The end of an era in Ohio.

• Author: Leonard, Lee
• Position: Retirement of Vern Riffe as Ohio Speaker

It's a brave new world in Ohio. Vern Riffe, the longest serving speaker in the country, is retiring and taking with him seven veteran lawmakers. Caucus dissension, a Republican leaning reapportionment map and term limits forced his hand.

When they canceled the Fourth of July fireworks for lack of liability insurance in Ohio House Speaker Vern Riffe's hometown in 1986, you knew there was going to be tort reform. Ohio legislators, jostled by insurance companies, trial attorneys, consumer groups, big business and organized labor, had been haggling over the thorny issue for 18 months--but when the fireworks were canceled, Riffe took it personally.

A Democrat from New Boston in southern Ohio, Riffe (rhymes with life) already had been speaker for 11 and a half years, longer than anyone in Ohio history. No quarreling special interests, even Democratic ones, were going to ruin Independence Day again. It wasn't easy, but during the next 14 months Riffe exerted every bit of his legendary influence to pass a civil justice and insurance reform package. In compromising to get a bill, Riffe stood up to trial lawyers and big labor, traditional Democratic allies. He ignored consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who paid him a visit.

Few liked the package that emerged in September 1987 after several more stalemates. But it made commercial liability insurance available once again and eased prices. It also cut back on frivolous lawsuits, limited excessive damage awards and attorney fees, gave the state more regulatory power over insurance companies and restricted lawsuits against defective products.

Unpopular, perhaps, but it was a lifesaver for Ohio businesses and manufacturers and local governments. Most observers said it would never have gotten done without the clout and perseverance of Vernal G. Riffe Jr., the small-town insurance agent who built a dynasty in the Ohio House of Representatives.

What Riffe did for tort reform in 1986-87 he has also done for other mega-bills over the years, particularly those involving classic confrontations between the business community and organized labor. Most recently, in 1993, he helped shape a workers' compensation reform bill that never would have been enacted without his guidance and tenacity. Organized labor is still smarting over it, but Riffe, a pragmatist, earned the gratitude of the business community and Republican Governor George V. Voinovich, who called Ohio's workers' compensation system "the silent killer of jobs" because it chased businesses away.

Life Without Riffe

Riffe is retiring in December after 36 years in the House, 20 as speaker. Demoralized by an influence-peddling scandal last year that caused backstabbing in his caucus, and facing a possible Republican takeover of the House in this year's elections, the 68-year-old speaker decided to shelve his gavel and enjoy his family. Two of his long-time lieutenants--Speaker Pro Tem Barney Quilter of Toledo and Majority Leader William L. Mallory of Cincinnati--realized life without Riffe would not be the same, and are following him into retirement.

Nor does the changing of the guard stop there. Topped by the retirement of Senator Theodore M. Gray, the longest-serving legislator in Ohio history (43 years), the legislature is losing seven lawmakers with an astounding 209 years of service. Coupled with this mass evacuation of experienced lawmakers is the prospect of voter-imposed term limitations just six years away. It all adds up to a brave new world in the post-Riffe era.

Riffe runs a businesslike House that emphasizes problem-solving and discourages loud political rhetoric. He developed caucus fund raising to a science, enabling Democrats to control the House for the past 22 years.

Senate Republicans copied Riffe's fund-raising ideas and have retained a majority in 12 out of the last 14 years. The result? A coalition government. Riffe and the Senate Republican leader--currently Senate President Stanley J. Aronoff of Cincinnati--have dealt directly with the governor on major policy bills such as the budget, capital appropriations and workers' compensation reform. With a divided legislature, it would be a negotiated settlement anyway. They took a shortcut, imposed their solutions on the troops and made it stick. The minorities in either chamber had little input. Democracy? Maybe not, but the railroad always ran on time. There was stability and certainty about it. Wall Street responded with favorable bond ratings, and lobbyists enjoyed putting their money where it would bring known results. The majorities...