Legislative update: Local politicians hit the ground running as new congressional session starts up

Welcome to The Portager’s legislative round-up, which will regularly track what Portage County lawmakers are doing in Washington and in Columbus.

As the new congressional session started Jan. 3, state and federal representatives serving Portage County have begun legislation proposals and community outreach while doubling down on partisan positions in their messaging.

United States representatives from districts in the county have already been busy this year.

Republican Dave Joyce, who represents nearly all of Portage County in the 14th district, introduced several bills and met with president-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Emilia Sykes, a Democrat serving western portions of the county in the 13th district, re-proposed an act and launched a volunteer program for students.

Ohio State Representatives Republican Heidi Workman and Republican Steve Demetriou have yet to introduce legislation but have shared future plans and political stances online this new year.

Bills brought forth

Joyce, who has worked in Congress since 2013, brought forth these three bills since the start of the year:

  • The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act: This would address threats to lakes like pollution and invasive species, increasing funds used for these efforts.
  • The Advanced Border Coordination Act: This would create operation centers on the southern border for increased law enforcement coordination and training.
  • The Providing Real-World Education and Clinical Experience by Precepting Tomorrow’s Nurses Act: With this bill, nurses supervising nursing students during their clinicals would receive a $2,000 tax credit.

The Joyce-backed Creating Opportunities to Advance Shoreline Treatments (COAST) Act, which increases funding given to the Emergency Stream Bank and Shoreline Protection Continuing Authority, was signed into law Jan. 3. The entity can use the funds for emergency streambank fixtures and shoreline protection and, according to a press release from Joyce, this will prevent damage to public spaces and roads.

On Jan. 15, Sykes reintroduced the Lower Your Taxes Act to “crack down on corporate greed and grow the middle class,” according to a press release. This act would bring the corporate income tax rate back up to 28% from its current 21% and increase the tax credit given to parents with qualifying children, among other efforts.

Gov. Mike DeWine on Jan. 15 signed legislation to support NEOMED’s Certified Mental Health Assistant (CMHA) graduate degree program to address “the workforce shortage of mental health professionals,” according to a press release from NEOMED.

How they’ve voted

One of the first bills reintroduced this year on Jan. 3 was the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025, which would ban transgender women and girls from participating in school athletic programs that “are for women and girls.”

All bills not made law by the end of the last year became dead and needed to be brought forth again.

Sykes voted against the bill; Joyce voted in favor of it. It was passed by the House Jan. 14 and now sits in the Senate.

The Laken Riley Act was reintroduced this congressional session. It would require the Department of Homeland Security to “detain certain non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting,” according to the bill.

Sykes and Joyce voted in favor of the bill, and it currently sits in the Senate after passing through the House Jan. 7.

Committees

As announced Jan. 15, Joyce was reappointed as Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, a position he held for more than half of last year.

He is also co-chair of the Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus and the Nursing Caucus and relaunched the Great Lakes Task Force this year.

Community work

As he posted to his X account, Demetriou attended the swearing in of a new member to the Geauga County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Board of Supervisors Jan. 14. In May, he plans to host his third-annual lamb roast open to the community in Chagrin Falls.

In addition to announcing various grants given to entities within the city of Akron, Sykes launched her Valentines for Vets Program Jan. 14, encouraging K-12 students in her district to make cards for local veterans.

Taking stances on social media

Ahead of Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration date, the Republican state and federal representatives have ramped up posts about their conservative values this month on social media, with most sharing coming from their X accounts.

Along with honoring a local Medal of Honor recipient and Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, Joyce announced he earned an A+ rating from the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America nonprofit, saying he will “continue to work to support mothers, new families and the wellbeing of young children.”

Counting down to Inauguration Day, Demetriou praised Mark Zuckerberg for changing Meta’s censorship and misinformation policies. He also thanked police officers for their bravery during the Jan. 1 terrorist attack in New Orleans and for the Red Cross of Northern Ohio’s aid in the California wildfires.

The second-term state representative shared his opposition to Amy Acton, who helped lead the state’s COVID response at the start of the pandemic, entering the 2026 governor’s race. He also wrote that Medal of Freedom recipient George Soros, founder of Open Society Foundations, needs an arrest warrant for reasons like his “support for dangerous rioters to his donations backing do nothing.”

Workman, who defeated incumbent Gail Pavliga in the primary election and Democrat Nathaniel Adams by nearly 10,000 votes in the general election, celebrated the county’s red shift, citing an Ideastream Public Media article that stated Democrats only claimed victory in one contested race this season.

On Jan. 4, she shared an article from Spectrum News 1, where she said property tax reform will be her first priority. Workman captioned the post, “Looking forward to all we will accomplish in 2025.”

Isabella Schreck
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