What Does a State Rep Do?

The job of an elected House Representative in Ohio is to accurately represent and advocate for the best interests of the people who live in the Representative’s district.

They are elected for a two-year term and earn a salary of approximately $67,000. They travel to Columbus and work there Tuesday through Thursday, and then return to their home districts for the rest of the week.

There are four main duties of a State Representative:

1) Enacting laws by researching, writing and passing legislation.

Examples of recent laws passed in Columbus by Republicans are:

  • A six-week abortion ban

    • Result: endangering women’s health and autonomy, and chilling the business development climate*

      • *The state's newly-enabled ban on abortion after six weeks went into effect following a controversial decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The state supreme court refused to implement a requested injunction against the abortion ban while a new case brought by abortion proponents is pending.

  • Allowing permitless concealed-carry of firearms

    • Result: endangering the safety of Ohio citizens and Ohio law enforcement officers

  • A billion-dollar bailout to polluting, inefficient big-energy firms

    • Result: dirtier air, higher utility bills, and fewer jobs in the clean-energy field. This also led to the largest Federal indictments of any sitting state legislators in U.S. history.

I would not have sponsored any of these laws, or voted to pass them.

2) Approving budgets.

Examples of recent budget priorities by Republicans are:

  • Allowing tax deductions for contributions to fake crisis-pregnancy centers, while defunding Planned Parenthood

    • Result: harming the health of Ohio’s most vulnerable women

  • Blocking constitutionally required public-school funding for the last 25yrs

    • Result: Ohio has dropped from 5th in the nation in education to 25th

  • Spent seven months drawing gerrymandered maps that were rejected by the Ohio Supreme Court four times!

    • Result: this will waste over $35 million of taxpayers’ money, deprive overseas military of their full voting rights, and harm trust in free and fair elections.

I would not have sponsored any of these laws, or voted to pass them.

3) Oversight functions (for the Executive branch, state agencies, etc.).

Examples of recent actions taken by Republicans are:

  • Overturning Governor DeWine’s COVID mandates when the Republicans did not agree with the work of Public Health Director Dr. Amy Acton.

    • Result: harming public health in Ohio and trust in public institutions

  • Working in concert with the Secretary of State to pass voting changes restricting Drop Boxes, Absentee voting, and voter registration processes—all on the basis of fake claims of voter fraud.

    • Result: suppressing the guaranteed right of all eligible voters to cast a vote, and harming trust in the voting process.

  • Threatening to impeach Chief Justice O’Connor for rejecting their unfairly drawn, rigged maps.

    • Result: harming the appearance of impartiality in our judicial system, and creating a Constitutional crisis.

4) Serving constituents.

Nancy's commitment to serve you:

  • Be available to meet with citizens to address their concerns – to help them get their needs met with available government services.

  • Hold Town Halls to answer questions, and be held accountable for votes.

  • Represent the District ethically, with integrity and transparency

Many incumbents schedule little time to meet with constituents, won’t hold Town Halls, and refuse to debate challengers. This is not how I would approach the job. It’s impossible to do a good job without the ability and desire to interact with the folks who have elected you to be their voice in government.