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February 2009
AP: President Obama coming to Ohio on March 6
COLUMBUS — Twenty-five Columbus police recruits who owe their jobs to the government’s economic stimulus package are planning to thank President Barack Obama in person next Friday, March 6, according to the Associated Press.
The White House has confirmed that Obama plans a trip to Columbus, and the president of the Columbus chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police says he has been told by city officials that Obama will attend the police recruits’ graduation.
Sgt. Jim Gilbert says the time of the ceremony is uncertain, and it’s still not clear if it will be moved from the police academy to a larger venue.
Columbus officials had said they would have to forego this year’s recruit class for lack of funding. At the bill-signing ceremony last week in Denver, Obama cited saving the Columbus class as one use of money from the $787 billion stimulus package approved by Congress.
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TweetNow, for Boehner’s take on the Obama budget
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, doesn’t like it either.
“This budget makes clear that the era of big government is back, and Democrats want you to pay for it. Middle-class families and small businesses are making sacrifices when it comes to their own budget, and it’s time for Washington to do the same.
“Instead, this budget taxes, spends, and borrows its way toward a bigger, more costly federal government at the expense of small businesses, family farms, middle-class families, retirees, every American who owns a 401(k), and anyone who flips on a light switch.”
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TweetVoino no fan of Obama’s budget
President Barack Obama released an outline of his budget today - more specifics will be released in April - and Sen. George Voinovich is unimpressed, to put it mildly.
Here goes: “President Obama has delivered a budget outline that attempts to fool the American people with smoke and mirrors. He unrealistically promises everything to everyone and masks the sacrifices Americans will be forced to make if it passes.
“To act like it is some sort great accomplishment to reduce the deficit in four years to a level that is still higher than every deficit from the end of World War II up until Barack Obama’s inauguration is absurd. And, the $533 billion figure he touts for Fiscal Year 2013 ignores the continued borrowing from Social Security and other trust funds to the tune of roughly $200 billion a year.
“It doubles the debt in five years and triples the debt in 10 years, continuing huge deficits beyond this administration. Failing to tackle entitlement and tax reform and relying simply on an obvious phase-out of the astronomical spending in his stimulus bill, a reduction of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and revenue from an irresponsible cap-and-trade program is a womb-to-tomb tax increase for every child born in this country.
“And, where are the $2 trillion in cuts and terminations we were promised? Although they are absent, he does promise to make middle class tax relief permanent while spending at least $634 billion on establishing a path to universal health care, but he does not know how he will fully pay for it.”
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TweetWhite House targets contract reform as part of 2010 budget
Weeks after passing a $787 billion economic stimulus bill, President Barack Obama Thursday released his 2010 budget, which will continue investments in infrastructure, invest in early childhood education and reform how the military buys new weapons systems.
In all, the total budget is expected to be more than $3 trillion. If enacted, it would create a $1.75 billion deficit this year, the highest in decades.
The plan is ambitious on health reform, setting the goal of computerizing health records within five years. It also includes slight increases in funding for the Defense Department, mostly to increase the size of the Army and Marines. But that same budget will reform the acquisition process “to make sure that funds are not being wasted on expensive and outdated weapon systems,” according to a document released by Obama’s staff.
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TweetDemocrats start process to fill Roberts’ Ohio Senate seat
The Senate Democratic Caucus will soon appoint a replacement for Senator Tom Roberts, D-Dayton, who is resigning after being appointed by Gov. Ted Strickland to he Ohio Civil Rights Commission. Roberts’ resignation is effective Saturday, Feb. 28.
“While our Caucus will miss one of the most respected and experienced Senators, we are pleased that Senator Roberts’ will continue his service to the state of Ohio at the Ohio Civil Rights Commission,” said Minority Leader Capri S. Cafaro, D-Hubbard. “Our loss is truly the Commission’s gain.”
The process to fill the remainder of Senator Roberts’ unexpired term is outlined below:
Applicants contact the chair of their County Democratic Party to express interest in the appointment by Friday, March 6.
The Chairs of County parties submit candidates to the Minority Leader office for consideration by Friday, March 13. All candidates forwarded by county chairs will be considered.
The Minority Leader and the Democratic Caucus Leadership team will interview and screen candidates the week of March 16.
The Democratic Caucus Leadership team makes a recommendation which is voted on by the full Caucus.
The Minority Leader announces a replacement.
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TweetRep. Yates likes “Wellstone model” for U.S. Senate campaign
State. Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Cincinnati, has formally established an exploratory committee for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate nomination in 2010.
Yates, who set up the committee on Wednesday, Feb. 25, said he wants to model his campaign after the successful effort that vaulted the late Paul Wellstone of Minnesota into the U.S. Senate.
Yates, 55, said he’d like to find an “old school bus that we can green up, weld a platform on the back, stick an American flag on it, put ‘Yates for the Senate’ on the side and ride across Ohio.”
He’s entering the primary race against two better known Democrats, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher.
Yates said he should stand out in the race and not just because, if elected, he would be Ohio’s first black U.S. senator.
“I grew up on a farm in Ohio and I’m the only candidate who grew up on a farm and who ever showed a cow at the Ohio State Fair,” he said.
He said he would be a very different senator than Republican George Voinovich, whose retirement will leave the seat vacant.
“I would have voted for President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill and I would have opposed the war in Iraq,” said Yates.
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TweetWho’s been to the White House? Among local delegation, it’s mostly Boehner
Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill Wednesday, Feb. 25, released a roundup of who on Capitol Hill has visited the White House during the first few weeks of the Obama administration, and locally, it looks like House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, is the top dog.
By their tally, he’s been there at least twice.
Their list doesn’t include Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, whose spokeswoman verifies that he did, indeed go, at least once.
U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, hasn’t gone. Neither has U.S. Rep. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, though his spokeswoman said he was invited once. He couldn’t go because of the House scheduling though.
The Hill doesn’t list U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, as going, either, and we’ve put in a call to verify that. Also a White House no-show: Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.
“We’re not losing sleep over it,” said Voinovich spokesman Chris Paulitz.
Who has gone? From Ohio, their list includes U.S. Reps. Steve LaTourette, R-Bainbridge; Marcia Fudge, D-Cleveland and Zack Space, D-Dover.
In all, the Hill reports, President Barack Obama has asked 139 lawmakers to visit the White House since Jan. 20, when he was inaugurated.
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TweetJordan spearheads letter opposing federal funding for abortions
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, Wednesday, Feb. 25, spearheaded a letter to House Democratic leaders requesting that the House continue including language opposing federal funding of abortions in appropriations bills considered this year.
So-called “pro-life riders” have been added to appropriations bills for years to bar taxpayer money from being spent on abortion for more than 30 years, according to the letter.
“We believe that failure to include all of the current policies with regard to the right to life will mark a radical departure from a policy a majority of Americans support,” the letter reads. It asks that the House vote if leadership decides to strip such riders from appropriations bills this year.
The letter, written to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wisc., and House Rules Committee Chair Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y.. The letter is signed by a total of 180 lawmakers. Other Ohioans who signed onto the letter include U.S. Reps. Steve Driehaus, D-Cincinnati and Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green.
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TweetFeds to Ohio: The check is in the mail
More economic stimulus money is heading Ohio’s way.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Wednesday, Feb. 25, released most of the $13.61 billion allocated in the economic stimulus bill to states and localities.
Ohio’s share: $42.9 million, according to the White House. The money will be spent through Community Development Block Grant programs.
Here’s how that breaks out locally: - Dayton: $1.69 million. - Butler County: $311,163 - Fairborn: $70,461 - Hamilton: $396,009 - Kettering: $146,839. - Middletown: $181,809 - Montgomery County: $496,661 - Springfield: $533,358
President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion bill into law on Feb. 17. The 25 percent of the HUD money yet to be allocated will be released via a competitive grant process.
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TweetOhio expects additional $135.7 million from federal stimulus plan
Ohio now appears in line to receive $135.7 million more from the federal stimulus plan than was in the Strickland administration’s earlier estimate, Pari Sabety, state budget director, said on Wednesday, Feb. 25.
Three agencies - Mental Health, Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services and Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities - now are slated to receive a total of $232.4 million more in subsidy funding than was in Strickland’s original budget proposal released on Feb. 2, Sabety said.
The increase resulted from greater support in the federal stimulus plan for Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor and disabled. While state support for Medicaid and education increased in the final version of the federal stimulus plan, support for other programs was reduced, an analysis showed.
Sabety appeared before the committee to discuss House Bill 1 - the actual proposed state budget which includes the new estimate for federal stimulus money.
Overall, Sabety said the $54 billion, two-year budget includes about $5.5 billion in one-time money, including about $3.5 billion from the federal stimulus plan. The one-time money also includes more than $900 million to drain the state’s “rainy-day fund.”
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TweetBrown introduces bill inspired by Wilmington’s plight
Sen. Sherrod Brown is introducing legislation aimed at speeding up the federal help communities get when faced with catastrophic job loss.
Brown, D-Ohio, crafted the legislation with input from community leaders in Wilmington, Ohio, who expect to see more than 8,000 jobs disappear when DHL withdraws from the U.S. market.
His bill would send a project manager from the federal government to hard-hit communities to quickly inform them about federal assistance available to them. It’s modeled after a Department of Defense program that coordinates government and local communities when a base closes.
Under Brown’s bill, the Commerce Department would oversee a “rapid response” to communities hit by sudden job loss by coordinating assistance from Labor Department, Education Department, Small Business Administration, Housing and Urban Development, the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“We provide swift, targeted federal assistance to communities facing natural disasters,” he said. “Our response should be just as coordinated and timely to communities facing economic disasters.”
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TweetState tax hike on “other tobacco products” discussed
Is the Strickland administration backing off a bit on the governor’s vow not to raise taxes in tough times?
The answer is no, according to Amanda Wurst, Gov. Ted Strickland’s spokesman, despite comments earlier Wednesday from budget director Pari Sabety.
“He does not believe a tax increase at this time would be productive as so many Ohioans are struggling,” said Wurst.
At a House Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday morning, Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Cincinnati, asked budget director Sabety if it “wouldn’t make good sense” for the state to take a look at hiking taxes on “other tobacco products” - chewing tobacco, snuff, cigars and smoking tobacco - to pay for a tobacco cessation program to helps hold down Medicaid costs. Cigarettes are taxes separately from these products.
“That’s a proposal we certainly would be willing to take a look at,” Sabety responded.
After the meeting, Sabety said no such tax hike was in Strickland’s proposed two-year budget which now is before the House and the budget now was in the legislature’s hands.
Strickland has said that “we’ve got to look at every proposal,” she added.
“We will look at every proposal and I think that’s the response I gave him (Yates),” said Sabety.
Asked about Strickland’s “no tax hike” vow, she said “that’s correct.”
Does the vow apply to the tobacco tax, she was asked.
“You know, you’ve got to look at what’s out there,” she said.
The tax rate on “other tobacco product” is 17 percent of the wholesale price and is paid by manufacturers, wholesalers or retailers.
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TweetStrickland scores great seats for Presidential Address
Count Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland among the 25 people who will get to sit in First Lady Michelle Obama’s balcony for tonight’s presidential address to Congress.
Strickland, a Democrat, is one of two governors who made the cut. The other is Jim Douglas, the Republican governor of Vermont. He’s also the Ohioan.
The White House describes Strickland as a man who “believes that Ohio government must live within its means while investing in what matters.”
Strickland will join Michelle Obama, Jill Biden, the wife of Vice-President Joe Biden, Lilly Ledbetter, the inspiration for an equal pay law that just passed Congress and the Mayor of Greensburg, Kansas, among others.
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TweetTwo bills combat teen dating violence
Elsa Croucher of Monroe in Butler County and Johanna Orozco of Cleveland joined forces on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the Statehouse in Columbus to urge passage of two bills aimed at combating teen dating violence.
Croucher lost a daughter; Orozco nearly lost her life.
House Bill 10 would allow juvenile court judges to issue protective orders against juveniles. Orozco, now 20, backed the proposal. She said she was 18 when a former boyfriend shot her in the face with a sawed off shotgun.
The shooting came after an incident in which he raped her at knife point, she said. She then sought a restraining order but police told her that wasn’t possible because her boyfriend was a juvenile and the law does not allow restraining orders for juveniles, she said.
“Eighteen days after I reported the rape, (the boyfriend) hunted me down and shot me,” Orozco said at a Statehouse news conference. She has had 12 surgeries since the shooting.
Croucher backed House Bill 10 and also urged passage of House Bill 19 which would require that school districts adopt a dating abuse policy and include dating violence education in health education classes. House Bill 19 is also known as Tina’s Law.
Her daughter, Tina Croucher, was 18 in 1992 when she was murdered by an abusive ex-boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend broke into the family home, shot Tina Croucher while she was sleeping in bed and then killed himself, Mrs. Croucher said.
“This bill is long overdue in the state of Ohio,” Mrs. Croucher said.
Attorney General Richard Cordray spoke in favor of the bills at the press conference.
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TweetStrickland to attend Obama address
Gov. Ted Strickland will attend President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress tonight, Feb. 24, at 9 p.m.
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TweetHusted: Change how Ohio U.S. Senate vacancies filled
With the ongoing controversy in Illinois in mind, State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, plans to introduce legislation to change how a vacant U.S. Senate seat would be filled in Ohio.
Husted said on Tuesday, Feb. 24, that he will introduce legislation that calls for a U.S. Senate seat to be filled by a special election. Now the governor may fill such a vacancy by appointment until the next regular election.
“A vacancy in the United States Senate is incredibly important and shouldn’t be left to the discretion of just one person,” Husted said in a press release. “I am hopeful that this legislation would ensure Ohio voters have a stronger voice in selecting who represents them in the U.S. Senate.”
The press release cited the “recent appointment debacle” in Illinois where now impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed fellow Democrat Roland Burris to the Senate. It cited “new revelations that appointed Sen. Roland Burris may not have been completely forthcoming about the conditions for his appointment.”
The legislation Husted plans to introduce “would mirror Ohio law” regarding how a vacancy in a U.S. House seat is filled in Ohio.
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TweetStrickland to see Obama during D.C. guvs’ meeting
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is headed to Washington, D.C. for a meeting of the National Governors Association that includes a session with President Barack Obama, Strickland’s office announced on Friday, Feb. 20.
On Sunday, Feb. 22, Strickland will lead the Appalachian Regional Commission Governor’s Quorum Meeting, his office said. Strickland is states’ co-chair of the commission.
The governors’ meeting with Obama at the White House will be on Monday, Feb. 23, according to Strickland’s office.
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TweetMayor meets with President
Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin got treated to an all-star cast during her first visit to the White House during the Obama administration.
McLin, one of 80 mayors who visited the White House on Friday, Feb. 20, not only met with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, she got to meet with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.
During a meeting that ran at least 20 minutes longer than the allotted hour, Obama told mayors that he wanted to be partners with the mayors on helping revitalize the economy. Obama said he was hiring a director of urban affairs to work with mayors and would put mayors on advisory councils advising him on policy. All this, he said, was aimed at helping get the economy on track.
“They are letting us know they are holding us accountable for what they’ve done for us and they want to work with us,” McLin said.
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TweetStrickland names Sen. Roberts to Civil Rights Commission
Gov. Ted Strickland today, Feb. 19, named state Sen. Tom Roberts, D-Dayton, to fill a vacancy on the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.
The appointment is effect March 2 and will be formally announced next Friday, Feb. 27, said Amanda Wurst, Strickland’s spokeswoman. Roberts will be paid $57,824 a year, said Wurst. He will fill out a term that expires in July 2010, said Wurst.
“The governor believes he’s the right person for this job,” said Wurst. Roberts, a former state representative, has “served his community and his state and worked on critical issues” such as payday lending, Wurst added.
Roberts earlier had said he was interested in the position and also said that he would recommend that the Senate Democratic Caucus appoint former state Rep. Fred Strahorn to fill his 5th District Senate seat. The district includes Miami County and parts of Montgomery and Darke counties.
The commission enforces state laws against discrimination. It investigates charges of discrimination in employment, public accommodations, housing, credit and higher education, based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, ancestry or familial status.
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TweetOhio politicians were among those to receive contribution from accused financial scammer
A number of Ohio politicians received political contributions from money manager Robert Allen Stanford, who, according to New York Times reports, federal officials have accused of massive fraud involving $8 billion.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Stanford, his employees or his investment firm’s political action committee have donated $5,000 to House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester and $500 to U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland.
He’s also given money to Reps. John Boccieri, D-Alliance, Patrick Tiberi, R-Columbus and Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green.
And he’s donated to President Barack Obama, who ranks third among individual lawmakers, having collected $31,750 from the company’s employees during his 2008 presidential bid.
Also on the list: former Rep. Bob Ney, who served prison time for his role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. He received $28,200 in contributions, according to the Center. Finally, former U.S. Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Findlay, who received $3,000.
Between its PAC and its employees, Stanford Financial Group has given $2.4 million to federal candidates, parties and committees since 2000, according to the Center. Sixty-five percent of that went to Democrats. Stanford and his wife, Susan, have given $931,100 personally, with 78 percent going to Democrats, according to the Center.
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TweetSen. Tom Roberts “interested” in Civil Rights Commission
State Sen. Tom Roberts, D-Dayton, is “interested” in a vacancy on the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, Roberts said on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland will make the appointment and Roberts said any further information would have to come from the governor’s office. Amanda Wurst, Strickland’s spokeswoman, had no immediate comment.
If he gets the appointment, Roberts said he would recommend that the Senate Democratic Caucus appoint former state Rep. Fred Strahorn, D-Dayton, to the Senate seat. Strahorn left the legislature last year because of term limits. He is now Ohio United Way vice president of governmental affairs.
“I’m certainly interested….I miss it (the legislature),” said Strahorn.
Roberts, a former Ohio House member, is in his second elected Senate term which expires in 2010. Term limits would prohibit him from seeking re-election. He was appointed to the Senate in 2002 and then elected to two four-year terms.
Roberts represents the 5th District which includes Miami County and parts of Montgomery and Darke counties.
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TweetMayor McLin to meet Obama on Friday
By Joanne Huist Smith Staff Writer
DAYTON — Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin will meet with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden on Friday, Feb. 20 to discuss the economic stimulus package and what it will mean for Dayton. McLin will meet with Obama and Biden for 30 to 45 minutes in the East Room of the White House. After the meeting, McLin and several other mayors will meet with members of Obama’s Cabinet.
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TweetLieberman, Dodge help Fisher launch U.S. Senate campaign
With a boost from Montgomery County Commissioners Judy Dodge and Debbie Lieberman, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher on Tuesday, Feb. 17, officially launched his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.
“This is for all the marbles. The stakes could not be higher,” Fisher said. His announcement came hours after Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.
Dodge and Lieberman were among those joining Fisher at a Statehouse press conference. Gov. Ted Strickland and House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, also were there.
“I will work hard for him and I will be proud when he is sworn in as Ohio’s next U.S. senator,” said Strickland
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TweetBill Mason considering run for Secretary of State
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason is “seriously considering” running for Ohio Secretary of State now that fellow Democrat Jennifer Brunner announced she is running for U.S. Senate in 2010, his spokesman Ryan Miday said on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
Mason has been prosecutor since 1999.
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TweetOhio GOP welcomes Dem U.S. Senate primary fight
Ohio Republicans like nothing more than a primary battle - as long as it’s between Democrats.
Soon after word got out on Tuesday, Feb, 17, that Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner would battle for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, Kevin DeWine, Ohio Republican Party chairman, welcomed them, so to speak.
“I can’t think of two more unimpressive candidates than Lee Fisher and Jennifer Brunner,” DeWine said in a press release.
“Mr. Fisher brings to the table a dismal record of accomplishment as Ohio’s lieutenant governor. He was hired with the sole responsibility of creating jobs and helping to turn around Ohio’s economy, yet in two short years he’s managed to preside over the state’s largest economic downturn in a generation.
“Jennifer Brunner offers nothing more than a widely criticized record of rabid partisanship and poor judgment. She represents the kind of politics that her own party’s standard bearer promised to change in Washington.”
DeWine’s sitting pretty right now.The only declared GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate nomination is former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman of suburban Cincinnati. If state Auditor Mary Taylor gets in the GOP race, maybe Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern will have something to say about her and Portman.
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TweetBrunner uses e-mail, video to announce candidacy for U.S. Senate
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in an e-mail to supporters and friends and a video on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
Here’s what Brunner had to say:
I wanted you to be the first to know that I am running for the United States Senate, so please watch my announcement here:
http://www.JenniferBrunner.com
I am excited to announce my decision to you first — and I will continue to talk directly with you and thousands of Ohioans — because working together, we can accomplish so much more. Everyone in Ohio has felt the pain of the current economy so we can’t afford to send the same people who got us into this crisis back to Washington. The future is in our hands.
Please watch my announcement and be a part of the change that Ohio needs.
Like most Ohioans, when I see problems, I look for solutions — solutions to meet our challenges so that we emerge stronger than ever. Too often we’ve seen the same-old campaign and same-old politicians return to Washington and fail to make the changes that will move us forward.
We worked hard the past four years to elect new leaders that won’t ignore or belittle the problems we face in Ohio. That work must continue as we create new jobs that improve our communities by conserving energy, lowering health care costs and making our streets and highways safer.
This campaign is about you, and about all Ohioans who are ready to come together and find solutions to the problems we face. Please join our campaign and be a part of the change that Ohio needs.
Our campaign is going to make history - together, we will win this race and change Ohio and the nation. Thank you for your support.
Sincerely, Jennifer Brunner
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TweetBoehner mocked by Ackroyd on SNL
Maybe you know you’ve arrived when comedian Dan Ackroyd impersonates you on “Saturday Night Live.”
If that’s the case, consider House Minority Leader John Boehner a raging success.
Boehner got a six-minute ribbing from the former Blues Brother on Saturday, Feb. 14.
Take a peek:
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TweetBrunner to dive into race for U.S. Senate
The race for the U.S. Senate is about to get more crowded.
Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, confirmed Tuesday, Feb. 17, that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner will declare today that she is running for the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.
Brunner is expected to make her announcement on a campaign website.
Brunner’s entry into the race makes her the first Democrat to formally declare, although Ohio Lt. Governor Lee Fisher has launched an exploratory committee, a first step to deciding to run. On the Republican side, former U.S. Rob Portman will run.
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TweetMore stimulus estimates rolling in
This one’s from the Democratic Policy Committee.
They estimate that among the funds the state will receive are:
- $58.9 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to address the state’s backlog of drinking water infrastructure needs
- $224 million through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to address the backlog of clean water infrastructure needs
- $935.7 million in state highway funding
- $179.8 million in transit funding for investments in mass transit
- $129 million to help local public housing agencies address a national $32 billion backlog in capital needs
- $84 million to acquire, construct and rehabilitate affordable housing and provide rental assistance to poor families
- $66 million to prevent homelessness by providing short or medium-term rental assistance, utility payments or first and last month’s rental payments.
- $1.5 billion for the state fiscal stabilization fund for school districts and colleges and universities
- $437.7 million for Special Education Part B State Grants to help educate children with disabilities
- $23 million for education technology funds
- $472.4 million for Title I education for the disadvantaged
- $15.3 million to match unemployed workers with job openings through state employment service agencies.
In all, the National Conference of State Legislatures estimates the state stands to gain about $8.2 billion under the bill.
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TweetWhite House promises jobs a-go go for southwest Ohio in stimulus bill
Hours before President Barack Obama was to sign a $787 billion economic stimulus bill aimed at reviving the nation’s sagging economy, the White House released new estimates of how many jobs the bill is expected to bring to the states.
The release is part of a continuing effort by the White House to sell the plan to Americans skeptical about the proposal’s cost, and is based on a formula using Department of Commerce and Department of Labor data.
According to the White House, the bill, which Obama will sign in Denver, Colo., today, Feb. 17, will bring 133,000 jobs to Ohio, and 7,400 jobs to the 3rd Congressional District, represented by U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, which includes all or parts of Montgomery, Warren, Clinton and Highland Counties.
It’ll bring 7,400 jobs to the 8th Congressional District, represented by House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, according to the White House’s estimates. That district includes all or parts of Montgomery, Miami, Preble, Butler, Darke and Mercer counties. And it’ll bring 7,700 jobs to the 7th Congressional District, which includes all or parts of Clark, Greene, Fayette, Ross, Pickaway, Franklin, Fairfield and Perry counties.
The 4th Congressional District, a massive swath of northeast Ohio that includes Shelby, Auglaize and Champaign counties represented by U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, would see 7,200 jobs under the bill, and the 2nd District, which includes part of Warren County, would see 7,800 jobs under the bill, according to the White House. In all, the bill is expected to create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years, according to the White House, creating jobs in industries ranging from clean energy to health care.
Jessica Towhey, a spokeswoman for Boehner, said an alternative plan introduced by House Republicans would’ve created 6.2 million jobs - 240,000 in Ohio - by the end of 2010 at about half the cost of the plan that passed.
“The original bill offered by congressional Democrats claimed to create 142,000 jobs in Ohio. The ‘compromise’ package that’s being signed into law will create 9,000 fewer jobs,” she said. “The only thing going down faster than the number of jobs created by the bill is the level of trust the American people have that Big Government will solve their problems.”
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TweetJordan raps with Politico
Here’s a link to an interview between D.C. political newspaper Politico and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana.
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TweetSenate waits for Brown
The Senate is one vote shy of the 60 needed to pass the economic stimulus bill. The last vote needed: Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Brown, D-Ohio, is currently in Ohio, attending the viewing for his mother, Emily Campbell Brown, who died Feb. 2. Brown will fly to Washington, D.C. to cast his vote tonight - in an airplane provided by the White House - then fly back to attend his mother’s funeral tomorrow.
Why the White House ride? Commercial airplanes wouldn’t accommodate the schedule, and the White House provided a plane because it’s official business.
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TweetState budget hearings delayed
State budget junkies will have to hang on a while.
House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, on Friday, Feb. 13, decided to delay next week’s scheduled committee hearings on Gov. Ted Strickland’s proposed $54.7 billion, two-year state budget, Keary McCarthy, Budish’s spokesman, said.
The problem: the actual budget bill hasn’t yet been drafted. There may not be an actual blil now until the end of the month.
Republicans have been grousing about holding hearings without an actual piece of legislation to hold on to and were pleased with Budish’s decision.
“We have much work to do and our work should be done using only the most relevant, complete and accurate information available,” Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, said in a press release. “In addition, the people of Ohio should have a full opportuniity to vet this budget and its related proposals.”
Strickland seems fine with the delay.
“The governor respects the legislative process and the decision that the legislature made to delay further hearings until the drafting of the bill has been completed,” said Amanda Wurst, the governor’s spokeswoman.
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TweetHere’s Boehner’s take on the stimulus bill
Here’s House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, today, detailing why he opposes the final version of the economic stimulus bill.
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TweetLocal House delegation opposes stimulus bill; Senate to vote later this afternoon
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 246-183 Friday in support of a massive $787 billion bill aimed at building roads, schools and bailing out fiscally distressed states.
The region’s congressional delegation unanimously opposed the bill. U.S. Reps. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, Mike Turner, R-Centerville and John Boehner, R-West Chester, all voted no. Every House Republican voted against the bill.
Boehner, meanwhile, raised cain over the fact that Democrats gave Republicans a little less than 24 hours to read the 1,071-page bill. He also led Republicans in presenting an alternative $478 billion plan that they said would create 246,000 jobs in Ohio and 6.2 million jobs nationally. That alternative was voted down last week.
The Democratic plan that passed is expected to preserve or create 133,000 jobs in the state.
The Senate will vote tonight. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, opposes the bill, though he said in an interview on Thursday he is supportive of funding that would pay state-federal partnerships such as Medicaid and Title I. He was less supportive of a $53.6 billion pot of money to help states out of their fiscal crises, calling it a “slush fund” for governors.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, meanwhile, plans on supporting the bill, but his may be the vote that will put Democrats over the edge to give them the 60 votes they need to pass the bill.
Brown had spent most of Friday in Ohio attending his mother’s wake - she died Feb. 2 at the age of 88 - and was scheduled to fly in for the vote tonight. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would keep the vote open until Brown could vote. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., cannot vote tonight because of his health, and Senate Democrats will rely on Brown and three Republican senators to give them the 60 votes they need to pass the bill and send it to the president this weekend.
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TweetSherrod Brown could be the winning vote tonight on stimulus
When the U.S. Senate votes tonight on a massive $789 billion economic stimulus bill, Sen. Sherrod Brown will be the center of attention.
Here’s why: Brown’s mother, Emily Campbell Brown, died last week. The funeral is tomorrow, and the wake is today, Friday, Feb. 13. Brown will attend as much of the wake as he can before driving to the airport from Mansfield, hopping on a plane, and casting his vote.
Only three Republicans voted on an earlier version of the bill, and Democrats need all three to give them the 60 votes needed for the bill to pass. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who is suffering from a brain tumor, and is not expected to cast a vote because of health problems. With Kennedy and the three Republicans supporting the bill, they would have 61 votes. Without Kennedy, it’s 60, and Brown’s vote becomes key.
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, meanwhile, has signaled he will vote against the bill. And the House will vote at around 1 p.m.
The Senate vote on the stimulus bill is scheduled around 7 p.m. They are expected to hold the vote open in order to allow Brown the chance to vote.
Afterward, he’ll hop on a plane and return home to attend his mother’s funeral on Saturday.
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TweetAustria called “Worst Person” by Olbermann
U.S. Rep. Steve Austria has gotten a lot of ink this week for his comments suggesting that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal put the country in a Great Depression. The blogs have been pretty busy weighing in, too.
Austria later backed off those comments.
Now he’s getting some TV time for those comments.
Austria, R-Beavercreek, was deemed the “Worst Person in the World” by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, who tartly suggested that the only depression is the “one between Austria’s ears.” Ouch.
Austria, meanwhile, released this statement: “I intend to be more careful with my words in the future. My point during the interview was that I have concerns with the unprecedented borrowing and spending we are doing in the stimulus package.”
Here’s the clip:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
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TweetEconomic stimulus bill a question mark for Boehner
House Minority Leader John Boehner has been an outspoken opponent of the economic stimulus bill, and now that a deal’s been reached, that hasn’t changed.
But as of 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, he still hadn’t seen the actual language of the bill. He’s only seen a summary of the numbers, a fact which has him and his office concerned, to say the least.
Earlier this week the House overwhelmingly passed a new rule requiring 48-hour public notice before a bill faces a roll call vote. Boehner’s office has been raising a stink about not seeing the bill for a few reasons: First of all (obviously) they want to see the bill. Second, they just passed this bill.
The current rumor is that the bill will be voted on Friday. Whether and when Boehner, R-West Chester, will see it? To be determined.
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TweetBrown gets tapped to head subcommittee, but it’s a pretty big deal subcommittee
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, got tapped for the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy. While normally we might not trumpet getting tapped to head a subcommittee, this is a biggie: it has jurisdiction over the stimulus legislation, and oversees loan guarantees and other financial aid to commerce and industry.
“I want to use this new subcommittee role to examine how we can make the economy work for everyone,” Brown said upon announcing his appointment. “Through the right economic priorities, we can create jobs and rebuild our nation’s manufacturing base.”
According to Brown’s office: “The subcommittee oversees economic growth, employment, and price stability; reviews monetary policy, including oversight of function of the Federal Reserve and Council of Economic Advisors; reviews programs relating to financial aid to commerce and industry, flood insurance, and disaster assistance; and oversees money and credit, including currency, prices of commodities, rents, and services.”
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TweetCongress: Happy Birthday Miami University
Miami University blows out the 200 candles this year, and Congress isn’t about to avoid marking the occasion.
Both the House and Senate this week passed resolutions honoring Miami on its 200th birthday. Miami, chartered Feb. 17, 1809, is the nation’s 10th oldest public institution of higher education.
In honor of its birthday, a few fun facts about Miami:
Former Poet Laureate Robert Frost once referred to Miami University as “the most beautiful college there is.”
It’s the birthplace of McGuffey Eclectic Readers.
It is known as the “Mother of Fraternities” and is the Alpha Chapter for five National Greek organizations: Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Chi, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Tau, and the Delta Zeta.
It is ranked forty-fourth amoung all schools for producing Peace Corps volunteers since the inception of the Peace Corps.
The resolutions were sponsored by all 18 members of Ohio House delegation as well as the state’s two U.S. senator. Also co-sponsoring was U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., a Miami grad.
Update: House Minority Leader John Boehner, who introduced this bill, has nine Miami grads working for him.
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TweetStrickland promises a balanced budget, no matter what
The federal stimulus package cuts short the amount of aid Ohio had been counting on to help balance its upcoming two-year state budget but exactly how much isn’t yet known, said Gov. Ted Strickland on Thursday, Feb. 22.
“I’m not totally pleased - I seldom am - but I’m thankful for what we are getting. I think it’ll go a long way toward helping us deal with this current economy,” Strickland told reporters.
Strickland said the last minute changes in the federal stimulus package will mean a shortfall for Ohio but he pledged that he will balance the budget and make every effort to protect education funding.
The governor sidestepped questions about whether drastic cuts will be needed or if he’ll ask state employees to take even steeper pay cuts.
“I’ll look at everything I need to look at in order to maintain a balanced budget,” he said.
Last week, the governor introduced a $54.7 billion, two-year operating budget that includes $3.4 billion in one-time federal economic stimulus money. Congress agreed to a compromise plan that calls for $790 billion to create jobs through spending programs and tax cuts. Roughly $5 billion of the $25 billion initially set aside as money for states was eliminated.
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TweetStrickland makes clemency decision
Gov. Ted Strickland said Thursday Feb. 12 that he has already made a decision on whether to grant clemency to Death Row inmate Jeffrey Hill who is scheduled to be executed March 3.
But the governor isn’t saying yet what his decision is. He said he’ll reveal his decision at an appropriate time.
Last week, the Ohio Parole Board unanimously recommended that Strickland grant clemency to Hill, who murdered his partially paralyzed mother in 1991. It also recommended that Hill, 44, be given the chance for parole 25 years after the crime.
The parole board said the following factors influenced its decision: Hill’s family, who is also the victim’s family, opposes his execution; Hill shows genuine remorse; his trial attorneys put on “minimal” testimony to convince the jury to spare his life. The board said Hill’s death sentence is “disproportionate” to other cases of matricide and patricide.
“The board does not consider this offense and offender the ‘worst of the worse’ as in other death penalty cases,” the board said in its report to Strickland.
On March 23, 1991, Hill, a crack cocaine addict, stabbed his 61-year-old mother 10 times after an argument, then stole $20 for drugs. He later returned to the bloody scene, smoked some crack in the bathroom and stole another $80.
In a death row interview with the Dayton Daily News, Hill said he didn’t know how to answer when a parole board member asked him whether he deserved clemency. “I told them this is something I’ll always deal with, knowing I took my mom’s life and the shame associated with it and everything else.”
The Ohio Parole Board has recommended clemency for a death row inmate only once before, in 2003, for Jerome Campbell, also of Hamilton County. In Campbell’s case, DNA testing shot holes in evidence that was used against him at trial. Then Gov. Bob Taft commuted Campbell’s sentence to life in prison.
Strickland commuted inmate John Spirko’s death sentence to life without parole in Jan. 2008.
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TweetOhio Supreme Court disbars Lebanon attorney
The Ohio Supreme Court permanently revoked the law license of Bernard S. Marshall Jr. of Lebanon. The court found that Marshall neglected legal matters, failed to do work after accepting retainer fees, and did not respond to authorities investigating the misconduct.
Marshall’s law license had been suspended two previous times for professional misconduct.
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TweetObama on “Buy America” provision: Let’s not start a trade war
President Barack Obama Wednesday said he had concerns about the “Buy America” provisions that the Senate put in its version of the stimulus bill last week, saying if such provisions are written in the wrong way, they can spark a trade war.
The provisions, pushed by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, would require all publicly-funded stimulus projects to use only materials produced in the United States. After criticism of a Senate version of the proposal last week, Brown inserted language reiterating that any “Buy America” provision would have to comply with current U.S. trade law.
Obama, in an interview with the Dayton Daily News and 15 other news organizations, said he was okay with that, but cautioned against adopting a stance that was too protectionist during tough economic times.
“If you look at the history of the Great Depression, when world GDP starts contracting, there is a strong urge, a strong bias on the part of every country to start shutting its doors to trade,” he said. “It’s a natural instinct. It can worsen the economic prospects for all countries.
“You start getting into a downward protectionist spiral that’s very dangerous, because just as there a lot of folks in Illinois or St. Louis or Missouri that are concerned about imports coming in, there’s probably an equal number of folks whose livelihoods depend on exports going out.”
He said he assumed now that work under the stimulus program would go to to competitive American companies, and said that should continue to be done.
“But if we start getting into a situation where sending signal that violates existing trade arrangements or starts a cascade of lawsuits in the World Trade Organization or sends a signal around the world that we’re not open for business, I think that can backfire.”
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TweetObama to auto industry: “Get me a plan that works”
President Barack Obama, speaking in a roundtable with the Dayton Daily News and 15 other regional papers Wednesday, said he’s monitoring the progress being made in the auto industry as it struggles to meet the terms of a federal bailout and stay out of bankruptcy.
Obama said a bankruptcy could be “disastrous” not just for states reliant on the auto industry but for the economy as a whole. GM and Chrysler will report on Feb. 17 on their progress justifying the $13.4 billion they’ve received in federal aid and ask for more. Ford Motor Co., meanwhile, has yet to ask for federal aid, but soon might.
Obama said the economic stimulus bill wending its way through Congress has “stuff” n it that might be helpful to the auto industry, but “I recognize that we’ve got a lot of short term stress in Detroit.”
He said he’s monitoring the progress being made in presenting a plan and “my goal consistently has been to offer serious help to the auto industry once a plan is in place that ensures long term viability.”
He said he believes any successful plan has to require everyone involved putting “some skin in the game,” including management, shareholders, creditors, dealers and workers.
“Everyone is going to have to make some short-term sacrifices in order to see some long-term benefits,” he said.
“If the plan presented to us is premised on 20 million in sales when we know that’s just not going to happen, we’re going to have to ask them to go back to the drawing board,” he said.
He said his main message to the auto industry would be “get me a plan that works.”
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TweetObama: We’ll increase force structure, but review other military priorities
President Barack Obama Wednesday urged against assuming that projected cuts in military spending have anything to do with the economic stimulus package wending its way through Congress.
In an interview with the Dayton Daily News and 15 other regional news outlets, Obama pinned the blame for projected military cuts to a deficit he inherited when he entered office.
He said the stimulus package is designed to be a “quick shot of spending” that could benefit some short-term projects such as energy-efficient Jeeps or a new Army barracks.
But longer term, he said, his administration will take a hard look at Defense spending. “In order to deal with this deficit that we’ve inherited and a doubling of the national debt over the last eight years, we then have to make some very difficult decisions about our medium and long term budget,” he said. “That would be true whether we were doing t his recovery plan or not. The trajectory was bad even before this recession. It was unsustainable even before this recession.”
He said he and Defense Secretary Robert Gates want to do “everything it takes” to keep the nation safe but “the best way for us to do that is to make clear choices about what is important, what are our priorities.”
He said one increase is certain: long-term, he plans to increase the force structure to provide relief to troops and their families.
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TweetAdministration presses state transportation officials on stimulus bill
As Congress worked to iron out differing House and Senate versions of the economic stimulus bill Wednesday, the Obama administration put on a full court press, inviting state transportation officials to Washington, D.C. to sell them on the merits of the bill. “The number one goal of this program is to put people to work,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a room full of state transportation officials, including Ohio Transportation Director Jolene Molitoris.
He said the bill’s goal is to get money out to the states to “get people working on infrastructure. The House version of the bill would give states 90 days to identify “shovel-ready” projects or lose that money and the Senate bill would give them 180 days.
LaHood, a former Republican House member, acknowledged criticism of the bill, but said the basic premise was the best answer that both conservative and liberal economists offered to preserve and create jobs.
“If any one of you had the chance to write the bill it would be different,” he said. “But we work in an environment of 535 legislators and an administration with one goal: to put people to work and to do it as quickly as we can.”
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TweetTurner , Voinovich targeted in radio ads
AFSCME and Americans United for Change are hoping to use the power of persuasion - as well as a one-minute radio ad - to get Sen. George Voinovich and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner to vote for the economic stimulus bill now wending its way through Congress.
Ads in the state are also targeting U.S. Reps. Steve LaTourette, R-Bainbridge and Pat Tiberi, R-Columbus. In all, the union is targeting 21 members of Congress, including 18 House members and three senators. They’ll also air a national TV ad urging support for the stimulus plan.
Turner, R-Centerville, and Voinovich, R-Ohio, both voted no for their chamber’s respective bills.
The one-minute radio ad targeted at lawmakers, called “Second Chance,” urges lawmakers to use their “second chance to get it right when it comes to our economic crisis.”
The ads will run at least through Friday. Congress is now ironing out differing versions of the bill and hopes to have a final version on the President’s desk by the end of the week.
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TweetSen. Brown: Some aid to state may be restored in federal stimulus
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said on Wednesday, Feb. 11, that he’s working to restore the aid to Ohio and other states that the Senate removed from the federal economic stimulus bill.
“I’ve asked for the money to be restored,” Brown said in a conference call with Ohio reporters. “…I don’t think we”ll get all of it. We may get some of it.”
Gov. Ted Strickland, Brown’s long-time friend and political ally, has sharply criticized the Senate cuts, which he said would include about $1 billion less for Ohio.
Strickland has counted on the money to balance his proposed $54.7 billion, two-year budget. Without it, the state would cut back on services to kids needing immunizations, mental health patients, diabetics, Alzheimer’s patients and others, Strickland has said. Also, college tuitions would go up and two prisons might have to be closed, Strickland has said.
Overall, Brown said the Senate stimulus plan still would provide about $7.9 billion overall to Ohio, including: tax relief for 4.2 million Ohioans; $3 billion for Medicaid; nearly $283 million for water and sewer projects; more than $914 million for highways and $203 million for mass transit.
A House-Senate conference committee is expected to begin trying to craft a compromise from separate stimulus plans approved by the U.S. House and Senate. The amount of federal aid in Strickland’s proposed state budget was based on the stimulus plan approved by the House.
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TweetSenate Republicans make jobs their top legislative priority
Ohio Senate Republicans have assigned top legislative billing to jobs.
Senate Bill 1 in the 128th General Assembly will be “Building Ohio Jobs,” a plan to allocate $340 million from last year’s state economic stimulus plan, the Senate GOP team announced on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
Republicans, who control the Senate, announced their legislative priorities a day after House Democrats announced theirs.
All top five Senate bills will focus on jobs, Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, said in a press release.
“We fundamentally believe that the cure for many of our states’s greatest challenges is not to increase the size of government, but to do everything we can to encourage a stronger economy and more good-paying jobs in Ohio,” Harris said.
Here’s a list of the top five bills provided by Senate Republicans:
SB 1 - Building Ohio Jobs - Part II, sponsored by Senator Jim Hughes (R-Columbus)
Last year, Senate Republicans worked with the Governor on a bipartisan economic stimulus package to identify and invest targeted resources in new industries with tremendous in-state potential, like alternative energy, logistics, biomedical science and biosciences (modern materials made from agricultural crops); and to reinvest in our infrastructure and our workforce. Senate Bill 1 will allocate the remaining $340 million for fiscal years 2010-11.
SB 2 -Blueprint for Federal Infrastructure Funding, sponsored by Senator John Carey (R-Wellston)
Through the pending American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Ohio is expected to receive significant federal infrastructure funding in coming months and must have a plan in place to ensure the funding gets into the economic stream quickly. To expedite the process and provide an open, transparent forum for the public to both scrutinize and weigh in on the plan, Senate Bill 2 will be reserved for the state’s spending blueprint. The amount of funding Ohio will receive and the guidelines for how the money can be spent are still moving targets; however, the goal of Senators is to invest these funds in both short-term and long-term economic development strategies and to make progress on projects that have already been identified as priorities. Further, by using established processes, like the Public Works Commission, the Transportation Review Advisory Council, the School Facilities Commission, will not only be more expedient, but it ensures there will be geographic diversity in the allocation of funds and most importantly, accountability to taxpayers. The bill introduced today is only intended to addresses spending for federal infrastructure dollars, not other federal support that will be allocated as part of the state budget bill.
SB 3 - Small Business Empowerment Act, sponsored by Senator Keith Faber (R-Celina)
The Small Business Empowerment Act is based on the recommendations of the Regulatory Reform Task Force, which held eight public meetings around the state to help identify areas where Ohio can break down barriers that have been impediments to job creation and economic revitalization. The bill would require regulatory agencies to take a wholesale look at regulations from an economic standpoint — eliminating regulatory duplication, making adjustments when the cost of compliance exceeds the benefit of the regulation and ensuring fees and fines are in line with the actual cost of enforcement, rather than arbitrarily generating funds for the agency. Agencies would be required to submit reports demonstrating efforts to meet these goals to a Small Business Ombudsman housed at the Department of Development’s Office of Small Business. The Small Business Empowerment Act would also provide a forum for businesses and the general public to air objections to regulatory rules and work with agencies to ensure they are not overly burdensome through a new Small Business Regulatory Review Board.
SB 4 - Performance Audits of Regulatory Agencies, sponsored by Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster)
Senate Bill 4 also seeks to improve Ohio’s regulatory climate for jobs by requiring the Auditor of State to conduct performance audits of key regulatory agencies and their progress in promoting common sense business regulation. Performance audits would be required for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
“While we encourage agencies to constantly evaluate themselves on promoting increased customer service and common sense regulation, a performance audit will provide agencies an independent progress report and constructive suggestions for improvement, while holding them more accountable for meeting our shared goal of creating an environment for jobs in Ohio,” Senator Schaffer said.
SB 5 - Grants for Grads, sponsored by Senator Steve Buehrer (R-Delta)
In an effort to incentivize Ohio’s best and brightest to stay, or come back to Ohio after graduation and give a needed boost to Ohio’s struggling housing market, Senate Bill 5 would create a $2 million annual grant program to provide recent college graduates down payment assistance on the purchase of a home in Ohio. Within 60 days of graduation, Ohio residents who graduate from schools, both in-state and out of state, would register to be entered into a lottery that would provide a total of 300 applicants down-payment assistance grants. Awards would range from $2,500 to $10,000, depending on the level of degree the graduate has earned. Those selected would be given one year to use the grant toward the purchase of a home anywhere in Ohio and must agree to reside in the state for no less than five years following graduation.
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TweetKasich announces 88-county leadership team
Former U.S. Rep. John Kasich isn’t officially in the 2010 governor’s race yet but the Columbus-area Republican appears to be gearing up for the statewide run.
On Tuesday, Feb. 10, Kasich announced that he’s formed an 88-county leadership team for Recharge Ohio, his statewide political action committee. Among the members are Montgomery County Republican Chairman Greg Gantt and state Rep. Jarrod Martin, R-Beavercreek.
For a full list, click here.
Kasich’s announcement comes a week after state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls, announced that he’s running for governor.
In a press release, Kasich said “Ohio’s economy is in a death spiral.”
“As I travel across the state and speak to the people of Ohio, there is a clear desire for solutions and leadership, and not one-time fixes with federal bailout money for our state’s economy,” Kasich said in the release.
“The Recharge Ohio leadership team will be working to engage these citizens to make their voices heard- only a path to a pro-job growth environment for our state will be acceptable.”
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TweetSenate passes $838 billion stimulus bill; Voino’s a no, Brown’s a yes
The U.S. Senate Tuesday, Feb. 10, passed its version of the economic stimulus bill 61-37. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, along with 36 other Republicans, opposed the bill. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and all other Democrats, as well as Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, voted yes.
Differing versions of the House and Senate bill now must be worked out before it can be sent to President Obama for final passage.
Here’s Brown’s take on the bill:
“This isn’t a perfect bill, but it is a significant step toward reversing eight years of Iraq war policy and tax cuts for the wealthy that starved our nation’s infrastructure and broke state and local budgets. We need to rebuild our economy, put Americans back to work, and provide tax relief to middle class families. Nobody wanted to have to spend this money, but inaction is not an option while our nation is hemorrhaging jobs. This bill is about putting our nation back on track.”
UPDATE: Here’s Voinovich on the bill:
“I keenly understand that Ohioans are hurting and our nation needs an economic shot in the arm. I worked towards and was prepared to support a package that put people back to work, injected needed capital into our economy and provided a safety net for families who the recession hit the hardest.
“I voted against this bill because it is weighed down by too much spending that is not stimulative and will not provide the jump-start our economy so desperately needs. Instead of funding federal responsibilities that are shovel-ready, like highways, sewers and housing, which would put people back to work quickly and the results of which would contribute to our nation’s economic growth, this bill is filled with items that should be funded through the regular appropriations process and compete with other federal priorities in President Obama’s budget request.
“Our nation is facing a catastrophic debt and this bill simply adds to that debt without fulfilling the well-accepted stimulus criteria that the funds be timely, targeted and temporary.”
And here’s House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester on the bill:
“The fact is, this trillion-dollar spending plan is not much different than the one House Democrats passed two weeks ago. It is more costly, is loaded with slow-moving Washington spending, opens the door to scores of pet projects that taxpayers cannot afford, and is not focused on creating more jobs for families and small businesses. Even worse, its authors are trying to take advantage of the crisis in our economy to enact a series of liberal policy proposals that have nothing to do with job creation, such as reversing welfare reform and letting government ration out health care options to America families and seniors “
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TweetFisher launches exploratory committee
Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher Monday, Feb. 9, filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to launch an exploratory committee to run for the U.S. Senate.
Fisher, a Democrat, hopes to replace U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who is retiring at the end of 2010.
The committee doesn’t signal that Fisher is definitely in the race, but will allow him to talk to potential supporters, according to Lauren Goode, a spokeswoman. It’ll also allow him to determine whether he’d be “an effective partner with Gov. Ted Strickland and Sen. Sherrod Brown in turning around Ohio’s economy,” she said.
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TweetGov. Strickland: Cuts in state aid in stimulus plan would be “devastating”
Gov. Ted Strickland on Monday, Feb. 9, told Ohio’s congressional delegation that cuts of more than $25 billion in aid to states and local governments in the federal stimulus plan would have a “devastating impact.”
Strickland’s letter to the delegation came as the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Feb. 10, is expected to vote on a stimulus plan with the $25 billion reduction in state general government assistance from what was in the House-passed stimulus plan.
“Put simply, without substantial fiscal relief for states, more Ohioans will lose jobs and fewer Ohioans will have access to the critical services that our state and local communities provide,” Strickland said in the letter.
Earlier on Monday, Federal Funds Information for States released an analysis that showed Ohio would get more than $1.2 billion less in the U.S. Senate version than it would have received in the House plan.
The reduction would cause problems for Strickland’s proposed state budget. Strickland has included an anticipated $3.4 billion in the proposed state budget.
In Washington, Dayton Daily News correspondent Jessica Wehrman reported that Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, plans to vote against the stimulus plan - he also opposed the House version - while Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, plans to vote for it, with the hope of making improvements.
Here’s Strickland’s letter and his analysis of the impact the Senate version cuts would have:
Monday, February 9, 2009
Members of the Ohio Congressional Delegation:
I write to inform you of the devastating impact the “compromise amendment” the U.S. Senate is considering over the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will have on the citizens of Ohio if passed and if agreed to in a subsequent conference committee.
The Senate compromise amendment cuts more than $25 billion in stimulus resources that are targeted to states and local communities in the House-passed version of the bill.
These purposeful investments will make certain that as the broader stimulus resources flow into our cities and towns to create new jobs, the economic gains are not weakened by more layoffs and a deterioration of the education, health and safety services that Ohioans rely upon every day.
State spending is perhaps the most efficient way to ensure that the stimulus resources flow quickly into local economies where they will have the greatest impact. In Ohio, for example, a full 88 cents of every revenue dollar is spent in local cities and towns.
Though the Ohio General Assembly will not begin budget deliberations until later this week, the executive version of the state operating budget does plan for the use of federal stimulus resources in important ways. Without these stimulus resources, cuts to the following services are likely: higher education, which will lead to tuition increases; mental health and mental retardation board subsidies; job and family services child care programs; public health and safety services; rehabilitation and corrections institutional operations; youth services; Alzheimer’s respite care; and a diminished capacity to protect our state natural resources
Put simply, without substantial fiscal relief for states, more Ohioans will lose jobs and fewer Ohioans will have access to the critical services that our state and local communities provide. (A brief outline of potential impacts of the cut is attached). Those negative consequences will undermine the very purpose of the bill by slowing the stimulative effects of the infrastructure investments and tax cuts.
As an elected official, I believe that fiscal restraint and taxpayer accountability are fundamental responsibilities rightly demanded by the people we serve. They deserve nothingless. Yet nearly all economists agree that substantial federal spending is necessary today to avoid the dangers of deflation and to stimulate a stagnant national economy. And while this bill is too important to Ohio’s well-being to include federal “pork” projects, a robust and comprehensive stimulus that includes state fiscal relief will create and save jobs while also protecting the vital services Ohioans need.
I remain convinced that on the other side of the many challenges before us today are the opportunities that will strengthen Ohio for generations to come.
That’s why I am calling on all of Ohio’s state and local leaders, members of the faith community, the education, business and labor communities and the health and human services communities, to join in advocating on behalf of Ohio. Working together, we can secure Ohio’s long-term growth and progress by preventing a loss of invaluable resources that, if restored, will also create and save jobs today.
Ted Strickland, Governor
Impact of the $25 Billion State General Government Assistance Cut in the Senate Version of the Economic Recovery Bill
Cuts in State General Government Aid are Cuts:
To health and safety programs that put more Ohioans at risk
That would result in more than 9,000 jobs lost, further depressing the economy
That undercut the stimulative effects of infrastructure and other spending in the bill
If the $25 billion in state general government aid is not restored to the economic recovery bill, Ohio could experience:
Basic Needs
Fewer Ohioans would have access to basic need services such as emergency shelter, food, transportation, clothing, food stamps and Medicaid.
Health Care
Public health funding would be cut, resulting in the loss of service for 7,000 infants needing immunizations, 4,000 clinical visits for uninsured Ohioans, and 15,000 people managing diabetes.
Child Care
Child care provider rates would be reduced by 10% or coverage for 8,000 children will be eliminated.
Behavioral Health and Services to Ohioans with Disabilities
Potential loss of 8,500 jobs.
32,655 Ohioans would not receive drug and alcohol addiction services and 130 public employee jobs will be eliminated.
51,530 (or 16%) fewer Ohioans would receive mental health services, including abused and neglected children, individuals with bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia, mothers with maternal depression, and people despondent over job loss.
The elimination of these mental health services would result in 5,200 to 6,500 jobs being cut. If state assistance is restored, 780 jobs could be created.
The Ohio Department of MR/DD provides services to over 71,000 people. Without the stimulus there would be a 34% reduction in county funding and the potential loss of 2,000 jobs.
Higher Education
- Without stimulus, over 40% of Ohio’s college students would have to pay increased tuition instead of the current freeze proposed in the state budget.
Seniors
- Alzheimer’s respite care for 1,652 families would be eliminated; and 20 to 30 respite workers will lose their jobs.
Youth Services and Corrections
Potential loss of 700 additional jobs
17,000 youth would not receive services, and more than 300 jobs in the Ohio Department of Youth Services would be impacted.
500 jobs would be cut in the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, above the current targeted 500 positions for reduction, for a total of approximately 1,000 positions.
Two medium-size correctional facilities could be closed.
Inmate programming would be eliminated or several reduced, altering rehabilitative opportunities and creating a negative impact on reentry of returning citizens.
Deterioration of conditions of confinement increasing potential security and legal liabilities.
Natural Resources
- Cuts would diminish essential regulatory functions that protect health and safety of all Ohioans, including dam inspections and dam rehabilitation projects.
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TweetVets’ bonuses get top legislative billing
The Democrats who run the Ohio House and the Republicans who control the Ohio Senate agree on one thing:
Putting an issue on the November ballot that asks voters to approve bonuses for veterans of the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War and the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan is a top priority of the new legislative session.
House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, said at a press conference on Monday, Feb. 9, that veterans’ bonuses proposal will be the “first” legislation the House attempts to move.
In the Senate, spokeswoman Maggie Ostrowski said Sen. Tim Grendell, R-Chesterland, already is preparing a resolution calling for the ballot proposal. The proposal is for a constitutional amendment to issue bonds to pay for the bonuses.
Gov. Ted Strickland last year vetoed legislation that called for using the state’s “rainy day” fund to pay for the bonuses. Strickland has said he supports a bond proposal.
The Senate last year approved putting a vets’ bonus proposal on the ballot but then House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, now a state senator, opposed borrowing money by issuing bonds. The Senate and House then agreed on using the “rainy day fund” for the bonuses.
The ballot proposal is expected to call for providing up to $100 a month - up to a maximum of $1,000 - for veterans who served in the conflicts and bonuses of $50 a month - up to a maximum of $500 - for veterans who served elsewhere during the conflicts.
At a press conference, Speaker Budish also outlined other priorities for House Democrats. Strickland’s proposed state budget will be House Bill 1, Budish said.
Other priority bills:
*Home Foreclosure Prevention - would protect homeowners by establishing longer notification requirements and providing alternatives to eviction such as renting until home is sold.
*Distance Learning Initiative- would require several education agencies to provide three AP course through teleconferencing to all public high schools in the state. Cost of state of the art equipment to schools without it would be $6 billion.
*Autism parity - would prohibit insurance companies from excluding coverage for Autism.
*Credit card marketing - would ban credit card companies from marketing activities at Ohio public colleges and universities.
*Transition accounts - would cap contributions to officeholders-elect to statewide offices. Cap would be $10,000 per individual contribution to governor-elect and $2,500 per individual to other statewide officials-elect.
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TweetAnalysis: Ohio loses $1.2 billion under U.S. Senate version of stimulus
Ohio would lose more than $1.2 billion in federal aid under the U.S. Senate’s version of the economic stimulus plan working its way through Congress, compared to what was in the version already passed by the U.S. House, a new analysis shows.
If the U.S. Senate version holds up, the loss could make coming up with a balanced state budget even tougher for Gov. Ted Strickland and state legislators. The $54.7 billion, two-year budget Strickland has proposed anticipates the use of $3.4 billion in federal aid.
The $1.2 billion gap for Ohio was included Monday, Feb. 9, in a state-by-state analysis of the U.S. Senate plan done by Federal Funds Information for States, a joint subscription service of the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures.
State Rep. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, chairman of the Ohio House Finance Committee, said the federal aid in Strickland’s proposed budget was based on the U.S. House version of the federal stimulus plan. Sykes said he had not seen the new analysis. His committee is to start hearing on the state budget on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on Tuesday, Feb. 10, on the stimulus plan. President Barack Obama and Democratic congressional leaders have said they would like Obama to sign a stimulus bill by Monday, Feb. 16.
The analysis examines the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund that is part of the stimulus package. The U.S. House version included $1,454,866,000 for education and $930,160,000 for general purpose spending from the stabilization fund, the analysis said. The Senate version includes $1,161,292,000 for education and none for general purpose spending, the analysis said.
The U.S. Senate version emerged after three Republicans - Olympia Snow and Susan Collins of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania - agreed to join Democrats in supporting it.
The Senate plan has a greater emphasis on tax cuts while the house version provides more money to states, local governments and schools, according to the Associated Press.
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TweetBoehner’s in Iraq
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, is in Iraq.
He’s leading a six-member delegation of Republicans one week after provincial elections in Iraq and meeting with President Jalal Talabani, Ambassador Ryan Crocker and current Commanding General of Multi-National Force Iraq Raymond Odierno.
Along with him on the trip are Republican Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., Armed Services Committee Ranking Member John McHugh, R-N.Y., Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., and Reps. Tom Latham, R-Ia., and Jo Bonner, R-Ala.
“As stability in the region increases, it is imperative that officials in Washington listen to our commanders on the ground on how best to complete our mission while also ensuring the safety and success of our military forces,” Boehner said.
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TweetStrickland names chairmen for PUCO, Civil Right Commission
Gov. Ted Strickland on Friday, Feb. 6, reappointed Alan Schriber of Cincinnati as chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and appointed Eddie Harrell, Jr., of Columbus, as chairman of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.
Schriber has served as PUCO chairman since 1999 and also was on the commission from 1983-1989. The PUCO regulates electric, telephone and natural gas companies in Ohio and oversees hazardous-materials carriers and railroad crossings. His current salary is $109,595 and his new appointment is for a five-year term ending in 2014.
Harrell has served as president and CEO of the Columbus Urban League since 2006. The Civil Rights Commission adopts rules and regulations aimed at better enforcement of Ohio’s civil rights laws. It also reviews and, if necessary, takes court action against discrimination in housing, public accommodations and employment and in cases involving union activities. His salary will be $57,824 a year and his term will expire in 2012.
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TweetHusted to lead new government oversight committee
Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, is in the cat bird’s seat to keep an eye on Democratic Ted Strickland’s administration. That’s not a bad place to be for somebody considering a run for statewide office in 2010.
On Thursday, Feb. 5, Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, appointed Husted chairman of the new Senate Committee on Government Oversight.
In making the appointment, Harris pointed to “recent and costly scandals at the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Attorney General’s office.”
“Ohioans are sick and tired of hearing about corruption and waste,” Harris said in a press release. “How can they even begin to trust that government is working for their best interests when they hear about government employees who are putting their own self interests first?”
Three other Dayton-area senators also were named committee chairmen - Chris Widener, R-Springfield, Energy and Public Utilities; Gary Cates, R-West Chester, Education and Robert Schuler, R-Sycamore Twp., Reference.
Other committee assignments for Dayton-area senators.
Husted - Education; Energy and Public Utilities; Rules.
Cates - Environment and Natural Resources; Finance; Highways and Transportation.
Widener - Finance; Insurance, Commerce and Labor; Ways and Means and Economic Development.
Schuler - Rules; Ways and Means and Economic Development.
Keith Faber, R-Celina - Agriculture; Finance; Government Oversight; Rules.
Tom Roberts, D-Dayton - Ranking member, Ways and Means and Economic Development; Education; Agriculture.
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TweetOhio voters like Obama, doubt stimulus will help them
Ohio voters’ honeymoon with President Barack Obama continues but a slim majority of those voters don’t think the economic stimulus plan will help their personal financial situations.
Those are key results of a Quinnipiac University poll released on Friday, Feb. 6. For full results, click here.
Obama carried Ohio in last year’s presidential election and in the poll 67 percent of the voters approved of how he’s handling his new job, while just 16 percent disapproved.
Fifty-one percent of voters said the stimulus plan won’t help them personally, while 42 percent said it would. Despite doubts about how they’d personally benefit, 57 percent supported the stimulus plan, now before the U.S. Senate, and 32 percent opposed it.
Here’s your chance to get in the debate over the stimulus.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]Obama got good marks from both Democrats and independents, but not so much from Republicans. His approval-disapproval ratings with these groups:
Democrats, 90-1 percent
Republicans, 31-42 percent
Independents, 72-12 percent
“When a politician’s approval rating among independent voters is 72-12 percent, he’s riding the wave,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute, said in a press release. “When and if it crests, only time will tell.”
The poll was taken Thursday, Jan. 29 through Monday, Feb. 2, with 1,127 voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
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TweetStrickland to make PUCO appointment
Gov. Ted Strickland has 30 days to name his pick for chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, one of the most powerful appointed slots in state government.
The PUCO Nominating Council gave Strickland four names to choose from: current chairman Alan Schriber, PUCO Chief of Staff Steve Lesser, PUCO transportation director Robert Marvin, or utilities attorney Andrew Sonderman.
If Strickland doesn’t like anyone on the list, he can ask the PUCO Nominating Council for a new set of four names.
Strickland’s nominee is subject to confirmation by the Ohio Senate.
The PUCO regulates electric, telephone and natural gas companies in Ohio and oversees hazardous-materials carriers and railroad crossings. The chairman’s new term five-year starts in April.
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TweetOhio schools plan carries corporal punishment ban
Gov. Ted Strickland’s budget bill will contain a statewide ban on corporal punishment in schools, according to the Associated Press.
Strickland’s education policy adviser, John Stanford, said during a Thursday press briefing that the administration views the change as key to creating ideal learning environments for Ohio children.
The proposal will be part of sweeping education reforms the governor announced during his recent State of the State speech.
According to the Center for Effective Discipline, Ohio passed a limited ban in 1994 that prohibits spanking and other forms of physical discipline unless a school board follows several procedures before voting to allow it. Parents in those districts may refuse to have their children paddled.
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TweetCordray donor banned from Franklin County list
The Franklin County Treasurer’s office removed Wachovia Securities bond trader Montford Will from its approved trader list until questions about Will’s campaign contributions are clear up, said spokeswoman Lillian Williams.
There is a complaint pending before the Ohio Elections Commission stemming from a $10,000 contribution to Democrat Richard Cordray’s campaign account in the name of Lindsey Kuty, a sports agent. Kuty is Will’s stepdaughter. Will told the Dayton Daily News in October that the money came from Kuty’s mother, not Kuty. It’s illegal to give campaign money in someone else’s name.
When Cordray learned of this from the Dayton Daily News, he gave the money back. The news reports prompted Franklin County Treasurer Ed Leonard, a Democrat, to review his campaign donors and when he found a $3,000 contribution from Kuty, he returned it, said Don Spicer, Leonard’s political consultant.
The Elections Commission has yet to schedule a hearing on the complaint against Will.
Cordray has since moved from state treasurer to state attorney general.
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TweetDann aide case to go to prosecutor
The Ohio Elections Commission on Thursday Feb. 5 is expected to refer its case against Tony Gutierrez to the Franklin County prosecutor’s office.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien and Gutierrez both requested the move.
The Ohio Ethics Commission and state Inspector General’s office already referred misdemeanor and felony complaints to O’Brien’s office. Once the Elections Commission sends its case to the prosecutor, O’Brien can deal with all the issues at once.
Former attorney general Marc Dann, a Youngstown area Democrat, hired Gutierrez, his neighbor and friend, to over see purchasing, fleet management and other general services. But Gutierrez ran into trouble when he damaged state vehicles, admitted to driving state cars after drinking, and was accused of sexually harassing two junior staffers. The state inspector general accused Gutierrez of using Dann’s campaign funds to pay off some business debts.
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TweetStrickland sitting pretty with voters
Ohio voters support Gov. Ted Strickland and most of his education plan, including adding 20 days to the school calendar, going to an all-day kindergarten, and making teachers work longer before they can get tenure, according to a new poll released Thursday, Feb. 5.
Quinnipiac University’s latest poll found Strickland has a 63 percent job approval rating, up from 54 percent in early December, and that he is a good position to win re-election in 2010.
In hypothetical match-ups against Republicans John Kasich and Mike DeWine, Strickland beats by 30 percent and 22 percent, respectively.
The poll found that voters support 51 -42 percent increasing the school year to 200 days but oppose 56 - 36 percent lengthening the school day. Two-thirds of voters also want to keep the Ohio Graduation Test, something Strickland wants to scrap. Sixty-two percent favor requiring all-day kindergarten and 64 percent support requiring teachers to work nine years before they are eligible for tenure, instead of the current three-year requirement, the poll found.
Voters are skeptical that Strickland will be able to hold the line on taxes. Sixty-nine percent of Ohioans think they’ll wind up paying more taxes.
“Gov. Ted Strickland has a selling job to do on the graduation test, because voters indicate they like the current graduation requirements or want a tougher standard,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “And despite the governor’s promises, they don’t believe that all these changes aren’t going to hit them in the pocketbook.”
The poll surveyed 1,127 Ohio voters Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
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TweetSenate adopts Brown “Buy America” amendment
The U.S. Senate, currently debating the nearly $900 billion economic stimulus bill, Wednesday, Feb. 4, adopted an amendment introduced by Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. and Max Baucus, D-Montana that ensured that any “Buy America” provisions will comply with international trade agreements.
The amendment seeks to answer critics of provisions in the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill that require publicly-funded stimulus projects to use U.S.-made materials.
The House version requires stimulus projects use only iron and steel produced in the United States. The Senate version could include material including concrete and plastic as well as other raw materials.
The “Buy America” provisions have been controversial in part because critics worry they would violate international trade agreements. On Tuesday, Larry Summers, a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, expressed concern that such an amendment might break “international commitments.”
But Brown’s amendment sought to assuage those worries. “This vote affirms that ‘Buy America’ provisions do not violate trade laws,” Brown said after the vote. “It affirms that when we can, we should use U.S. tax dollars to create U.S. jobs.”
Their amendment clarifies that “Buy America” provisions “shall be applied in a manner consistent with Untied States obligations under international trade agreements.”
The amendment passed by a voice vote; an amendment introduced afterward by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would strip the “Buy America” provision from the bill failed.
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TweetFour local reps named to Ohio House Finance Committee
With state budget deliberations just about to get started, four Ohio House members from the Dayton area have landed positions on the powerful Finance Committee. The committee will get first crack at the budget.
The four are: Clayton Luckie, D-Dayton and Republicans Seth Morgan of Huber Heights, Ross McGregor of Springfield and Ron Maag of Lebanon. Morgan will be the ranking - top - Republican on the Primary Education Subcommittee of the Finance Committee. McGregor will be ranking member on the Transportation Subcommittee of the Finance Committee.
Rep. Vernon Sykes, a veteran Democrat from Akron, will be Finance Committee chairman. He is the first black House member to lead the influential committee.
“I am honored and grateful to be chosen for this significant position,” Sykes said in a press release. “These are tough and unique times in Ohio, and I feel confident that I can use my substantial and varied experience to assist our state in working towards greater strength and prosperity.”
House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, and Minority Leader William Batchelder, R-Medina, announced committee assignments on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
Other committee assignments for local House members:
Rep. Morgan
Education, Faith-based Initiatives, Elections and Ethics
Rep. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering
Ranking member, Aging and Disability Services,Environment and Brownfield Development, Health Access and Affordability
Rep. Terry Blair, R-Washington Twp.
Ranking member, Local Government and Public Administration, Housing and Urban Revitalization, Ways and Means
Rep. Luckie
Vice-Chairman, Education; Local Government and Public Administration
Rep. Roland Winburn, D-Harrison Twp.
Vice-Chairman, Ways and Means, Environment and Brownfield Development, Health
Rep. Maag
Ranking member, Environment and Brownfield Development, Ways and Means, Alternative Energy
Rep. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro
Ranking member, Consumer and Economic Protection, Financial Institutions, Real Estate and Securities
Rep. Jarrod Martin, R-Beavercreek
Alternative Energy, Education, Elections and Ethics, Economic Development
Rep. Robert Hackett, R-London
Elections and Ethics, Health Access and Affordability, Financial Institutions, Real Estate and Securities, Insurance, Consumer and Economic Protection
Rep. McGregor
Health Access and Affordability, Insurance
Rep. Richard Adams, R-Concord Twp.
Agriculture and Natural Resources, Education, Elections and Ethics
Rep. Jim Zehringer, R-Fort Recovery
Agriculture and Natural Resources, Commerce and Labor, Financial Institutions, Real Estate and Securities
Rep. Cliff Hite, R-Findlay
Education, State Government, Consumer and Economic Protection
Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney
Commerce and Labor, Insurance, Rules and Reference, Veterans Affairs
Rep. Timothy Derickson, R-Hanover Twp.
Agriculture and Natural Resources, Faith-based Initiatives, Financial Institutions, Real Estate and Securities, Local Government and Public Administration, Public Safety and Homeland Security
Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton
Ranking member, Transportation and Infrastructure, Public Utilities, Veterans Affairs, Health
Rep. Bill Coley, R-Liberty Twp.
Ranking member, Criminal Justice, Judiciary, Consumer and Economic Protection
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TweetBrunner leads Husted in possible secretary of state race
In a possible 2010 matchup that could determine which party draws new state legislative districts, incumbent Democrat Jennifer Brunner leads state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, for secretary of state.
A Quinnipiac University poll release on Wednesday, Feb. 4, showed Brunner ahead, 42-25 percent, with 31 percent undecided. See full results here.
Here’s your chance to make a choice in the possible race.
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Brunner also is considering a run for the U.S. Senate and in the same poll was virtually tied with Fisher among possible Democratic candidates.
Husted, former Ohio House Speaker, has said he might run for secretary of state or treasurer in 2010. He has close ties to new Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine who has touted Husted as a strong candidate for statewide office.
The secretary of state holds one of the five seats on the Apportionment Board, a little-known but important state agency that draws up new legislative districts after each 10-year census report. Republicans controlled the board after the 1990 and 2000 censuses.
Also on the board, are the governor, state auditor and a member of the legislature from each party. The board will draw new state legislative districts after the 2010 census.
Right now Democrats hold the upper hand, with Brunner and Gov. Ted Strickland. Auditor Mary Taylor is a Republican who, like Brunner, is considering a run for the U.S. Senate in 2010.
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TweetDems look stronger in early U.S. Senate poll
It’s early but Democrats appear to have the upper hand in a Quinnipiac University poll that takes a look at the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Ohio.
In possible matchups, Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, also state development director, leads former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman, a Republican, 42-27 percent, with 29 percent undecided. Also, Fisher tops Republican state Auditor Mary Taylor, 41-27 percent.
The poll was released Wednesday, Feb. 4. It came just a day after Gov. Ted Strickland, while in Dayton promoting his school plan, told Dayton Daily News editorial writer Martin Gottlieb that Fisher was the “best qualified” among the Democrats seeking the nomination. Read Gottlieb’s post on Strickland’s comments.
Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner also leads Portman and Taylor in the poll. For full results, click here. In a possible battle for the GOP nomination, Portman, from suburban Cincinnati, tops Taylor, 33-11 percent.
Among Democrats, the race is tighter. Fisher gets 18 percent, Brunner takes 16 percent and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, gets 14 percent. Fifty three percent didn’t know or had no answer.
“Ohio remains pretty blue these days, given Gov. Ted Strickland’s high approval ratings in past polls and the fact that President Barack Obama carried the state easily, and it shows in the early Senate numbers,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Universit Polling Institute, said in a press release.
“But Republicans should not be disheartened by these numbers. We are still in the Obama honeymoon period and both Fisher and Brunner are known almost twice as well statewide as Portman and Taylor.”
Of the candidates in the poll, only Portman has officially launched a campaign.
While Fisher runs strong against possible GOP opponents, he is relatively unknown to voters, the poll found. A third of voters viewed him favorably, while 10 percent had an unfavorable view and 55 percent didn’t know enough to have an opinion.
Portman, a former trade representative and budget director in the Bush administration, isn’t known well outside the Cincinnati-area district he once served. Twenty-one percent of voters viewed him favorably, 6 percent were unfavorable and nearly three-fourths - 72 percent- didn’t know enough to have an opinion.
The poll was taken Friday, Jan. 29-Tuesday, Feb. 2 with 1,127 Ohio voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
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TweetPortman’s new campaign manager
Former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman has hired a veteran Ohio Republican political hand to manage his U.S. Senate campaign.
Bob Paduchik, who was Ohio campaign manager for President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election, was tapped to lead Portman’s Senate bid. Paduchik was also the Ohio executive director for Bush-Cheney 2000, and worked on a handful of gubernatorial and congressional campaigns.
Portman, in an interview, said he’s thrilled to have him on board.
“He has a reputation as being a solid, nuts and bolts campaign manager who leaves no stone unturned,” he said. “But he’s also a person of high integrity who people across the state like and respect. That’s rare in politics these days.”
Portman called his new campaign manager one of the best political strategists in the state.
Portman, who also served as the U.S. Trade Representative and the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, is the sole Republican to have announced they’re running for the seat currently held by U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who is retiring. The Democrat field is also still taking shape.
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TweetWhite House iffy on “Buy America” proposal
A top economic adviser to President Barack Obama Tuesday pooh-poohed a provision in the economic stimulus bills that would force companies getting stimulus dollars to use American-made goods for the infrastructure funded by the bill.
“The president has been very clear that he wants this to be a bill a bill that supports the American economy,” said Larry Summers, a top Obama economic adviser, Feb. 3. “But at the same time this bill is not going to be an excuse for America breaking its international commitments or embracing any new kind of protectionism.”
At issue are provisions in both the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill. In the House, the bill would require all public projects funded by the bill use only iron and steel produced in the United States. In the Senate, the provision is still being developed, but Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, one of the main backers of the provision, said it could include materials such as concrete and plastic as well. A version of the House provision was passed in 1982, but would be extended if their version of the bill becomes law.
Both provisions have become a sticking point for critics who worry that such a provision will violate U.S. trade laws and represent a return to protectionist trade policy that has ultimately hurt the global economy in the past.
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TweetMcLin to give State of the City address on Feb. 11
Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin will give her annual State of the City address at City Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
The event starts at 8:30 a.m. and is open to the public. Parking will be validated for the Municipal Parking Garage located next to City Hall, 101 W. Third Street.
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TweetStrickland rolls out state budget
Gov. Ted Strickland’s proposed budget calls on state employees to take pay cuts of 3 to 5 percent, increases funding for prisons and juvenile corrections, offers Medicaid to children in families of four making up to $66,150 a year, and freezes tuition at four-year public colleges for the 2009-2010 school year and freezes tuition at community colleges through the 2010-2011 school year.
Budget officials are due to brief reporters on the budget at 11 a.m. Monday.
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TweetBrown’s mother has died
Sen. Sherrod Brown’s mother, Emily, has died, his office confirmed Monday, Feb. 2.
Emily Brown, a Georgia native, and the mother of three sons, was 88. She had been ill for at least the past month. Brown, D-Ohio, was in Ohio when she died.
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