in Columbus where the
Ohio Senate meets.In 1998, he sought re-election to his Senate seat. He was again unopposed in the Republican primary, held on May 5 in which he received 20,130 votes.
The Columbus Dispatch endorsed him in the fall, editorializing: :During the past four years, no senator was more active or as deeply involved in as many major issues as Johnson... A legislative whirlwind, he personally sponsored numerous bills and shepherded others into law... By any measure, this legislative record is substantive and valuable to central Ohio and the state... Johnson is respected and trusted on both sides of the aisle. His accomplishments are remarkable for someone just 38 years old. He fully deserves another term. In the general election on November 3, he faced Democrat Debra A. Payne, a small businesswoman who owned a data-processing firm and was a three-term councilwoman in
Gahanna. Payne told
The Columbus Dispatch "I went door to door and asked, 'Do you know who your state senator is?' They said, 'I have no idea,' and I said, 'That's why you need me.' " Johnson defeated her by a vote of 53,074 (54.79%) to 43,796 (45.21%), a decreased margin of seven percent from 1994. After his reelection, the Senate Republican caucus elected him assistant president pro tempore, the third ranking post in the GOP leadership, defeating fellow a Franklin County senator, Eugene Watts of
Dublin, who sought another term in that post. In December 1998, Columbus Mayor Greg Latshukta announced he would not seek a third term in 1999. Johnson briefly considered a run for the seat, but decided against it. The same month, Johnson told
The Columbus Dispatch he was investigating overturning the city council's vote to grant benefits to domestic partners of city employers, according them the same treatment as spouses. Johnson objected to the idea itself, the cost, and the manner in which the question was rushed through the council without any public notice or debate. "No matter what you think of the merits, the process on an issue they knew could raise serious questions from the public was circumvented," said Johnson.
Concerned with protecting children Johnson was strongly
anti-abortion. In 2000, he sponsored legislation allowing mothers to leave a newborn baby at a hospital, police station, and like public facilities without fear of criminal charges. "I believe this bill is pro-life because it protects the life of a child regardless of the actions of its parents. I only wish we could protect babies earlier," he told
The Plain Dealer. In 2000, Johnson sponsored legislation that would require
background checks for volunteers working in private groups, claiming "This turns the spotlight on the leeches of our society who are preying on our children." The proposal met stiff opposition, being labeled an "inquisition" by
The Toledo Blade and was denounced by
The Plain Dealer "as a tool for harassment, and would be a disincentive to thousands of civic-minded, morally upright Ohioans who volunteer to work with children." "This bill can impose a life sentence prohibiting service to the youth of our community resulting from discovery of a listed felony conviction at any time in a person's life," Christine Nardecchia, president of the Volunteer Administrators' Network of Central Ohio told
The Toledo Blade. Johnson was also concerned with children's health, introducing legislation in 2000 to require all children twelve and under to be
vaccinated against
chicken pox. Johnson sponsored legislation to allow mothers to
breast feed their children in public.
Utility deregulation spearheaded Electricity deregulation legislation occupied the General Assembly from 1997 to 1999. In early 1997 Johnson and Representative Priscilla D. Mead, a Republican from
Upper Arlington, were named co-chairmen of the General Assembly's Joint Committee on Electric Utility Deregulation. Johnson was the chief sponsor of the proposal and worked hard to shepherd it through the legislature. The plan faced an uphill fight against the utility industry and advocates for consumers. "The proposed legislation provides utilities adequate revenue to make the transition to a competitive market. It will not result in any consumers' paying more for electricity," he promised his colleagues in the General Assembly, worried about increasing their constituents' bills. Johnson called his plan "a reasonable and fair approach" and ultimately prevailing, Johnson successfully passing the legislation into law in 1999.
Sealing Senate records Johnson was strongly criticized for his 2001 attempt to repeal the reach of Ohio's
sunshine law that made state records available to the public, a proposal contained in the massive state budget bill. Darrell Rowland of
The Columbus Dispatch described Johnson's idea: "The obscure proposal–two dozen lines in a 58,936-line bill–would prevent subpoenas of legislative staff members and their communications with legislators. The bill also would keep secret any legislative documents not deemed public records–a broad category because the General Assembly already concealed much of that material from public view two years ago." William L. Phillis, executive director of the Coalition for Equity and Adequacy, a group of public schools suing the State of Ohio for more funding, told the newspaper "This is not something you expect in a democracy. You might expect this kind of behavior from a third-world dictator, one that would want to hide wrongdoing by making a decree that makes it right." Johnson told
The Dispatch "I need unlimited, unfettered discretion to seek every fact I can find in order to come to a decent conclusion. What we want to do is make sure the senators and representatives are competently representing the will of the people." The senator also claimed seventeenth-century English
common law justified his plan. Thomas C. Drabick Jr. of
Blacklick said in a letter to the editor published in
The Dispatch "He has unlimited and unfettered arrogance. Who does he think he works for? Clearly, he does not believe that he is responsible to the people of Ohio; otherwise, he would not seek to keep secrets from us."
The Dispatch agreed, editorializing that "Government decisions made in secret aren't necessarily better decisions, they're just secret decisions. Unfortunately, too many of Ohio's legislative leaders seem sold on the idea that keeping things hush-hush is good." Nevertheless, the Senate passed Johnson's proposal, part of the state budget, over attempts by the Democratic minority to remove the language from the bill.
Other legislative work Johnson was a critic of the
United States Congress's efforts to force states, under penalty of losing federal highway money, to lower the
blood alcohol level considered
driving under the influence. Johnson suggested that at the new lower limit, "We could give that level a $100 fine, or call it driving under federal blackmail." He also sponsored legislation to increase the hours of driving sixteen-year-olds needed to obtain a
driver's license and saw it enacted into law. Johnson opposed efforts to locate state offices outside of Columbus, defeating a bill in committee in 1998. Johnson declared of the defeat "the people of the state are the winners, not
Toledo, not
Marietta, not Columbus." In 1999, he obtained Senate passage of a resolution commending "Neighbors Day". As part of the debate, he sang the theme song to ''
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on the Senate floor. That year he also sponsored legislation to declare the northern largemouth bass the official state fish. The Columbus Dispatch'' after his resignation referred to his "blunt, opinionated style." Johnson also served as President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the second ranking position in the body, which he held when he left to enter Governor Taft's cabinet. He was chairman of the Finance and Financial Institutions Committee until his resignation. ==Appointed Development Director==