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Tim Schaffer Biography

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Senator Tim Schaffer serves the people of Senate District 20

A lifelong resident of Central and Southeast Ohio, Senator Tim Schaffer is currently serving in his third term in the Ohio Senate serving the 20th district which encompasses Fairfield and Licking counties, as well as portions of Perry County.  Senator Schaffer was first elected to the Ohio House in 2000.  After serving three terms he was elected to the Ohio Senate in the 31stdistrict.  He returned to the House in 2015.

Senator Schaffer has worked tirelessly at the Statehouse to fight government corruption, reduce taxes and protect children & families from predators.

Additionally, Senator Schaffer has worked on numerous economic development projects in his districts, leading to the retention and creation of hundreds of jobs.

A veteran legislator, Senator Schaffer is serving as Chairman of the Senate's standing committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources as well as a member of the standing committees on Insurance, Rules and Reference, Transportation, and Ways and Means. While in the Ohio House he chaired Ways & Means and previously he has chaired the Public Utilities Committee, Commerce & Labor Committee, and he was Ohio’s first legislative chairman of the Homeland Security, Engineering & Architecture Committee after the terrorist attacks on America in 2001. He has also served as chair of ODNR’s Mine & Reclamation Commission.

In these positions Senator Schaffer has played key roles in reducing taxes, providing more resources to Ohio businesses to create jobs, protecting Ohio's air and water quality along with our abundant natural resources, keeping energy prices in-check, maintaining a strong infrastructure and ensuring state labor policies promote, not hinder, job creation.

In addition to his legislative duties, Senator Schaffer has a private sector career as an association executive.  Always wanting to “give back,” he has served two terms on the Ohio Society of Association Executives board of directors, on the board of the Fairfield Center for Disabilities & Cerebral Palsy where he served as treasurer and president, and as chairman of the Fairfield County Republican Party. His legislative honors include:

  • 100% Conservative Rating, American Conservative Union
  • Watchdog of the Treasury, United Conservatives of Ohio
  • Legislator of the Year, International Interior Design Association
  • Legislator of the Year, American Society of Landscape Architects
  • Legislator of the Year, County Engineers Association of Ohio
  • Legislator of the Year, Manufacturers Education Council
  • Legislator of the Year, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, Region V
  • Legislator of the Year, ABATE
  • Representative of the Year, Ohio Bioscience Association
  • Legislator of the Year, Ohio Occupational Therapy Association
  • Friend of Philanthropy, Philanthropy Ohio
  • Champion of the American Quarter Horse Congress
  • Guardian of Small Business, National Federation of Independent Business-Ohio
  • Recognition Award for Senate Bill 22, Ohio Metropolitan Wastewater Agencies
  • Distinguished Service Award, Ohio Development Association
  • “Friend of Agriculture”, Ohio Farm Bureau
  • Distinguished Service Award, National Federation of the Blind
  • 2023 Habitat for Humanity Award
  • 2022 AMVETS Department of Ohio Legislator of the Year
  • 2023 Ohio Department of Natural Resources Cardinal Award

His community & professional honors include:

  • Board of Directors, Ohio Society of Association Executives
  • Lifetime Service Award, Fairfield Center for Disabilities & Cerebral Palsy
  • Delores Carlisle Award, Fairfield Center for Disabilities & Cerebral Palsy
  • Statesmanship Award, Fairfield County Republican Party
  • 40 under 40, Business First
  • Advocate of the Year, MS Society
  • Trustee of the Year, National Voluntary Health Agencies of Ohio
  • Hall of Fame, Fairfield County Young Republican Club

Senator Schaffer is a graduate of Lancaster High School. He attended Ohio University-Lancaster before earning a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Communications from Mount Union College, where he was a fullback on the Oho Athletic Conference championship soccer team, a news announcer at WRMU-FM and president of the Pre-Law Society.

Senator Schaffer and his wife, Lori, reside in Lancaster.

135th General Assembly Committee Assignments: 
- Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee (Chairman)
- Ways & Means Committee
- Insurance Committee 
- Transportation Committee
- Rules & Reference Committee