That's So Cincinnati: Top GOP lawmaker dishes on DeWine, Acton, reopening economy, November election

Bent on reopening the economy, Ohio Republican lawmakers are returning to Columbus next week united around one message: 

Convincing Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to start listening more to elected officials in the Statehouse and less to non-elected state medical Director Amy Acton. 

Ahead of the Legislature returning to session on Tuesday for the first time in six weeks, Ohio House Majority Leader Bill Seitz of Green Township joined The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast to talk about the role GOP lawmakers, DeWine and Acton are playing in reopening the economy.

Listen to the episode for free by clicking the Audioboom link above. It's also available for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and most other podcast listening platforms. The Seitz interview begins at the 30:15 mark in the episode.

Seitz, the long-time state lawmaker from Cincinnati's West Side, didn't mince words, either. House Republicans are frustrated with DeWine and Acton over their decision to slowly reopen the economy – too slowly, in their view.

Asked if DeWine is leaning too heavily on the guidance of Acton, Seitz said: "I do. She has tunnel vision, and that's appropriate. Her job is director of the Department of Health, so she's looking at this through the lens of what is optimal for public health. But I think she is not sufficiently cognizant about the damage this has done to our economy."

Seitz, the No. 3-ranking member of the House, added: "She's got a job to do, but it can't be the sole determinant of what we do. It's time to walk back the heavy hand of government – which is ill-suited to ordering the entire economy around for any length of time – and realize that we are not going to cower in our basements forever. It's time to get on with life. People have to earn a paycheck."

House GOP leaders also weren't happy with Acton's decision to close the polls for the March 17 primary, leading the House to decide voting would be done by mail-only and extended this past Tuesday. 

Eventually, the Legislature could take a look at the law that allows the state medical director to have such powers, Seitz said.

"Amy Acton probably had the legal authority under this overly broad statute written 100 years ago to order the polls to be closed," said Seitz, an attorney. "I think it was a mistake, but she had that legal authority. When this is all over, we will be looking very carefully at that statute to see what lessons we learned here and see if it's not appropriate to require some curbs on the power of the Ohio Department of Health Director."

Seitz added: "Otherwise, you've given pretty untrammeled power to an unelected. bureaucrat. I think that's a dangerous thing. The problem that I have with it is the total lack of formal legislative input or oversight over the process. I'm not trying to fault Dr. Acton unnecessarily here. I'm simply saying that down the road, when this is all over, we will probably be taking a long, measured look at that statute and see how it can be updated." 

Here's a sampling of other topics Seitz discussed on the podcast:

Back to normal in November

Only the Legislature can make significant changes to elections, and Seitz said he doesn't expect any this fall.

"We need to have in-person voting in November," he said. "I don't see us changing the Nov. 3 date. I do think there will be a renewed attention on absentee voting. I do agree it probably makes sense to allow people to request their absentee ballot online as long as we can verify appropriately that they are in fact a registered voter." 

Going to bat for small businesses 

Gov. DeWine on Monday unveiled the first phase of his plan to reopen the economy. It calls for retail businesses to reopen on May 12. But there's no date yet for the reopening of restaurant dining rooms, barbershops and beauty salons.  

"I am hoping that we will certainly have all of those facilities open by mid- to late-May at the absolute latest," Seitz said. "I am encouraged that the governor is moving in that direction. We want to get it going a little quicker than he does. That's where the fight is." 

Trusting the citizenry

Seitz expressed general frustration about government not trusting citizens enough to reopen the economy.

"The reality is we the Republicans of the House believe that it's time to start trusting the common sense of the people of Ohio," Seitz said. "If you feel sick, stay home. If you are sick, stay home. If you are afraid, stay home. If you want to wear a mask, wear a mask. But if you want to take a chance and live your life as a free American the way we've lived since 1776, a lot of us say, 'Let's do it.' "

He added: "Most of these rules aren't any different than we learned in kindergarten. Cover your cough. Don't spit in your classmate's mashed potatoes. Don't be too touchy feely with people. I think many Ohioans – most of them – are willing to be voluntarily compliant with common sense measures."

Football this fall? 

Asked when he thinks people can start going to big events again, Seitz said: "I'll tell you one thing, if we roll around to early September, and they say that there will be no pro or college football, at that time there will be an insurrection no matter what Amy Acton says."