Appointed State Representative Justin Pizzulli and many of his House colleagues drew heavy criticism from Republicans this week after statements were released claiming Pizzulli “secured” over $6 million in state funding for capital projects in Scioto, Adams, and Brown counties. Pizzulli’s claim is, of course, entirely untrue – no capital budget has even been negotiated, let alone signed into law.
H.B. 2 passed the Ohio House of Representatives on Wednesday with Justin Pizzulli’s vote, as well as the votes of every Democrat representative. The bill would spend a whopping $2 billion of taxpayer money on capital projects across the state, but Republican-aligned groups and individuals are coming out strongly against the bill.
For a capital budget bill to become law, it must pass the Ohio House of Representatives, pass the Ohio Senate, and be signed by the Governor. Currently, H.B. 2 has only been passed by the House, and the Senate has no plans to touch the bill. So, no funding has been “secured,” as Pizzulli claimed.
Senator Terry Johnson, a former member of the House, indirectly rebuked Pizzulli in a statement released Friday.
“It’s important to clarify that no funding has been guaranteed for any projects through HB 2,” Johnson said. “In fact, this bill was created without any input from the Senate, breaking a long-held tradition in the General Assembly of both chambers working together on a capital funding bill. While some in the House of Representatives have claimed that funding has been ‘secured’ for local projects, this is simply not the case.”
Americans for Prosperity Ohio, a conservative group that backs Republicans, claimed that H.B. 2 is being pushed by Pizzulli and other representatives for personal gain.
“It appears that the bill was intentionally rushed to allow members to appropriate $350 million for pet projects in their home districts ahead of a competitive March primary election,” said Donovan O’Neil of AFP-Ohio. “Legislation released in the dark of night and moved at breakneck speed only serves to sow distrust in what should be an otherwise transparent government process.”
H.B. 2 spends most of the money on projects in the districts of Democrat members and members who defected from the Republican Party in 2023 to elect a Speaker of the House chosen by the Democrats. Justin Pizzulli is a hand-picked member of this group of Republican exiles, and the Democrat-selected Speaker of the House, Jason Stephens, is supporting Pizzulli.
Why is this important? On March 19th, voters will go to the polls to vote in the 2024 Primary Election. Here in the 90th District, Rep. Justin Pizzulli is being challenged for his seat, and money is pouring into the district from Democrat-selected Speaker Jason Stephens’ campaign slush fund, known as OHRA. Following the Speaker’s lead, left-wing groups, including many that endorsed President Joe Biden for re-election, have donated thousands to Pizzulli’s campaign according to a recent campaign finance filing.
The argument Republicans are making is that Speaker Stephens rushed H.B. 2 in order to give his supporters (including Pizzulli) bragging rights and a political boost ahead of the March election. This is, of course, in spite of the fact that no money was actually secured for the 90th District.
Justin Pizzulli made headlines two weeks ago after the Ohio Republican Party voted to remove him from its slate of endorsed candidates due to concerns over his votes in support of left-wing positions on several bills currently pending in the state legislature. The bills involved issues including gender ideology, critical race theory, and small business regulation.
Pizzulli was also surrounded by a firestorm of controversy after his appointment to the 90th District seat last year. During that process, 30 of Pizzulli’s Republican colleagues in the Ohio House voted against appointing him to the seat. That controversial vote was taken after some of his past statements emerged, showing Pizzulli’s opposition to President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, as well as his support for the BLM/Antifa and LGBT movements.
While the conservative Senate’s leadership is concerned about H.B. 2, it plans to move forward with a capital budget process after the March election. In a letter obtained by Scioto County Daily News, Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) expressed his frustration and emphasized that no capital budget deal has been reached.
“The House believes there is an agreement with the Senate on House Bill 2, the spending bill, that was brought to the floor by the Speaker today. To be clear, there is no such agreement,” Huffman said. “The Senate will continue to follow its timeline announced in December for this year’s Capital Budget process which includes the additional $700 million for the One Time Strategic Community Investment Fund, with the goal of both chambers passing a single agreed-upon bill later in May or early June.”
Huffman also noted his disappointment that the House chose not to work with the conservative-dominated Senate in crafting a budget bill.
“Approving a large spending bill without additional debate would be irresponsible and an abdication of the duties of the Senate,” Huffman said. “Normally, both chambers work together to create an agreed-upon bill. For unknown reasons, the House chose to break from that process.”