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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Brown amendment on tobacco mints included in Senate bill
A bill that would give the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco products now includes an amendment by Sen. Sherrod Brown aimed at cracking down on “tobacco candy” being marketed in Ohio and two other states.
Brown, D-Ohio, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced a provision that would require the new Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee to immediately study the public health effects of “tobacco candy” and report to the Food and Drug Administration on its findings.
Their recommendations would be hoped to give the FDA the necessary information to act promptly on the public health impact of the products, particularly risks pertaining to children.
R.J. Reynolds has been marketing “Camel Orbs” in Columbus, Portland, Ore. and in Indiana. The “Orbs,” are sold in containers resembling cell phones and are smokeless and dissolvable.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted to include the measure in its bill today and is expected to finish work on the bill in the next few days. The overall bill could be on the Senate floor within weeks.
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TweetHorsemen rally for slots at Statehouse
State Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, fired up backers of slot machines for Ohio racetracks on Tuesday, May 19, at a Statehouse rally with this call to Gov. Ted Strickland:
“Governor, get off your moral high horse and get on a thoroughbred. Get behind that sulky on a good Ohio harness -bred.”
Strickland, contacted later, wasn’t moved by Seitz:
“I do not believe this is the right way to deal with our budget or try to fund education.”
The rally was in support of a proposal by the Ohio State Racing Commission to put 14,000 slot machines at the state’s seven racetracks to help save the struggling racing industry and provide hundreds of millions of dollars for Ohio schools.
Neither Strickland nor legislative leaders have endorsed the plan.
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TweetVoinovich is big in Latvia
Here’s Sen. George Voinovich accepting the Order of the Three Stars from Latvian President Valdis Zatlers last week. The award is Latvia’s highest state honor, and Zatlers gave it to Voinovich for his “outstanding civil merit” in the service of Latvia, according to a release.
More specifically: Voinovich played a role in the expansion of North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s membership for Latvia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. He was also a member of the U.S. delegation to the November 2002 NATO summit in Prague where membership was formally extended to these seven countries.
Voinovich is a former member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where he conducted oversight of U.S. foreign policy in the Balkans and former Captive Nations in Eastern Europe.
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TweetHusted: State suffers “overall failure of leadership”
Without mentioning Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland by name, Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said in Ohio “at this point in time, I think, there has been an overall failure of leadership.”
Husted, speaking on Tuesday, May 19, at “Dayton’s Legislative Day in Columbus”, was referring to efforts by Strickland and the legislature to come up with a new state budget during the current economic downturn.
Strickland, who spoke after Husted but did not hear his remarks, said later that he did not agree that there had been a lack of leadership.
The Democratic-controlled House has passed a budget and the Republican-controlled Senate now is working on its version. The budget proposed by Strickland and passed by the House is billions of dollars out of balance and so far tough decisions have been avoided, Husted, a former House speaker, said.
“We have to stop cowering away from these tough decisions,” Husted said. So far, he added, the Senate has not made the tough decisions either.
The event was sponsored by the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Dayton Development Coalition. Husted is director of Workforce Education and Employer Services for the Dayton chamber’s Education and Public Improvement Foundation.
Back-to-back speeches by Husted and Strickland gave the audience of about 100 sharply contrasting views about what’s been going on in Columbus.
Strickland touted his plan to overhaul education and school funding through his “evidence-based” model as “transformative” and what is needed to prepare Ohio students for the jobs of the 21st century. He said the House improved on his plan in the budget it passed.
Husted, however, said the plan actually would cut K-12 spending in the next two years while promising lots of spending over the next 10 years “that is in no way sustainable.” The version approved by the Senate will be “dramatically changed,” Husted said.
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TweetThe Democrats are apparently displeased with GM and Chrysler
First, Sen. Sherrod Brown sent out an angry statement reacting to reports that GM was considering exporting cars from China.
Now, a handful of other Democrats in the Ohio delegation - as well as Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, who’s running for the U.S. Senate - are piping in.
In the U.S. House, Reps. Betty Sutton, D-Copley Twp., Tim Ryan, D-Niles and John Boccieri, D-Alliance, wrote a letter to the CEOs of GM and Chrysler complaining about a GM plan calling for a 98 percent increase in the number of vehicles imported from Mexico, Japan and China and Chrysler’s decision to close plants around the nation.
“The decision to lay off American workers while expanding opportunities abroad is extremely disturbing to those of us who have worked hard to save these vital manufacturing jobs,” the trio wrote along with U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan of Missouri in a joint statement. “United Auto Workers have made extraordinary concessions to help these companies stay afloat. These are dedicated, hardworking Americans, not simply a bottom line.”
Brunner, meanwhile, also sent out a statement criticizing the automakers’ decision.
“When America’s taxpayers are footing the bill to the tune of billions to keep these car giants afloat, they deserve to know how and why the money is being spent. While cuts may be inevitable in the process, decisions to manufacture cars overseas and sell them in the U.S., while cutting jobs at dealerships who sell them, may be just short of ludicrous to American taxpayers,” Brunner said.
She said GM should be using stimulus money to invest in fuel-efficient car manufacturing in the United States.
Brunner faces Democrat Lee Fisher in the May 2010 Democrat primary for U.S. Senate. She hopes to replace retiring U.S. Sen. George Voinovich. Former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman is the lone Republican in that race.
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