Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2010 > June > 01
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
House committee targets Kasich’s finances with disclosure bill
By a 7-4 party-line vote, the House Elections and Ethics Committee on Tuesday, June 1, approved financial disclosure legislation aimed at highlighting the wealth of Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich.
The Democratic-controlled House is expected to vote on House Bill 504 on Wednesday or Thursday, said Rep. Mike Foley, D-Cleveland, the sponsor.
The bill, backed by committee Democrats and opposed by Republicans, would require a candidate for statewide office to file a financial disclosure statement identifying the candidate’s net worth, assets and liabilities in excess of $1,000.
Also, it would require that the statement be accompanied by the candidate’s most recent four federal tax returns or a sworn statement identifying all sources of income in excess of $1,000 for the past four years.
The bill, patterned after a Florida law, is aimed at increasing transparency, said Foley but he added:
“We’re obviously taking advantage of a personal circumstance of one candidate for governor.” Foley then mentioned income that Kasich had received from Lehman Brothers, where Kasich had worked as a managing director.
Rep. David Daniels, R-Greenfield, called the bill “political gamesmanship.”
Kasich in April permitted a handful of reporters to examine but not photocopy a summary of his 2008 federal income tax return. The information showed Kasich received a $432,000 bonus from Lehman Brothers in January 2008 for work done in 2007. It also showed that he and his wife Karen had taxable income of more than $1.1 million in 2008.
Kasich is running against incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland who recently released his federal income tax returns for 2006-2009. The returns showed that he and his wife Frances had total income of $166,321 in 2009, most form his $142,356 salary as governor, and $116,783 in taxable income after deductions and exemptions.
Rob Nichols, Kasich’s campaign spokesman, released this statement:
“John and Karen have already released more information than required by the law so they are clearly comfortable with greater transparency and, of course, with whatever the General Assembly decides.
“I doubt, however, that the 386,000 Ohioans who lost their jobs on Ted Strickland’s watch believe that this is the most pressing issue they face right now.”
Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment |
Senate committee OKs public safety director; wants to end inmate work program
The Senate Judiciary-Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday, June 1, gave its OK to Gov. Ted Strickland’s appointment of Tom Stickrath, 55, as director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
The approval for Stickrath paves the way for a vote by the full Senate.
The committee also approved legislation to end a program that permits prison inmates to work at the governor’s residence.
Stickrath replaces Cathy Collins-Taylor whose appointment as public safety diretor was rejected by the Ohio Senate, 18-15, last week. Stickrath had been director of the Ohio Department of Youth Services.
The Senate rejected Collins-Taylor’s appointment in the wake of her role in a controversy surrounding a canceled contraband sting operation at the governor’s residence in suburban Columbus. The sting involved an effort to intercept contraband to be delivered to an inmate at the residence.
Stickrath’s salary is $128,544, the governor’s office said earlier.
Strickland already has suspended the inmate work program after after learning last week of inmates consuming alcohol while in the program.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment |
Portman names county leaders for Senate campaign
Republican U.S. Senate candidate on Tuesday, June 1, announced county leaders for his campaign. The group includes 135 chairs and co-chairs from all 88 counties.
In Montgomery County, county GOP Central Committee Co-Chair Greg Hanahan and Sandra Basington, executive and political director of the county GOP, will be the leaders in Portman’s campaign against his Democratic opponent Lee Fisher, the lieutenant governor.
In a press release, Portman, a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member and top aide to President George W. Bush, said the county chairs “will be a critical part of the team as we discuss our pro-growth, pro-job message with all Ohioans.”
Other leaders from the Dayton-area are:
*Butler County
Recorder Danny Crank
Michael McNamara
*Clark County
Ashley Knowlton
State Sen. Chris Widener
*Champaign County
John Steinberger
*Darke County
Barbara Martin
State Rep. Jim Zehringer
*Greene County
Grace Ramos
County Commissioner Marilyn Reid
*Miami County
Troy City Councilman Jarrod Harrah
County Prosecutor Gary Nasal
*Preble County
Gene Lindley
*Warren County
County Commissioner Pat South
County Commissioner Dave Young
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
American voters want Arizona-type immigration law in their states
Nearly 50 percent of American registered voters want their states to pass immigration laws similar to the one in Arizona that has stirred national debate, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Tuesday, June 1.
In the poll, 48 percent of voters said they want their states to pass such a law while 35 percent were opposed.
Also, by an overwhelming 76-12 percent margin, voters said that plans by those who oppose the law to boycott Arizona was a bad idea.
The desire for the law comes despite a 45-40 percent belief by voters that it would lead to discrimination against Hispanics.
Other findings about the Arizona law:
*Voters approved it, 51-31 percent.
*By a 45-36 percent spread voters said it would reduce illegal immigration.
*Voters said 66-26 percent that immigration reform should move in the direction of stricter enforcement rather than integrating immigrants into American society.
In Ohio, state Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, and Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones have said they are launching an effort to put a proposal on the 2011 ballot to give voters a chance to approve an Arizona-type law.
In Arizona, state and local law enforcement officers are required to determine the immigration status of a person during any legitimate contact such as a traffic stop “if reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the U.S.”
“The strong plurality who says they would like a similar law in their own state probably portends the law will be an issue in many, many campaigns this November across the country,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute, said in a press release.
“Depending on how those elections and court challenges come out, copy cat Arizona laws could be a hot issue in state capitals after November.”
From May 19-24, the poll interviewed 1,914 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
