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House Democratic Leader Issues Statement on Meeting

House Democratic Leader Chris Redfern, D-Catawba Island, issued this statement following a meeting of House Democrats to discuss the scandal plaguing state government and the next steps:

Today’s meeting was productive and important. We will continue keep all options on the table as we try to clean up this unseemly pay-to-play system and fulfill our constitutional responsibility to hold our elected leaders accountable.

We continue to support the establishment of a bipartisan committee – co-chaired by a Democrat and Republican, and armed with subpoena power – to get to the bottom of the scandals at the Statehouse. Only by discovering exactly what happened and punishing those who are guilty can we fulfill our responsibilities to the people of this state and restore public trust in government.

Our real focus now is on how to stop this corruption from ever occurring again. Democratic members have offered proposals for real reform – including strengthened ethics laws – and we will continue to do so.

Today we also discussed the need to take the money out of politics, stop the influence of special interests, and end the pay-to-play culture of corruption, which has impaired our ability to focus on the issues that truly matter to Ohio’s families.

In the coming weeks and months, as new information becomes available on this scandal, the House Democrats will continue to meet and discuss matters. It is our hope that through bipartisan reform measures, we can end this corruption once and for all and get back to the business of moving our state forward.