Lynn Wachtmann

Lynn Wachtmann (born December 24, 1954) is a former Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives, who has represented the 81st District from 2007 to 2014. Prior to his term in the House, Wachtmann was a two-term state Senator, representing the 1st district of the Ohio Senate from 1999 to 2006, and the 83rd District of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1985 to 1998. He is the Chairman of the House Health and Aging Committee.

Lynn Wachtmann
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
from the 81st district
In office
January 2, 2007 – December 31, 2014
Preceded byJim Hoops
Succeeded byRob McColley
In office
January 3, 1985 – December 31, 1998
Preceded byChuck Earl
Succeeded byJim Hoops
Member of the Ohio Senate
from the 1st district
In office
January 5, 1999 – December 31, 2006
Preceded byM. Ben Gaeth
Succeeded bySteve Buehrer
Personal details
Born (1954-12-24) December 24, 1954
Napoleon, Ohio, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Residence(s)Napoleon, Ohio, U.S.
Alma materNapoleon High School
ProfessionSmall Business Owner

Career

Wachtmann is president of Maumee Valley Bottling, Inc. and a partner in Culligan Water Conditioning. When incumbent Chuck Earl decided to not seek another term in 1984, Wachtmann sought to replace him and won. He served seven more terms in the House, until 1998.

With the enactment of term limits, Wachtmann was nearing the end of his eligible tenure in the House. However, with incumbent Senator M. Ben Gaeth also facing term limits, Wachtmann ran for the Senate. Facing Democrat Timothy Holtsberry in the 1998 election, Wachtmann won with 65.91% of the electorate.[1] In his 2002 reelection bid, he won with over 69.5% of the vote against Democrat William Flanary.[2]

Wachtmann served as Senate Health Committee Chairman, and during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, delivered water to the devastated areas of New Orleans.

Ohio House of Representatives, second tenure

In late 2005, Wachtmann, facing term limits in the Senate, announced that he would seek an Ohio House seat in 2006, which was an open seat. He had opposed in the primary by Paulding County Commissioner Tony Burkley. He won with 63.73% of the vote over Burkley.[3] In the general election, he defeated Democrat Angie Byrne with 56.23% of the vote.[4] Wachtmann served again as Chairman of the House Health Committee.

In 2008, Wachtmann ran unopposed. He won in 2010 with 72.05% of the vote over Democrat Cletus Schindler.[5] It was announced in early December 2010 that Wachtmann was a potential contender to return to the Ohio Senate, but he soon after released a statement stating that he would remain in the House, and was sworn in for his tenth overall term.

With Republicans holding the House decisively, Wachtmann stated "This is the opportunity of a lifetime for guys like me to dramatically change the role of state government and empower the taxpayer by letting them keep more of their money."[6]

He serves on the committees of Commerce and Labor; Health and Aging (as Chairman) and its Subcommittee on Retirement and Pensions; and Insurance and its Subcommittee on Workers' Compensation. Wachtmann has declared that he is running for reelection in 2010 for a final term in the new 81st District. He will face Democrat John Vanover.

Wachtmann won a final term in 2012 with 68.10% of the vote over Democrat John Vanover.

Policies, platforms and positions

Fiscal issues

With two public retirement systems looking to boost employer contribution rates to help shore up funding levels Wachtmann is developing new plans without those hikes. "This message is consistent with what I have been telling those pension systems for 18 months," he said. "It is no time to be asking the taxpayers of Ohio to be taking more out of their pocketbooks... to be more generous to public employees."[7] He also is in favor of revising the pension plans for elected officials.[8]

Wachtmann has remained against funding for an Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation taskforce that has not provided any analysis of legislation but still maintains a $1 million appropriation from the state.[9]

Abortions

An opponent of abortion, Wachtmann has introduced legislation to ban abortions when a heartbeat is detected in the fetus, which is typically in the first trimester of a pregnancy. "One of my goals as a legislator is to push the pro-life agenda as far as we can," Wachtmann said. "The elections of Nov. 2 last year certainly changed the dynamics of public policy."[10] With the bill introduced by Wachtmann being one of the most conservative abortion measures in the nation, even Ohio Right to Life has opposed it, stating it could possibly bring unwanted retributions against other abortion measures in the court of law.[11] Speaker of the House William G. Batchelder also has been mum on support for the bill.[12] However, the bill has gained support from Josh Mandel, Steve Chabot, Ken Blackwell and Mike Huckabee.[13]

The bill was passed by the Ohio House of Representatives.[14]

Collective bargaining

Wachtmann has been a staunch proponent of a bill that limits collective bargaining opportunities for public employees.[15] He states that even if the bill is passed, public employers would still have vastly more rights than those who work in the private sector.[16] A member of the committee that heard the bill, Wachtmann voted in favor of passage,[17] and again out of the full Ohio House of Representatives, stating it will make government more efficient.[18]

Environmental issues

Wachtmann has also introduced legislation that would allow for more water to be used out of Lake Erie.[19] While opponents have said there could be negative environmental impacts, Wachtmann has stated this is mere "fearmongering".[20] He has accused environmental organizations of long using the Great Lakes Compact as a rigid withdrawal tool. Critics have argued that Wachtmann's ownership of the Maumee Valley Bottlers bottling company (he is majority share holder and Board President) presents a clear conflict of interest. Following a veto by Ohio Gov. John Kasich on July 14, 2011, Wachtmann denounced Kasich and vowed to seek an overturn of the veto.

References
  1. Taft, Robert 1998 general election results Archived 2010-12-27 at the Wayback Machine (1998-11-03)
  2. Blackwell, Kenneth 2002 general election results Archived 2010-12-27 at the Wayback Machine (2002-11-02)
  3. Blackwell, Kenneth 2006 primary election results Archived 2010-12-27 at the Wayback Machine (2006-05-02)
  4. Blackwell, Kenneth 2006 general election results Archived 2011-06-27 at the Wayback Machine (2006-11-07)
  5. Brunner, Jennifer 2010 general election results Archived 2011-06-27 at the Wayback Machine (2010-11-02)
  6. Marshall, Aaron (2011-01-11). "Conservative Republicans relish their new power in the Ohio House". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
  7. Rowland, Darrell (2011-01-27). "Police & Fire pension fund not complying with state law". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
  8. Guillen, Joe (2011-04-08). "Ohio lawmakers unlikely to cut their own pay while Senate Bill 5 expected to hit public workers in the pocketbook". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
  9. Johnson, Alan (2011-04-21). "Bureau of Workers' Compensation council comes under attack". Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on 2012-07-30. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  10. Fields, Reginald (2011-02-09). "Ohio Republican lawmakers introduce slew of bills aimed at restricting access to abortions". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
  11. Siegel, Jim (2004-01-03). "Abortion bill may get House committee vote today". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  12. Hershey, William (2011-03-30). "'Heartbeat' bill splits abortion foes; committee vote set". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  13. Hershey, William (2011-04-14). ""Heartbeat" bill picks up support from Huckabee, Blackwell, Mandel and Chabot". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  14. Candinsky, Catherine (2011-06-29). Columbus Dispatch https://web.archive.org/web/20110629091408/http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/06/28/heartbeat-bill-vote-today.html?sid=101#. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2011-06-28. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. Rosenkrans, Nolen (2011-03-11). "Toledo official joins testimony against Ohio labor plan". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
  16. Siegel, Jim (2011-03-30). "Collective-bargaining vote could come today". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  17. Provance, Jim (2011-03-30). "Labor bill advanced by Ohio House committee". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  18. Kovac, Marc (2011-03-31). "Tempers flare as SB 5 approved". Youngstown Vindicator. Archived from the original on 2018-11-16. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
  19. Fields, Reginald (2011-06-29). "Ohio Senate approves Lake Erie water usage bill". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  20. Johnson, Alan (2011-07-05). "Lake Erie water-use bill draws foes, even within GOP". Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
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