April 15, 2007

Driehaus touts change in capital
Democrat to face Chabot in '08

By William K. Woods

"Not only does Ohio have a Democratic governor for the first time in 16 years,” declared Representative Steven L. Driehaus, “but the seven-seat pick-up by Democrats in the House cut the GOP majority to a slim margin of 53 to 46. The Republicans can’t override a Strickland veto, and bipartisan cooperation will be required if the leaders of both parties want to make legislative progress.”

 

As the new Minority Whip in the Ohio House, Rep. Driehaus is one of those “leaders” that he refers to. His observations were made in a recent interview that found the West Side Democrat reinvigorated by the political sea change that has occurred in Columbus. Before taking on Congressman Steve Chabot in 2008, Driehaus will spend his last term in the legislature attempting to hammer out some “worthwhile legislation.”

Driehaus sees Governor Strickland establishing a progressive approach to some long-neglected issues such as public education and health care. Although hampered by budget constraints, the governor put forward such an agenda in his March 15 State of the State address. As the new Minority Whip in the House, Driehaus is prepared to apply his considerable political skills to helping the governor achieve some legislative successes.
“During my first terms in the House, we Democrats were essentially locked out of the process. It is still too early to tell,” Driehaus concluded, “whether they (Republicans) are prepared to compromise in order to get something done and to avoid gridlock.”
More in this Issue...
 

Besides assisting with Strickland’s agenda, Driehaus plans to devote a lot of energy to a problem that he sees devastating urban neighborhoods, including residential areas on Cincinnati’s West Side. “Ohio leads the nation in home foreclosures,” declared the legislator, “and state government has done little to address the impact this crisis is having on neighborhoods, local government and the families losing their homes. Although a law that went into effect in January will crack down on the worst lending scams,” he explained, “the state needs to be more of a resource in dealing with the many problems that foreclosures bring to often fragile residential settings.”

At the close of the interview, Rep. Driehaus reemphasized his current optimism about the new potentials of state government. “Someone who has survived such a degrading minority status has to be upbeat,” laughed Driehaus, “but check in with me in a few months to see whether my optimism was warranted.”

editors@queencityforum.com

Links

  • For archives of any QCF Magazine contributor, just type their name into the "QueenCityForum" Google search
  • For search on any of the topics from this column, enter keywords into the "www" Google search