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Wednesday, February 16, 2011
UPDATED - Gov. Kasich to sign JobsOhio bill on Friday - Governor applauds legislature for passing jobs plan
Gov. John Kasich on Friday plans to sign House Bill 1, legislation creating JobsOhio, a private nonprofit corporation to run economic development, a press release from the governor’s office said.
The ceremony, with legislative leaders and development officials, will be at noon at the Statehouse, a release said
By John Nolan Staff Writer
DAYTON — Gov. John Kasich, in office just five weeks, praised the Ohio General Assembly’s approval on Wednesday of legislation to create JobsOhio, a private economic-development agency Kasich says is needed to create jobs in a state trying to overcome years of job losses.
“I will be signing it soon,” the governor said shortly after addressing the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce’s board of trustees in downtown Dayton. “It’s a terrific victory for the people of Ohio.”
The Ohio Senate and House both passed legislation to create JobsOhio, which would take over economic development functions from what Kasich describes as a “calcified” Ohio Department of Development. The Dayton Chamber’s board had endorsed the legislation and “we stand ready to assist you,” board chairman Jim Pancoast told Kasich.
Both the GOP-controlled legislative chambers, working quickly with the Republican governor, passed the bill with amendments that lawmakers said are intended to improve transparency, ethics and accountability.
They include specifications that public and private funds cannot be combined at JobsOhio; mandate that agency directors, officers and “certain employees” file ethics disclosure statements required of university trustees in Ohio, and prohibit bribery of JobsOhio board members, officers or employees.
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TweetBoehner talks about Obama and the budget tonight on Fox News
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner will talk about President Obama’s budget proposal, his relationship with the president and other topics during and interview tonight at 9 p.m. on the Fox News Channel.
In the interview with Sean Hannity, Boehner says Obama’s budget is quote ‘dead, gone, over.” He says it spends too much, borrows too much and taxes too much.
Boehner says he has developed a good relationship with Obama and that they are looking for ways to find common ground.
Boehner was also asked if he was running for president. His response: “I can tell you …No, I’m not. This is the last thing I want to do.”
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TweetKasich calls cop who ticketed him an “idiot”
While lecturing Ohio EPA workers on how they should treat the public, Gov. John Kasich called a Columbus police officer who ticketed him an “idiot.”
Officer Robert Barrett ticketed Kasich on Jan. 8, 2008 on State Route 315 for approaching a public safety vehicle with its emergency lights on. Kasich paid the $85 in fines and costs and was assessed two points on his driver’s license, according to court records. Bureau of Motor Vehicle records show it is his only violation in the last 10 years.
Kasich told an audience of 1,200 EPA employees on Jan. 21: “Have you ever been stopped by a policeman who was an idiot? I had this idiot pull me over on 315. Listen to this story. He says to me — he says — uh — he says, ‘You passed this emergency vehicle on the side of the road and you didn’t yield.’ I said, ‘I didn’t — Officer, I, what? Are you kidding? I didn’t see any — I didn’t see the — where the heck was it? I mean the last thing I would ever do would be to pass an emergency — are you kidding me?’ “He says, ‘Well, I understand that, give me your license.’ Goes back to the car, comes back, gives me a ticket. He says, ‘You must report to court. If you don’t report to court, we’re putting a warrant out for your arrest.’ He’s an idiot. We just can’t act that way and what people resent are people who are in government who don’t treat the client with respect.”
Click here to see Kasich’s comments, which were captured and posted on YouTube.
Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said a statement would be issued later this afternoon.
Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said, “The governor, of course, respects the important work of law enforcement officers and regrets his poor choice of words in describing his frustration in receiving a ticket. The point of the governor’s remarks to Ohio EPA employees was to stress that all public employees must provide better, more responsive service to taxpayers.”
The Ohio Democratic Party blasted the YouTube video out to reporters and linked it to Kasich’s efforts to weaken police officers’ powers to negotiate pay and working conditions.
“I never thought I’d see the day when a governor of this great state would call a police officer an ‘idiot’ for simply doing his job,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern. “Even worse, he wants to eliminate the right of law enforcement workers to collectively bargain to provide a better life for their families.”
Redfern added, “John Kasich paid a fine for breaking the law, but somehow he thinks it was the police officer’s fault. In John Kasich’s world, the rules that apply to Ohioans don’t apply to him. His behavior is unbecoming of a governor of this state, and he should immediately apologize to all law enforcement officers for disparaging the work they do on behalf of the people of Ohio.”
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TweetKasich appoints Langos to Third Frontier
Gov. John Kasich appointed Bruce A. Langos to the nine-member Third Frontier Commission for a term that ends in April 2013.
Langos is chief operating officer of Teradata Corp., which was owned by and then spun off by NCR Corp.
Voters approved a $700 million bond issue in May 2010 to renew the Third Frontier, which provides early stage capital investments, assistance to entrepreneurs and help in commercializing technology.
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TweetUPDATE - JobsOhio gets final legislative OK; bill goes to Kasich - Senate approves Kasich’s JobsOhio plan
JobsOhio, Gov. John Kasich’s plan to turn Ohio’s economic development efforts over to a nonprofit corporation, won final legislative approval Wednesday and soon will be on the way to Kasich’s desk to sign.
The House voted 60-35 to concur with a version of House Bill 1 approved earlier in the day by the Senate. The Senate version had been revised from the version the House passed on Feb. 1. Two Democrats joined 58 Republicans on the final House vote.
The Senate voted 31-2 Wednesday to approve a revised version of JobsOhio - Gov. John Kasich’s plan to turn economic development over to a nonprofit corporation - the plan passed the Senate Finance Committee, on a near unanimous vote earlier today.
The goal was to pass a version that the House also will agree to and send a final version to Kasich for his signature next week, said Sen. Chris Widener, R-Springfield, Finance Committee chairman. The House passed a version of House Bill 1 on Feb. 1.
The Senate action came as Kasich was to speak in Dayton and Springfield on Wednesday, promoting JobsOhio.
The changes made by the Senate are aimed at improving transparency, accountability and clarity about ethics requirements, said Widener. JobsOhio would not be a state agency and would not be subject to public records laws.
As governor, Kasich would be chairman of a nine-member board that would run JobsOhio.
Kasich has said JobsOhio will help the state attracts the companies and jobs needed to turn around the slumping economy.
“I think JobsOhio is going to be an absolute positive for us being able to move it (the economy) forward,” Kasich said Tuesday.
Changes made by the Senate include:
*Require meeting notices for the public meetings of JobsOhio. It would meet four times a year.
*Require minutes to be prepared for public meetings and then be made available to the public.
*Mandate that JobsOhio set a records retention policy.
*Specify that JobsOhio directors, officers and certain employees file ethics disclosure statements similar to those filed by university trustees.
*Prohibit commingling of public and private funds.
*Prohibit state elected officials and state level employees who file financial disclosure statements from lobbying JobsOhio for direct or indirect compensation.
Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action, a government watchdog group, called the Senate bill an “improvement” but that public access still was limited.
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