NEWS

Reporter discovers being state representative is busy work

Jeff Barron
Reporter

LANCASTER - Serving as a state representative is busy work, as I found out recently.

No, I'm not an office holder nor do I ever plan on being one. But I did spend a recent day in Columbus at the Ohio Statehouse with Rep. Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, whose 77th House District comprises most of Fairfield County.

Schaffer was busy almost every minute of our day. He held meetings in his office, talked to other representatives about bills they want to work on and then voted on legislation during an afternoon House session. After the House and Ohio Senate pass a bill, it goes to Gov. John Kasich for his signature.

In between, people were constantly greeting Schaffer as we went back and forth from the statehouse to his office in the Riffe Center for Government and the Arts across High Street. Schaffer even conducted business during lunch at a nearby restaurant with Pickerington resident Kent Scarrett, who is the Ohio Municipal League executive director.

Assisting Schaffer, who has been a state legislator since 2000, is Legislative Aide Justin Stanek. He has worked for Schaffer for four years and prints off Schaffer's daily schedule each day on small cards, among numerous other duties. The schedule comprised two cards on the day I visited.

"Tim's pulled in a million different directions," Stanek said. "Even when he's trying to walk to committee or something, there will be three or four different people that pull him aside and try to talk to him about an issue, or whatever."

Despite all the requests for his time, Schaffer said he enjoys talking to the multitudes of people, though.

But of all the frenetic activity, the most memorable moment of the day for me was one of solitude.

Schaffer is the chair of the Ways and Means Committee, and after the House session, Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger called all committee chairs into his office for a few minutes. I waited for Schaffer in the beautiful rotunda of the statehouse, which Abraham Lincoln and John Glenn both lied in state after their deaths.

Schaffer joined me after a few minutes, and we sat on a bench talking for a while. He told me that was probably the first time he was able to sit in the rotunda and enjoy its beauty. While I felt a tinge of sadness that he had not been able to enjoy such solitude before, I was also glad to be able to share this quiet moment with him.

But the rotunda is not the only remarkable part of the statehouse, as it brims with history. I asked Schaffer his thoughts of working in such a historic building.

"I've never met a legislator that doesn't walk in this place in awe. In absolute awe," he said. "We know that presidents have been here and have spoken here. Lincoln was in this building when he was notified of, I believe, his second election, which the final results were in. So when you realize you're walking the hallways and working in rooms where incredible national and international leaders have been and have done work, that is an awe-inspiring feeling."

I got to experience some of that awe myself, as Stanek showed me the room where the Senate Finance Committee meets. While there, committee chair Sen. Scott Oelslager, R-Canton, gave me a little history lesson of the room, which the Ohio Supreme Court once used. The thing that stuck out most for me was that the floor is original and dates back to the late 1800s.

But more importantly, I got a first-hand, behind-the-scenes look at how state government operates. While my job certainly afforded me such an inside look, the statehouse is open to the public, and people can take tours of it. I would highly recommend anyone to take the tour to learn more about the state's history and the great statehouse building.

jbarron@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4340

Twitter: @JeffDBarron

Think Jeff could do your job?

Reporter Jeff Barron frequently works at local jobs as part of an ongoing Eagle-Gazette series called "Jeff'll Do It." If you'd like to suggest your business or a job for him to do, call him at (740) 681-4340.