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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > March > 10
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Stick a needle in it: more vaccines may be required
College students living in on-campus dorms and apartments would be required to be vaccinated for meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B, unless they’re cleared for religious or medical reasons, if a bill introduced by state Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester, becomes law.
Cates pointed to recent meningitis cases at Miami University, Ohio State University and Ohio University in recent years as well as a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that college students get vaccinated to protect against infection.
Meningitis can cause brain damage, hearing loss, learning disability and death.
“Meningitis and hepatitis B are both serious public health risks, particularly for Ohio college students living in the small, communal areas of a dorm or residence hall,” said Cates. “Vaccination is critical to prevent the spread of these life-threatening diseases and give our kids the opportunity to live and learn in a safe, healthy environment.”
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State racing commission preparing proposal for slot machines at racetracks
The Ohio State Racing Commission this week plans to present a plan to state lawmakers to permit Ohio’s seven racetracks to operate slot machines, perhaps without a vote of the people, Sam Zonak, commission executive director Sam Zonak said on Tuesday, March 10.
“Our goal here is to help the state of Ohio and help horse racing,” Zonak said.
In a related development, state Rep. Clayton Luckie, D-Dayton, dean of the Dayton-area House delegation and a member of the Finance Committee, called for legalizing gambling. He said he supports gambling at the seven racetracks plus at casinos in the state’s eight major cities. He has not specifically endorsed the racing commission’s proposal, however.
“I’m tired of seeing money go across the border,” Luckie said.
The plan for the legislature to legalize slot machines at the racetracks without a vote of the people is based on an analysis by former Ohio Tax Commissioner Tom Zaino, now a member of the racing commission.
While the Ohio Constitution bans lotteries except the State Lottery, it does not prohibit other forms of gambling and slot machines have not been defined at lotteries, his analysis said. State law, not the Constitution, prohibits other kinds of gambling, the analysis said.
“…short of amending Ohio’s Constitution, the safest way for the General Assembly to insure the revenue stream from such slot machines is realized, would be for the General Assembly to empower an agency of the state to operate gambling,” the analysis said.
The agency could grant licenses to the track operators, the analysis said.
David Zanotti, president of the Ohio Roundtable, a suburban Cleveland research group opposed to gambling, said he doubted the validity of Zaino’s analysis and pledged that his group would oppose slots at the racetracks.
Zonak said it’s his understanding that Penn National Gaming, the group that helped defeat a ballot plan for a Wilmington casino last year, is about ready to announce a proposal to ask voters in November to approve four casinos - in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo. A Penn National spokesman could not be reached.
Also, Gov. Ted Strickland “continues to believe expanded gambling is not the right economic development strategy for the state,” Amanda Wurst, Strickland’s spokeswoman said.
Ohio voters have rejected four casino gambling plans since 1990.
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16-year-olds could donate blood
State lawmakers are considering two bills that would allow kids as young as 16-year-old to donate blood as long as they have their parents’ consent.
The American Red Cross estimates that, if allowed, 16-year-olds across the state would donate 10,000 pints a year.
Mike Farley, lobbyist for the American Red Cross-Central Ohio, said high school students now account for 10 percent of all blood donations. Less than five percent of Americans donate blood but 85 percent will need a blood product at some point before they reach age 75, he said.
Do you think 16-year-olds should be allowed to give blood with their parents’ consent?
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Letter warns Strickland budget “catastrophic” for poor
Cost-cutting plans in Gov. Ted Strickland’s proposed state budget would have a “severe and catastrophic effect” on needy Ohioans who rely on the state’s safety net.
That’s the warning shot that was fired on Monday, March 9, in a letter to Strickland from Joel Potts, executive director of the Ohio Job and Family Services Directors’ Association. Members of the group are directors of the job and family service agencies in Ohio’s 88 counties.
The group’s “most dire concern” is the plan to reduce to zero the money in a fund that county agencies use “almost exclusively” for the state’s child protection system, the letter said.
This would hurt the counties’ ability to investigate reports of abuse and neglect and to provide a safe living environment for children, the letter said. In a survey, some counties said they would lose as much as 75 percent of the staff responsible for providing services to abused and neglected children, the letter said.
Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst had to make tough choices in his budget and prioritized using money for cash assistance and work support, including child care.
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Hearing on Strickland plan for schools set for Dayton
An Ohio House subcommittee on Monday, March 16, will hold a hearing in Dayton to review Gov. Ted Strickland’s education reform plan.
The Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee of the House Finance Committee will meet at 4 p.m. at the Stivers School for the Arts, 1313 E. Fifth St. The hearing is open to the public.
Those submitting written testimony for committee records, should supply it to lauren.mcmillin@ohr.state.oh.us 24 hours in advance, a press release said. For questions, call 614-466-1790.
Strickland has proposed an “evidence-based” method of funding and overhauling schools which he says will make the system constitutional. Critics have raised doubts, however, about whether there is enough money in the budget to fund the plan and about how state money is distributed among schools districts. Backers of charter schools also have raised objections.
“This hearing will be an important outlet to discuss the future of education in Ohio,” Rep. Clayton Luckie, D-Dayton, a Finance Committee member, said in a press release on Tuesday, March 10.
Hearings already have been held in Akron and Marietta.
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National Association of Manufacturers digs Boehner yet again
House Minority Leader John Boehner racked up his sixth honorific from the National Association of Manufacturers, receiving its NAM Award Monday, March 10, at an event hosted in his district by AK Steel. John Engler, president and CEO of the association said Boehner, R-West Chester, has “demonstrated a true understanding of manufacturing’s key role in the strength of the American economy.”
Boehner is one of 43 U.S. Senators and 181 congressional representatives who earned the NAM Award for the 110th Congress.
