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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > March > 25
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Casino backer refile proposal with AG Cordray
Backers of the constitutional amendment to permit casinos in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo and Columbus are trying again with Attorney General Richard Cordray.
On Wednesday, March 25, the Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee filed a revised petition with Cordray, amending a proposal Cordray rejected on Monday, March 23.
The new proposal:
*Clarifies the tax issue raised by Cordray by removing any reference to casino patrons. Cordray said the language seemed to say patrons’ winnings would be exempt from state and local income taxes, which backers said was not the intent.
*Includes detailed locations for each casino as Cordray requested.
*Clarifies that the amendment, if approved, would have no impact on the conduct of the lottery or bingo in Ohio.
Cordray must approve the language in the petition before backers can begin gathering the 402,275 signatures from registered voters that must be turned in by July 1 to get the issue on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Penn National Gaming, Inc. and Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, back the plan.
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Rep. Morgan seeks “evidence-based” school records from Gov. Strickland
State Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, is having a tough time getting what he wants from Gov. Ted Strickland.
Morgan on Wednesday, March 25, sent a second public records request to Kent Markus, Strickland’s chief legal counsel, for the material that forms the basis of Democrat Strickland’s “proposed education funding formula known as the evidence-based model.”
Morgan made an error in each request. He spelled Markus’ last name “Marcus.”
Amanda Wurst, Strickland’s spokeswoman, said the governor intends “to provide additional material that may be responsive to the request.”
She didn’t provide a definite time.
“We will work through it as quickly as possible,” she said.
Strickland’s office already has provided 400 references to source material used to develop the education plan, Wurst said.
“It has now been eight business days since an initial public records request was hand delivered in a letter dated March 12, 2009,” Morgan wrote. “I am deeply concerned by the fact that - to date- I have not received any correspondence, either written or verbal, from your office regarding this request.”
Morgan’s letter said Strickland’s office had not been following the policy and procedure it set up to handle public records requests.
“I believe without accurate and complete information we are doing a considerable disservice to Ohio’s greatest asset for the future, our children,” Morgan wrote.
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Poll shows support for higher taxes
If given a choice between cutting services for the sick, hungry and abused or raising taxes on businesses and wealthy families, Ohioans are all for boosting taxes, according to a new survey released Wednesday March 25.
Fifty-seven percent of Ohio voters favor rolling back some recent income tax breaks and increasing some business taxes and taxes on people making more than $200,000 as a way to avoid service cuts, according to Hart Research Associates’ telephone poll of 602 registered Ohio voters.
The poll was commissioned by a coalition of human services groups that are lobbying lawmakers to keep money in the state budget to help food pantries, public schools, child welfare agencies and mental health services.
For example, the state budget currently calls for sending $62 million less in federal money to county governments for child protective services, such as investigating allegations of abuse and neglect. There are 106,000 such cases statewide each year. Without the $62 million, counties will be forced to lay off case workers, leaving more work for the remaining employees.
“They’ll be pedaling as fast as they can,” said Gayle Channing Tenenbaum of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.
Lisa Hamler-Fugitt of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks said the proposed budget allocates $8.5 million year for food pantries and soup kitchens across the state — well below the $17 million requested. The $8.5 million is what the organizations get now but demand has increased 25 percent and food prices have grown 26 percent, she said. In the last quarter of 2008, the food pantries and soup kitchens served 1.8 million people.
The poll found that 62 percent of Ohioans are worried about jobs and the economy while only 14 percent name state and local taxes as among their top concerns. The state adopted a 21-percent across the board income tax reduction that is being phased in over five years. Republicans herald it as a crucial step toward making Ohio business friendly. But only 8 percent of the poll respondents knew that state income tax rates had been lowered.
“No one noticed it,” said Channing Tenenbaum.
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Would you say ‘I Do’ with a politician presiding?
State lawmakers are considering giving themselves the power to perform civil marriage ceremonies anywhere in Ohio, according to a bill pending in the House.
Current law authorizes ordained or licensed ministers, religious societies, judges, mayors and the superintendent of the State School for the Deaf to perform civil marriage ceremonies between a man and woman.
Lawmakers would be required to donate any fees collected for performing the ceremony to charity.
State Rep. Tom Letson, D-Warren, who is sponsoring the bill, said he has performed about a dozen weddings as an acting judge in Trumbull County.
“It was just kind of fun because no one is mad at each other at a wedding,” he said. “It is a very good feeling to be in a legal setting where no one is mad at each other.”
Two other states — California and Rhode Island — permit all their state lawmakers to perform weddings, he said.
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Updated - Foley backs Foley on foreclosure moratorium plan in Columbus
Montgomery County Commissioner Dan Foley supports his brother Mike Foley’s proposal to put a six-month moratorium on mortgage foreclosures.
Dan Foley on Wednesday, March 25 testified in favor of House Bill 3, sponsored by Rep. Mike Foley, D-Cleveland, that would impose the moratorium and also give judges during the next three years the authority to modify mortgage agreements if beneficial to both parties.
Dan Foley, a Democrat like his brother, testified at an 11 a.m. hearing of the Housing and Urban Revitalization Committee chaired by - who else? - brother Mike Foley.
The committee also heard from Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Charles Schneider who expressed doubts about giving judges the authority to modify mortgages.
“The mission is to keep people in their homes,” Dan Foley told the committee.
The moratorium would strengthen neighborhoods, families and help Ohioans get through a difficult time, Dan Foley said.
He submitted a chart that showed an almost 300 percent increase in foreclosure filings in Montgomery County from Jan. 1, 1997 through the end of 2008. From Jan. 1, 1997 through Tuesday, March 24, 43,275 foreclosures have been filed in Montgomery County, Dan Foley said.
He said a new approach to solving the problem of foreclosures is needed.
“This bill will give a lot of people some air under their wings,” Dan Foley said.
Judge Schneider said that giving judges the authority to modify mortgages would produce a constitutional challenges. He said he supported using voluntary mediation procedures such as the one used in Franklin County.
Also, if judges got such authority they would need additional staff and other resources to carry it out.
Rep. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, also raises questions about the bill. She said judges in Warren County have raised concerns like Schneider’s.
“…Just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s good,” Jones said.
Rep. Mike Foley said after the hearing that he hopes to vote it out of the committee in April and bring it to the House floor for a vote. It is one of the House Democratic leadership’s priority bills.
