Court tosses lobbying limit for ex-Ohio lawmakers

COLUMBUS (AP) — A federal court has struck down an Ohio law that has required former state lawmakers to wait a year before lobbying their old colleagues.

The decision from the U.S. District Court for southern Ohio is a victory for former state Rep. Tom Brinkman Jr., a Cincinnati Republican who left the Legislature at the end of 2008.

He brought a lawsuit when he wanted to immediately start lobbying on behalf of an anti-tax group he founded but was barred from doing so under the law.

In Wednesday’s ruling, district court Chief Judge Susan Dlott writes that the state failed to show the one-year waiting period addressed its concerns about corruption.

Brinkman says winning the case is “a great feeling.”

State officials say they’re reviewing the ruling.