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Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Combs: State budget short $1 billion, maybe more
Press release from state Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton:
COLUMBUS - State Representative Courtney Combs (R- Hamilton) today announced that House Bill 1, the state operating budget, will move to conference committee for further deliberations and the final step of the budget process.
“The Senate has restored a sense of fiscal reasonability back into the budget,” Combs said. “Ohio’s families have had to curtail their spending so why shouldn’t the State do the same?”
The bill was sent back to the House after changes were made by the Ohio Senate. The Senate faced a budget gap of nearly $1 billion after the Strickland Administration’s revenue estimates were once again off target. In addition, the House Democrats had increased government spending by more than $1 billion. In the end, the Senate was able to reduce spending by $1 billion overall.
Issues still in the budget that remain a concern for House Republicans include nearly $1 billion in fee increases, the over reliance of federal stimulus funds for ongoing programs and the continued growth of state government. House Republicans offered cost-savings amendments to the House-version of the budget which would have streamlined state government saving taxpayers approximately $1 billion annually and reformed Medicaid to make the system more efficient.
“The budget proposed by Governor Strickland and the House Democrats is simply irresponsible in this economic climate,” Combs said. “The Governor has set Ohio up for massive tax increases with this unbalanced budget.”
The Legislature is currently awaiting revised revenue projections. Some have estimated that the new projections will be $2 to $3 billion lower than the Strickland Administration’s previous estimates. This estimated shortfall will need to be addressed in conference committee.
By a vote of 1-97, the Ohio House voted to not concur with the Senate changes and recommended the bill move to conference committee, where a compromise measure must be crafted by July 1st. The committee will consist of three members each from the House and Senate.
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Resolutions part 2 - A taste of a story
As I said in a previous post, I am detailing an investigation into Butler County’s dealings with Resolutions, Community Solutions, the company that runs the county’s jails.
On May 27, I sent a public a records request for all e-mails between commissioners and the county administrator regarding Resolutions, this is what I received:
(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)
This tells me several things:
Something is going on, and it is of serious concern to the county. The redacted messages include communication between Roger Gates, an assistant county prosecutor and county officials. And it appears the Millikin and Fitton Law Firm is representing Resolutions. Attorneys don’t get involved in trifling matters.
The e-mail from Tim Williams, county administrator, is a fascinating half of a conversation. It tells me the county is considering terminating its contract with Resolutions, and possibly closing the two jail buildings. There are outstanding invoices, concerns over prisoner boarding rates and a problem with the county’s utility payments at Resolutions.
Some of these questions, such as the closing of the jail and the utility issue, have already come to light in the past week. Others are still a mystery.
It’s worth noting that there may be more smoke here than fire. We can’t assume that anyone is doing anything wrong just because there are lawyers meeting behind closed doors. We could end up finding nothing more than a major misunderstanding.
In other words, there may not be much more of a story here. But there are certainly unanswered questions.
One way or another, it was time for a phone call.
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