Complete Story
10/16/2019
Speaker Names Chairs For Health, Aging Committees
Last week, Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) appointed three new committee chairs following a series of member departures in recent months.
Representative Scott Lipps (R-Franklin) will now chair the Health Committee, taking over for Representative Derek Merrin (R-Monclova) who himself will chair the Ways & Means Committee.
Representative Tim Ginter (R-Salem) was named chair of the Aging & Long-Term Care Committee, a spot rendered vacant following the July departure of former Representative Steven Arndt (R-Port Clinton).
The Ways & Means chairmanship was vacant following the departure of Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) who left the House last spring for a Senate appointment. Representative Jeff LaRe (R-Violet Twp.), who was appointed to the chamber in May, has been appointed vice chair of Ways & Means.
House leaders will have yet another vacant committee chair position to fill in the coming weeks with the pending departure of Representative Louis Blessing (R-Cincinnati). The lawmaker, who currently chairs the House Primary & Secondary Education Committee, was tabbed for a Senate vacancy earlier this week. Other appointments made by the House Thursday include assigning Representative D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron) – who was sworn in in August – to the committees on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care and Civil Justice. And Representative Gil Blair (D-Weathersfield) was also assigned to Civil Justice. (Gongwer News Service)