Reform to unemployment compensation laws probably won’t be completed during the lame duck session, Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina) said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters following a non-voting session, Obhof said Sens. Randy Gardner (R-Bowling Green) and Bob Peterson (R-Sabina) have been working on the issue.

“I will follow up with them over the next couple of days to see where we’re at on that, but I think that probably becomes an ‘early next year’ issue as opposed to introducing massive changes and trying to get them done in two weeks. I just don’t think that’s good process,” Obhof said.

Obhof said he still isn’t sure about the fate of energy standards bill HB114 (Blessing), but noted his caucus would like to change the wind farm setback laws to allow for more development. He was pessimistic that the House would go along with a standalone bill on that issue.

“I think there is a feeling among many members of our caucus that the current restrictions are maybe a little too restrictive,” Obhof said. “I don’t have any reason to believe that if we did address the wind setbacks in a standalone bill that the House would go along with that. We passed it as part of the state budget a year ago and they fought very hard to make sure that we didn’t change it.”

On Thanksgiving plans, Obhof said he’s hosting his family.

“I’m looking forward to smoking one turkey and doing a more traditional preparation for the other,” Obhof said, noting he might decide to fry a turkey as well. “We sometimes do that. We fry it in peanut oil. But this time I think I’m probably going to inject it with creole butter or garlic butter, or something like that. I have to decide still what flavor profile I’m looking for, but I want people to have two good choices.”