battles in congress

Cost of climate change, health care may have big impact on Ohio

In Congress, political scrapping has just begun

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By Jessica Wehrman, Staff Writer Updated 1:29 PM Sunday, July 5, 2009

WASHINGTON — While most of the focus in Ohio has been on state budget battles, video slot machines and endangered libraries, Ohioans might be wise to pay some attention to Congress as well.

It has a to-do list that could have enormous impact on the state for decades to come.

President Barack Obama has signaled that he wants Congress to pass global climate change legislation and health care reform before the year is out. And Congress, particularly the Democratic majority, looks to be on board with that.

Just before its July 4th recess, the House narrowly passed a climate change bill that the Miami Valley’s congressional delegation universally opposed, saying it would undercut U.S. manufacturing and spur energy costs in Ohio to skyrocket.

Democrats, including Sen. Sherrod Brown, admit they’re worried about higher energy costs because of the bill, but they believe it will put more people back to work by bringing more green manufacturing jobs to the state.

Then there’s health care.

Brown sits on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, which has been working on a plan that would expand the government’s involvement in health care, including a public option for health care consumers. In a conference call last week , committee chairman Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said the committee could vote on a plan as early as the end of this week.

Depending on how either proposal is implemented, Ohioans could either see costs skyrocket or new opportunities appear.

What is happening with the state budget in Columbus is important, but Marc Kilmer of the conservative Buckeye Institute said none of those cuts will be felt as intensely as what Congress does for the rest of the year.

“If the Ohio Department of Development went away, the average Ohioan’s lot in life would be as good as it is now,” he argued. “That doesn’t have as much effect on people as cap and trade (climate control) or health care reform.”

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