The Ohio House has narrowly agreed to the governor's request to move this year's State of the State address from the Statehouse to an eastern Ohio elementary school.
Lawmakers approved the relocation 52-41 on Tuesday, with several of Gov. John Kasich's fellow Republicans opposed. It would be the first time the speech has been given outside the Statehouse.
Kasich plans to give the address at the award-winning Wells Academy in Steubenville. He defends the move as providing a boost to a neglected area.
It will also allow him to highlight education initiatives and the region's burgeoning shale drilling activity.
Republican state Rep. Lynn Wachtmann voted against the move, calling the address a "sacred" Statehouse tradition. Others have called it inconvenient and potentially costly.
The request now goes to the Senate.
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