Sen. Rob Portman and Sen. Sherrod Brown both snagged a seat on the powerful Senate Finance Committee in the 113th Congress, ensuring that Ohio’s two U.S. senators will be at the center of the action when it comes to three of the biggest issues now facing policymakers in Washington: overhauling the tax code, reducing the debt, and tweaking entitlement programs.

Whether Portman, a Republican from Terrace Park, and Brown, a Democrat from Avon, will cancel each other out on the committee—or prove a bipartisan force for compromise—remains to be seen. But both lawmakers agree that it will be good for Ohio to have double the representation on the panel.