Confirming Thomas Edison as one of Ohio's representatives in the National Statuary Hall was among the long list of things state lawmakers failed to do before they adjourned for the year last week. When a new General Assembly takes office next month, honoring the prolific inventor should be one of its first orders of business.

The deserved recognition of Mr. Edison, a native son of Erie County, has been thoroughly vetted and voted on by a legislative committee, and was put to an informal statewide public ballot over the summer. Lawmakers' inaction on the noncontroversial issue is baffling.

State Sen. Mark Wagoner (R., Ottawa Hills) leads the bipartisan legislative committee that proposed replacing a statue of former Gov. William Allen in the national hall in the U.S. Capitol with one of Mr. Edison. He says he will reintroduce his bill to honor Mr. Edison promptly in the new legislative session.

That's appropriate. Before lawmakers tackle a broad range of divisive issues, an early display of bipartisanship would be welcome.

First Published December 13, 2010, 12:00 a.m.