When the 132nd Ohio General Assembly convened for the first time last week, it did not look much different from the 131st: Republicans, who already dominated the state legislature, gained a single chair in both the House and the Senate from the Democrats.
Those two flipped seats were courtesy of Athens’ newest representatives in both the House and Senate. Frank Hoagland defeated incumbent Democrat Lou Gentile for a Senate seat, and Jay Edwards defeated Sarah Grace for the House seat being vacated by Democrat Debbie Phillips.
The new General Assembly has plenty of issues to tackle in 2017, from school funding to balancing the budget. Edwards said he especially wants to focus on two matters: creating jobs and fighting the drug epidemic.
“Lots of money and effort and time have been put into fighting (the drug epidemic), and it’s gotten worse,” Edwards said. “We need to get leaders together and on the same page, get the community together.”
Edwards said he plans to travel around his district to meet with local business owners and community leaders to see how to create a more business-friendly environment in the region.
“Politicians don’t create jobs but they can get out of the way of job creators,” Edwards, who worked as a realtor in Nelsonville before taking office, said.
Edwards said he had already met with Athens Mayor Steve Patterson and other local officials to figure out how to grow business and expand the tax base.
It is a plan supported by Athens County Republican Party Chairman Pete Couladis.
“We need to get people off public assistance, get them working so we can expand the tax base,” Couladis said. “That would help the budget.”
Couladis said he spoke with Edwards last week and discussed committee assignments, local officials and getting established in Columbus. Despite the fact that Edwards is beginning his first ever term as a politician, Couladis was impressed with the progress Edwards has made so far.
“It’s a new thing for him, he’s got a lot of preparation and catching up to do,” Couladis said. “It sounds like he’s been doing his homework on that.”
Edwards is hoping to be assigned to the Subcommittee on Higher Education. He said the assembly should incentivize universities to cut wasteful spending to drive the cost of tuition down.
“We’ve got to make school more affordable,” Edwards said. “Just because (someone’s) parents don’t make enough doesn’t mean that person shouldn’t fulfill their dream and pursue a job they want.”
On the campaign trail, Hoagland talked about the need for more jobs and better infrastructure. In a statement to The Post, Hoagland also said he was looking to make college more affordable for Southeast Ohio residents.
“I look forward to building on the success of the Senate’s ‘5 percent Challenge,’ " Hoagland said, referring to Senate President Keith Faber’s 2015 initiative for Ohio universities to reduce student costs by 5 percent by 2016. “Higher education affordability is key in keeping our best and brightest here in Ohio as part of our state’s highly skilled workforce."
