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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > June > 02
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Brown on NCR
Sen. Sherrod Brown went to the White House Tuesday, June 2, for a meeting on health care. He wound up bending the ear of two White House aides on NCR.
Brown, D-Ohio, is calling for a coordinated federal response to NCR’s decision to move operations from Dayton to Atlanta. He spoke to Phil Schiliro, assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, and David Axelrod, a senior advisor to President Barack Obama, he said Tuesday night.
“It’s another hit to Ohio,” he said. “They’re real concerned.”
He said he will call for a coordinated federal response, with one coordinator leading the federal effort to help Dayton. He made a similar request when DHL decided to pull out of Wilmington. Brown has also introduced legislation calling for federal coordination of cities that have suffered significant economic distress.
Brown said he had only heard rumors about NCR pulling out before company officials announced they were doing so.
“This was a company that didn’t work well with the community,” he said. “And the company used to be the community.”
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John Boehner weighs in on NCR
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Lawmakers look to close payday lending loopholes
State lawmakers are looking to pass a new law that would close off loopholes that the payday lending industry is using to continue charging high-interest, high fee loans in Ohio.
A year ago, Gov. Ted Strickland signed into law a measure designed to cap short-term loans at 28 percent annual percentage rates, down from as high as 391 percent. And last fall Ohioans voted by nearly a 2 to 1 margin to uphold that law.
But it didn’t quite do the trick.
Payday lenders are now offering short-term loans under other sections of Ohio’s laws and charging extra fees.
The loan industry calls it perfectly legal. State Rep. Matt Lundy, D-Elyria, calls it thumbing their noses at the law.
Lundy is introducing a bill Wednesday, June 3, that would require all loans of 90 days or less and $1,000 or less to be interest only - no fees. It would also extend protections in Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practice Act to payday borrowers.
Currently, Ohio has 959 payday lending stores, down from 1,571 in April 2008, according to state data.
In March, the Housing Research and Advocacy Center in Cleveland issued a study that said payday lenders got licensed through the Small Loan Act and the Mortgage Loan Act, which allow them to make 14-day loans with an APR of 423 percent to 680 percent, respectively. Some stores started issuing loans through a money order or check and then charged a fee to cash the order or check, the study said.
Bill Faith, executive director of the Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio, ran the successful campaign to pass Issue 5 only to find that payday lenders found a way to pile on fees. “It is just a way to get back to charging the rates they were charging before. It’s a way for them to circumvent the law,” Faith said.
Jamie Fulmer, spokesman for Advance America, the largest payday lender, said Lundy’s bill “is designed to, quite frankly, eliminate branch-based lending in Ohio. We certainly don’t support that. It would put the 3,000 workers out of work and limit the choices that consumers have.”
Payday lenders offer loans with a 28 percent APR but it’s up to the consumers to decide which financial product they need, Fulmer said.
“We are trying to meet the needs of consumers in Ohio by providing products they find value in,” Fulmer said.
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On heels of NCR announcement, Brown announces more money for unemployed Ohioans
One day after NCR announced it is moving its headquarters to Atlanta, Sen. Sherrod Brown announced $88.2 million in new federal funds that will help unemployed Ohioans. The money is part of a pool of money approved as part of the economic recovery package earlier this year and will provide unemployment insurance benefits to unemployed workers.
“Help for unemployed workers couldn’t come at a better time,” Brown, D-Ohio, said. “These funds will provide critical assistance to Ohio workers while stimulating the economy. They will be used to help unemployed Ohioans and their families make ends meet and will help displaced workers find new employment opportunities.”
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Lawmaker reactions to NCR leaving Dayton
Quotes in reaction to NCR’s announcement that it will pull out of Dayton and relocate to the suburbs of Atlanta, Ga.:
“I have called Mr. (Bill) Nuti many times without a single response…The first time the state government spoke with Mr. Nuti was in the last 24 hours,” Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher
“We are extremely disappointed to hear that NCR, a company with a 125-year history in our state, announced today that it will be moving its headquarters to Georgia. NCR’s history in Ohio is rooted in the Dayton region’s skilled work force, and our focus and concern now turns to the workers that are impacted by this news. These workers have served the company with dedication and loyalty, and the state stands ready and willing to help Ohioans in any way we can.” Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland
“NCR has been part of the Dayton community for 125 years and has helped shaped the city’s manufacturing identity. Ohio’s economy is suffering a death by a thousand cuts as job losses pile up around the state. This dismaying news, coupled with a state unemployment rate of more than 10 percent, is a definitive statement that Ohio’s current economic policies are driving essential businesses and valuable jobs out of our state.” House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester.
“NCR’s legacy is directly tied to the innovative spirit, ingenuity and hard work of the region. The NCR workforce deserves much credit for the company’s success, and its mark on our community remains strong today. NCR may be leaving Dayton, but the creative spirit that gave birth to it remains in the Miami Valley.” U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville
“The Miami Valley has already been greatly affected by the economic crisis. The closing of NCR represents an economic disaster that should be treated with the same level of response that the federal government gives to a natural disaster. We need to ensure that workers and communities receive coordinated and timely assistance from the federal government. We need to connect workers with retraining resources and work together to find a productive use for the NCR facility,” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio
“I am very concerned for the workers, families and communities who will be negatively impacted by NCR’s announcement. I am also very disappointed that neither state officials nor my office were given a legitimate opportunity to take every step necessary to try to save those jobs prior to the company’s announcement. After 125 years in our community and state, Ohio should have at least been given the chance to compete with Georgia to keep these jobs and this business in our area,” U.S. Rep. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek
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Carl Wick to leave state education board
After eight years on the State Board of Education, Republican Carl Wick is calling it quits.
Wick, 69, said he wants to travel to see his children and grandchildren and spend more time with his harness racing business. He said he also serves as chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank in Cincinnati, which has been taking up more of his time.
“So many things kind of piled up and I thought ‘Gee, I need to clean my plate.’ And the state board was it,” said Wick, of Centerville.
In the spring of 2001, then-Gov. Bob Taft appointed Wick to fill unexpired term of Diana Fessler, who had been elected to the Ohio House. When Wick stood for election, he lost to John Griffin in a three-way race. Taft then appointed Wick to board seat. The board is a mix of appointees and elected members.
Wick, a former science teacher and NCR Corp. manager, helped the state write and adopt academic standards, including controversial science standards that triggered a hot debate over whether creationists were trying to insert religion into the science curriculum.
Wick will serve until July 31. State Board of Education President Jennifer Sheets announced she’ll leave at the end of June.
Wick said he’ll continue to serve as treasurer for state Sen. Jon Husted’s campaign committee but he is also pulling back from his involvement in local and Ohio GOP politics.
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Workers canned for just cause can’t sue for age bias
Workers fired for just cause can’t turn around and sue their former employer for age discrimination, the Ohio Supreme Court said in a 6-1 ruling Tuesday, June 2.
The court ruled that former United Parcel Service employee Robert Meyer can’t sue for age discrimination because of a state law that bans such suits when the worker’s termination has been arbitrated and found to be for just cause.
After a union-management grievance panel rejected his claim that he had been fired without just cause, Meyer filed suit in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court in May 2004. Meyer won $113,000 in back pay and $200,000 in damages plus attorney fees, court costs and interest.
But UPS then won an appeal in the First District Court of Appeals and the company asked the Supreme Court to review the case.
Meyer filed a separate claim of wrongful termination in retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim. That part of the case was sent back to the trial court.
