While one Ohio congressman, Speaker John Boehner, continues his very prominent role negotiating with President Barack Obama over the fiscal cliff, another one is poised for the moment when he can weigh in.

Rep. Pat Tiberi, a six-term Republican from Delaware County, is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, the powerful committee with jurisdiction over the tax code. And as chairman of the committee’s subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures – i.e., taxes — Tiberi could ultimately have a big say in what the final deal looks like.

Tiberi says he wants comprehensive tax reform. Like many of his GOP colleagues, Tiberi opposes tax rate hikes but is willing to consider limiting deductions and closing loopholes in order to raise revenue.

He hopes both sides can agree to temporarily extend the current tax rates with the idea of tackling comprehensive reform over the next year.

“This is an opportunity,” he said, saying Democrats on the committee agree. “This is the time to do it.”

Bruce Cuthbertson, a former aide to Tiberi who has known him for 30 years, said if anyone can help to find a solution to the nation’s complicated tax woes, it might just be Tiberi. “He is a very good student,” he said.

Although Tiberi has tended to avoid the limelight during his years in Congress, his low profile has begun to change. Leaving a Republican conference meeting last week, he was flocked by reporters anxious to grill him about the state of negotiations.

Tiberi, 50, is considered a close ally to Boehner. And he credits his politics — and in fact his career — to Gov. John Kasich, whose old congressional district Tiberi now represents.

Not all are fans. Dale Butland, a Democratic consultant from Ohio, said it’s unlikely Tiberi will bring anything to the table other than traditional Republican opinions.

“Historically speaking, Pat Tiberi has been a reliable vote for the Republican position,” he said. “He’s almost robotic.”

A former intern in Kasich’s congressional office, Tiberi served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1992 to 2001, then ran and won his mentor’s old seat when Kasich decided not to run for re-election in 2000. He’s been re-elected ever since.

He began serving on the Ways and Means Committee in January 2007, thanks in part to Boehner, who had just become the House Majority Leader.

Five years later he is in a position to become a key player in whatever solution Boehner and Obama reach.

“It’s a great committee,” he said. “It deals with all the big issues. The tax code touches everything. It touches health care. It touches energy.

“It touches everything.”