WKSU News: Conservatives meet in Columbus for annual GOPAC conference

Tuesday, August 25, 2015 Conservatives meet in Columbus for annual GOPAC conference Groups at this year's GOPAC conference are urging lawmakers to rethink harsh criminal justice policies among other topics by WKSU's ANDY CHOW	Reporter Andy Chow

Ohio Senate Keith Faber is one of the state leaders attending the annual GOPAC conference this year in Columbus. Some conservative groups are urging lawmakers to rethink their approach to criminal justice.

Courtesy of State of Ohio

Conservative leaders from state legislatures around the country are in Ohio this week to discuss their top issues and how they're handling them. As Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports, one of the headlining topics is criminal justice reform.

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Of the 99 state legislative chambers in the U.S., 69 are run by Republicans. That’s according to GOPAC, a national conservative Political Action Committee geared towards getting Republicans elected to state offices.

The group’s educational arm held its State Legislative Leaders Summit in Columbus, where a collection of House speakers and Senate presidents — among others — could share ideas.

Ohio’s Republican Senate President Keith Faber of Celina said this summit keeps him up to date with how other Republican state leaders tackle issues.

“You can get to more substantive things," says Faber, "and find out what Texas is doing with criminal justice or talk about what Wisconsin is doing with job creation.”

Other topics scheduled for the summit include telecommunications, energy and health care.