Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Niehaus urges bi-partisanship in farewell to GA

The President of the Ohio Senate was honored during session this week. Tom Niehaus will be leaving the Senate when this general assembly ends its work next week. Niehaus left the members of the Senate with advice to work with each other in a bi-partisan way to get things done. And he told a story about Democratic State Senator Nina Turner, one of the Senate’s more outspoken members, to make his point.

Niehaus: You know I’ve been promoting bipartisanship. That means getting to know each other personally. We need to socialize, talk about family and friends. It will make a difference. Last year, we had a members only bowling party. And Nina,I’m going to tell a little story. You know Nina was having a little trouble keeping the ball on the lane. So at one point, one of our Republican colleagues yelled out at her “Nina, move to the left”. Now who would have ever thought a conservative Republican would tell a liberal - proud Democrat - to move to the left? But we all laughed. We enjoyed the moment. And we need to enjoy more of those moments.

Niehaus has served in the Ohio legislature for 12 years. He’s served as president of the Ohio Senate for the last four of those years.

The Statehouse News Bureau was founded in 1980 to provide educational, comprehensive coverage of legislation, elections, issues and other activities surrounding the Statehouse to Ohio's public radio and television stations. To this day, the Bureau remains the only broadcast outlet dedicated to in-depth coverage of state government news and topics of statewide interest. The Bureau is funded througheTech Ohio, and is managed by ideastream. The reporters at the Bureau follow the concerns of the citizens and voters of Ohio, as well as the actions of the Governor, the Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio Supreme Court, and other elected officials. We strive to cover statehouse news, government issues, Ohio politics, and concerns of business, culture and the arts with balance and fairness, and work to present diverse voices and points of view from the Statehouse and throughout Ohio. The three award-winning journalists at the bureau have more than 60 combined years of radio and television experience. They can be heard on National Public Radio and are regular contributors to Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace. Every weekday, the Statehouse News Bureau produces in-depth news reports forOhio's public radio stations. Those stories are also available on this website, either on the front page or in our archives. Weekly, the Statehouse News Bureau produces a television show from our studios in the Statehouse. The State of Ohio is an unique blend of news, interviews, talk and analysis, and is broadcast on Ohio's public television stations. The Statehouse News Bureau also produces special programming throughout the year, including the Governor's annual State of the State address to the Ohio General Assembly and a five-part year-end review.