COLUMBUS — State Sen. Jeff Jacobson went toe to toe on statewide public television against Ohio Citizen Action lobbyist Catherine Turcer over campaign contributions and his contentious telecom bill.

Jacobson, R-Butler Twp., is sponsoring the bill that would allow telephone and cable companies to get a statewide franchising agreement, rather than negotiate with hundreds of local governments. Ohio Citizen Action and other consumer advocates oppose the bill. Telecom interests, led by AT&T, back it.

The heated discussion came over an Ohio Citizen Action analysis that said telecom and cable industries contributed $558,344 over the last two years to lawmakers, statewide officeholders and political party accounts.

Jacobson took issue with the analysis, which was published in Wednesday's Dayton Daily News.

"You can't look at what they (AT&T) gave in a certain period of time and say it all has to do with the bill. What were they giving two years ago, four years ago, eight years ago?" Jacobson said.

"I've gotten a total of about $1,300 in the last two years from AT&T. According to Ms. Turcer's math she describes an additional $5,000 that's come because lobbyists are working for AT&T. Well that doubles, triples, quadruple counts because they have plenty of clients. But the fact is that money is well known. We don't know where Ms. Turcer's money comes from."

Ohio Citizen Action, a non-profit, non-partisan group, is funded by member contributions averaging $25 and grants from the Joyce Foundation, Turcer said.

Jacobson repeatedly interrupted Turcer, attacked her group, and lectured her. "You have never released who gives to your group when you give to political campaigns," he charged. "And I think that's outrageous."

Turcer suggested Jacobson use his power to pass a law requiring more disclosure.

Jacobson and Turcer debated on The State of Ohio, a 30-minute public affairs show that can be seen on Think TV on Sunday morning or viewed online at: http://media.wviz.org/ohio/2007/0608ohio.asx

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1624 or

lbischoff@DaytonDailyNews.com