COLUMBUS — Ohio lawmakers and their staff could not be sued, forced to testify about their work or required to give up internal documents to a court under a Senate Republican plan that surfaced Thursday.

        The proposal, slipped into the $44.9 billion proposed budget now in the Senate, comes one week after the Ohio Supreme Court ordered legislative leaders to hand over reams of documents to lawyers suing over the state's education funding system.

        The Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding argued it had a legal right to the documents, which lawmakers used to help craft a $1.4 billion school funding reform plan. The high court has given the General Assembly until June 15 to find a way to reduce the funding gap between poor and rich schools.

        William Phillis, the coalition's executive director, called the proposal legislative mischief.

        “It is appalling to observe that some legislators are so desperate that they actually attempt to legalize their own suppression of evidence,” Mr. Phillis said.

        State Sen. Bruce Johnson, R-Columbus, the Senate's second-highest ranking Republican, said the General Assembly should legally be immune from such probes.

        “This is a reassertion of the independence we think we have in the General Assembly,” Mr. Johnson said. “Our actions are made through the laws we pass and the public meetings we attend.”

        State Sen. Doug White, R-Manchester, also supports the proposed courtroom protections. He is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which is expected to pass the budget bill next week.

        “We don't like to be drug into court and that sort of thing,” Mr. White said. “Any time I can get protection, I'll take it.”

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