battles with Stephens, particularly when it comes to campaign finance. The Montgomery County lawmaker has wrestled for control of the Ohio House Republican Alliance political action committee, which has a substantial war chest designated for political advertisements to protect Republican incumbents.

To this point, the OHRA has been controlled by Stephens. Data shows that the House leader and his allies put hundreds of thousands of dollars into the PAC this March and spent it to support Republican incumbents — many of whom were targeted for supporting Stephens in his race for speaker.

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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.

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