COLUMBUS — Gov. Ted Strickland doesn't exactly see a silver lining in the economic cloud covering Ohio but he does see opportunity.

"As someone has said .... we should never waste a good crisis," he said in a year-end interview. "I think (the) governor ...the legislature and the people of Ohio may find themselves willing to make decisions in the future that we have been unwilling to consider in the past."

The state's prisons, bulging with more than 51,000 inmates, could be a place to start, although he's making no specific proposals, Strickland said. The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction operates the largest kidney dialysis system in the state, a sign of the aging population, he said.

"We have many increasingly aged prisoners with chronic health conditions that possibly could be cared for safely and securely in less costly environments," he said.

More prisoners serving short sentences could be housed in county jails, with the state reimbursing counties, he added.

Halfway through his four-year term, Strickland, 67, said he's approaching the budget crisis as a "good Boy Scout."

"I'm trying to be prepared for what happens in both the mid-term and the longer term," he said. That means no tax increase, he said.

"I believe that a tax increase under these circumstances could ...possibly further exacerbate the economic conditions that exist and make a recovery even more difficult..., he said.

He's counting on federal help from incoming President Barack Obama, a fellow Democrat, although maybe not for the full $5 billion he's requested.

"I do not expect even if help is forthcoming that it will solve all of our budget problems," he said. Strickland already has made $1.9 billion in budget adjustments for the fiscal year ending June 30, including closing the Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare mental hospital in Dayton. The state faces a potential $7.3 billion shortfall for the next two-year budget period, he has said.

Besides proposing a budget next year, Strickland also will ask the legislature to approve a school reform and funding plan.

"I don't say this in a threatening way...just as a matter of fact...that I would go to the ballot only if it's impossible to get approval in the legislature," he said.

Republicans have criticized Strickland for the time he spent campaigning for Hillary Clinton and Obama and Democratic Ohio House candidates. With the governor's help, Democrats gained control of the House for the first time in 14 years, although Republicans still will run the Senate.

"Am I sorry I campaigned for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama? Not at all. I think this country is in desperate need of new leadership and I think Barack Obama ...is going to provide leadership to try to get this economy back on track," he said.

As the economy has dipped, Strickland's own approval rating has sagged. A Quinnipiac University poll earlier this month put his approval rating at 54 percent, the lowest of the year.

He came to office pledging to "turn around Ohio" but the state has lost 51,000 jobs since he became governor. His own worst-case budget scenario projects closing six prisons and state parks, higher college tuitions and cutbacks in child care subsidies.

Yet, political scientist John Green said that so far Strickland is getting "high marks."

"He may get blamed for some of the budget cuts he may be forced to recommend, however, and may be blamed eventually for not 'turning around Ohio,'" said Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.