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November 2009
UPDATED with Senate President reponse: May 2010 vote proposed for $1 billion Third Frontier proposal
Two Democratic Ohio House members on Monday, Nov. 30, unveiled a proposal to put a $1 billion, five-year bond proposal on the May 2010 ballot to renew and expand the Third Frontier program.
Reps. Sandra Williams of Cleveland and Jay Goyal of Mansfield said the goal is for the Democratic-controlled House to approve a resolution authorizing the issue by early January and then send it to the Republican-controlled Senate.
The goal is to get approval by both houses by Jan. 31 to get it on the May 4, 2010 ballot, said Goyal.
Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, so far isn’t endorsing the proposal.
In a press release, Harris said before voters are asked to support the issue two questions must be answered - how much can the state afford in debt payments and how much debt would voters be willing to approve in May considering that the program has funding through 2012.
“I will support placing the renewal question before voters when I am confident that it is responsible and that the voters will support it,” Harris said. “In my view, we have more work to do over the next couple of months.”
Approval of such a resolution requires 60 votes in the 99-member House and 20 votes in the 33-member Senate.
This means bipartisan support will be required in the House, which Democrats control 53-46. Republicans control the Senate, 21-12, but without Harris’ backing it’s doubtful it even would come up for a vote.
The governor’s approval is not required to put an issue on the ballot. The program is aimed at promoting high tech research and creating jobs.
The recession has hit Ohio hard which makes it important to “act quickly” on the plan to invest in companies that can create jobs, Williams said.
Voters in 2005 approved a bond issue that included $500 million for the Third Frontier. Including money from other sources, the commitment reached $1.6 billion but some non-bond money has been diverted and the total now is about $1.35 billion, according to John Griffin, director of the development department’s division of technology and innovation.
So far the program has awarded about $1 billion in grants, including about $120 million in the Dayton area, according to Griffin.
According to a report by SRI International released in September, $681 million actually has been spent so far by the Third Frontier, generating $6.6 billion in economic activity, 41,300 jobs and $2.4 billion in employee wages and benefits. From 2003-2008, the state got a nearly $10 return on every dollar of state investment.
The program doesn’t expire until 2012 but Goyal said May 2010 is the best time to put the issue on the ballot to avoid a possible interruption.
TweetSenate candidate Brunner wants to “bring troops home from Afghanistan”
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a candidate for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, on Monday, Nov. 30, called for setting a timetable “for bringing our troops home from Afghanistan as soon as possible.”
“As the cost to American and Ohioans’ lives increase, billions are spent each month on the conflict in Afghanistan, ballooning our national debt and diverting resources we desperately need at home,” Brunner wrote in a posting on Huffington Post and DailyKos.
Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, Brunner’s opponent for the Democratic nomination, “is waiting to hear” President Barack Obama’s Tuesday speech on his plans for Afghanistan before responding to the new plan, an e-mail from Fisher’s campaign said.
“While Lt. Gov. Fisher believes we should continue to aggressively target al-Qaida and disrupt terrorist networks across the world, he has serious concerns about committing tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan without a clearly defined mission and exit strategy,” Geri Prado, Fisher campaign spokeswoman, said in the e-mail.
The candidates comments came as their fellow Democrat, Obama, prepares to address the nation on Tuesday night from West Point. According to the Associated Press, the president is expected to announce an increase of up to 35,000 troops “to defeat the Taliban-led insurgency and stabilize a weak Afghan government.”
TweetRep. Turner, Mayor-elect Leitzell to discuss “ideas to move Dayton forward”
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, and Dayton Mayor-elect Gary Leitzell will meet on Monday, Nov. 30, at Turner’s Dayton office “to discuss ideas to move Dayton forward,” according to a press release from Turner’s office.
The meeting will be followed by a press availability at 2:45 p.m., the release said.
Turner is a former Dayton mayor who lost that office to Democrat Rhine McLin in 2001. Leitzell defeated McLin on Nov. 3 to win the mayor’s office.
Tweet81 percent disagree with new mammogram recommendation
A new survey finds that 81 percent of American adults disagree with a federal medical panel’s recommendation that women can now wait until age 50 to get a routine mammogram instead of age 40..
The Rasmussen Reports survey, released Saturday, Nov. 28, comes as the recommendation continues to stir up strong debate across the country.
The survey found that nearly three-out-of-four Americans - 72 percent - know someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Twenty-two percent (22%) don’t know anyone who has had the disease, the survey found.
Here’s a chance to get in the debate:
The survey was taken on Tuesday, Nov. 24, with 1,000 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
Tweet‘Horrific crime’ inspires bill to better monitor sex offenders
Sen. Nina Turner, D-Cleveland, has introduced legislation to increase oversight of the state’s most serious sex offenders in the wake of what Cleveland officials have described as “evidence of a horrific crime.”
Sen. Fred Strahorn, D-Dayton is a cosponsor of Senate Bill 217, introduced on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
An investigation has led to the discovery of the remains of 11 people after Cleveland police attempted to serve a search warrant last month and a suspect is in custody.
“The Imperial Avenue slayings on Cleveland’s east side are a gruesome reminder of the many cracks that still exist within the system of monitoring the sexual predators who reside in our communities,” Turner said in a press release.
“Unfortunately, criminals are able to manipulate these cracks every day. Under the current system, a Tier III sex offender can fulfill their monitoring requirements and still remain largely off the radar.”
The bill would:
*Increase the frequency of address verification by Tier III offenders from every 90 days to every 30 days.
*Require law enforcement to confirm the addresses of Tier III offenders every 90 days through face-to-face contact at the offender’s residence and track the outcomes of such visits.
*When a Tier III offender registers, law enforcement would have to confirm the person’s address through personal contact at the offender’s residence.
*Initiate mandatory community notification of the presence of a Tier III offender once a year, on the anniversary date of the original address registration.
Tweet2 area senators picked to tackle long-range budget issues
State Sens. Chris Widener, R-Springfield, and Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, have been named to the state panel that’s supposed to figure out how to solve Ohio’s long-term budget problems.
Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, on Wednesday, Nov. 25, picked Widener and Jones for the Budget Planning and Management Commission.
“Much of the debate at the Statehouse in recent weeks has focused on how to fill an $850 million hole in the current state budget, and rightly so,” Widener said in a press release.
“But as the legislature and governor continue to debate possible short-term revenue options, it’s critical that we also work to identify practical, long-term cost-saving strategies that will help put our state on more stable financial ground moving forward.”
The current budget includes more than $7 billion in one-time money, including federal stimulus funds, that won’t be available for the next budget in two years, said Widener.
The commission is to develop a strategy for balancing the next state budget, Widener said.
The commission includes three members from the House and three members from the Senate.
TweetGolf outings by Boehner’s PAC get POLITICO attention
Golf outings sponsored by U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner’s political action committee, the Freedom Project, have drawn attention from POLITICO, a Web site that provides political coverage.
“Boehner PAC splurges on golf” blared the headline on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The story said that the PAC has spent $82,998 on golf outings so far this year, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Don Seymour, PAC spokesman, said in an e-mail that the events are all part of Boehner’s efforts to help Republican candidates. The money for the golf outings includes all the overhead costs associated with putting on the fundraisers, Seymour said.
“The Freedom Project has contributed more than $320,000 directly to GOP candidates and the party so far this cycle.” Seymour said.
“In the 2008 cycle we contributed more than $1.24 million directly — more than any other Republican in the House. Boehner has headlined 119 events so far in 2009, and through all of his political efforts this year has raised more than $12 million for GOP candidates and the party.”
To read the story, click here.
Boehner is from West Chester in Butler County.
TweetColumbus-area lawmakers unveil amendment that could halt casino
It’s probably a longshot but four Columbus-area lawmakers on Tuesday, Nov. 24, unveiled a proposed constitutional amendment that appears aimed at blocking a casino for Columbus.
The proposed amendment would require the legislature “to enact laws that authorize the submission of a question to the electors of a county on whether to approve the operation of casino gaming within the county before casino gaming may be conducted in that county.”
Getting the proposed amendment on the May 2010 ballot could be an uphill struggle. It would require approval of three-fifths majorities in the legislature - 60 votes in the 99-member House and 20 votes in the 33-member Senate.
Voters on Nov. 3 approved a constitutional amendment to permit casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo.
However, voters in Franklin County, which includes Columbus, rejected the amendment while voters in the counties containing the other casino cities approved it.
“Cleveland, Toledo and Cincinnati voters should not be in a position to make development decisions for Columbus any more than Columbus residents should be weighing in on Cleveland projects,” Sen. David Goodman, R-New Albany, said in a press release. “This amendment gives local communities more control as Ohio takes its first steps into casino gaming.”
Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for the pro-casino Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee, had this response:
“We anticipate there will be several proposals that are discussed in the wake of passage of Issue 3. But our focus in on working with the General Assembly to gain passage of legislation that will implement the voters’ approval of four casinos for Ohio and ensure that the state establishes an effective mechanism for regulating the casinos.”
Goodman and Sen. Jim Hughes, R-Columbus, introduced a resolution calling for a vote on the amendment in the Senate while Reps. Cheryl Grossman, R-Grove City, and Kevin Bacon, R-Minerva Park, unveiled the House version.
TweetPalin recalls her Nutter Center debut in “Going Rogue”
Sarah Palin made her debut as a national candidate at Wright State University’s Nutter Center and the former Alaska governor describes that scene in her new book, “Going Rogue An American Life.”
“The tunnel thundered with ten thousand voices, and the air inside felt electric,” Palin wrote of the Aug. 29, 2008 rally. “I stood behind John and Cindy as he waited for the cue to step onstage at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.”
She described waiting with her family - husband Todd and four of her five children - as she waited for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to introduce her to the crowd and to the country as his vice presidential running mate.
“Now the crowd’s roar poured backstage like a powerful locomotive,” Palin wrote. “An electric guitar whined under the steady drum of thousands of stomping feet.”
She got ready.
“We passed a whisper between us: ‘Say a prayer!
“Glancing out through the end of the tunnel, I could see the crowd, and flashes of red, white, and blue. John’s blue-and-gold posters, emblazoned with his campaign message, ‘Country First,’ rippled in the stands.”
Then came McCain’s introduction.
“My friends and fellow Americans, I am very pleased and very privileged to introduce you to the next vice president of the United States - Governor Sarah Palin of the great state of Alaska.”
Here’s how she reacted to the introduction.
“That was amazing, not nerve-wracking, and even sort of funny to me, because it meant John had a little explaining to do right off the bat. Who in the heck is she?”
Then came Palin’s moment in the Nutter Center spotlight.
“I gave my speech, and it was an absolute blast. The kids had fun, and Piper waved to the world. And as my family left the stage, I whispered to my husband, ‘Happy anniversary, Todd! Twenty years ago today - who’d have thought?”
Related links:
- Photos: McCain unveils Palin as his running mate during visit to Nutter Center
- Photos: See who was spotted at the John McCain rally at the Nutter Center
Rep. Lehner bill would help some seniors stay out of nursing homes
Rep. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, on Tuesday, Nov. 24, helped launch a bipartisan effort to help some Ohioans receive care at home instead of in nursing homes.
“It recognizes their desire to be in their homes,” Lehner said after a Statehouse press conference.
The proposed legislation is narrowly focused and would affect possibly “hundreds” not thousands of Ohioans, said Sen. John Carey, R-Wellston.
It would allow Ohioans who qualify for Medicaid - the federal-state government health insurance program - and who are at imminent risk of being admitted to nursing homes to instead receive services at home, Carey and Lehner said.
Lehner said an example might be a 90-year-old man in the hospital with a broken hip who was ready to be released but had no one at home capable of caring for him. He would qualify for home care under the companion bills to be introduced in the House and Senate, she said.
The proposals would expand an existing program that allows Ohioans living in nursing homes immediate access to home and community care, she said. Now the 90-year-old man in her example would first have to be admitted to a nursing home before becoming eligible to be released to get home care, she said.
The plan would save money, Lehner and Carey said. It costs about $20,000 a year to care for someone at home, compared to $60,000 in a nursing home, they said.
Carey estimated that the plan could save as much as $60 million annually.
Lehner and Carey appeared at the press conference with Sen. Dale Miller, D-Cleveland.
TweetPrisons donate to food pantries
Inmates harvested 106,734 pounds of winter wheat, corn and other crops this fall from state prison farms and donated it to the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks, according to prison officials.
The offenders harvested the food between August and October at four of Ohio’s prisons. And 100 acres of winter wheat had been planted specifically for the food bank donation.
The food was valued at roughly $23,500.
“By growing and harvesting crops for the Second Harvest Food Bank, offenders are given an opportunity not only to give back to their community, but by working on the farms they are learning a valuable skill that can assist them upon their release,” Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Director Terry Collins said. “We look forward to continuing and expanding this partnership in the years to come.”
Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, Second Harvest’s director, called it a first of its kind effort.
The food banks reported a 21 percent increase in demand for emergency food assistance and a new report said 13.3 percent of Ohioans are “food insecure,” meaning they don’t have consistent access to adequate, nutritious food, according to Hamler-Fugitt.
TweetGov. Strickland: Senate GOP budget plan “ridiculous, pathetic”
Gov. Ted Strickland on Monday, Nov. 23, intensified his war of words with Senate Republicans over their proposal to fill an $851 million budget hole.
“What they have put forth is ridiculous, pathetic and they need to get serious about the needs of Ohio,” Strickland said after participating in a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the $145 million I-70, I-75 interchange north of Dayton.
Maggie Ostrowski, spokeswoman for Senate Republicans, said there aren’t enough votes in the Senate to pass Democrat Strickland’s plan. Republicans control the Senate, 21-12.
“So the only way to get through this impasse and make sure (funds for) Ohio schools aren’t cut is if the governor and the leadership in the Senate can sit down and work out a compromise,” said Ostrowski.
Strickland’s plan calls for postponing for two years a 4.2 percent personal income tax cut. The Senate GOP plan would accept two-thirds of the tax cut freeze but adds provisions such as drilling for oil and gas at Salt Fork State Park and taking money from the Ohio Housing Trust Fund. It also projects savings from sentencing reforms at Ohio prisons.
Strickland said the Senate GOP plan is based on “phantom revenue and make-believe resources” and that Republicans couldn’t even get “three or four” Republicans members to go along with it.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Carey, R-Wellston, said he thought at least five Senate Republicans would have supported the plan. If all 12 of Strickland’s fellow Democrats support a plan in the Senate, it would take at least five Republican votes to get the 17 needed for passage.
TweetJay Goyal gets White House invite
State Rep. Jay Goyal, D-Mansfield, scored an invitation to the first official state dinner held by the Obama administration.
Goyal, who has served in the Ohio House since 2006, will attend the dinner at the White House on Tuesday, Nov. 24, when President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcome the prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur.
Goyal, 28, will take his mom as his guest.
Goyal said, “The work ethic and patriotism my parents displayed throughout my life was crucial in my decision to enter public service and is a continuing example to me today.”
Goyal’s parents immigrated to the United States from India and started Goyal Industries.
TweetChief Justice Moyer, allies promise campaign to change selection of Supreme Court justices
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer, the Ohio State Bar Association and the Ohio League of Women Voters want to change the way state Supreme Court justices are selected.
On Friday, Nov. 20, they announced that they will work to build a coalition to support a constitutional amendment to replace statewide elections of the justices with a new system where justices are appointed and stand for a retention election.
“Early next year we will propose a specific plan that we will take back to the partner organizations for formal consideration,” Moyer said in a press release.
The announcement came at the end of a two-day conference in Columbus, “A Forum on Judicial Selection: A Time for Action.”
“What we have learned these two days is that we can do better in Ohio,” Moyer said.
Moyer has said the current system needs to be replaced to remove the perception that campaign contributions influence judicial decisions.
For more information, click here.
TweetOhio AFL-CIO president blasts Senate GOP budget plan; threatens legal action
Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rugola said on Friday, Nov. 20, that the labor federation will take legal action if Senate Republicans succeed in substituting $200 million in casino licensing fees for money the state already is spending on regional economic development and job creation plans.
“We simply will not tolerate the Ohio Senate or anyone else diverting money from job creation at a time when working families so clearly need all the help they can get,” Rugola said in a press release.
“We are prepared to litigate this issue on behalf of our 700,000 members and workers in our state.”
Tim Burga, Ohio AFl-CIO chief of staff, said the $200 million in the ballot issue approved by voters on Nov. 3 is supposed to be used for new regional job creation efforts, not to replace money for jobs programs already underway.
The ballot issue calls for casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.
Rugola said that the Ohio AFL-CIO supports the plan passed by the Democratic-controlled House to fill an $851 million budget hole by delaying for two years a 4.2 percent state income tax cut.
Using the $200 million to help fill the hole is part of a Senate GOP plan unveiled this week.
Senate Finance Chairman John Carey, R-Wellston, said that the AFL-CIO has the right to litigate anything it wants to, but added:
“We don’t legislate by threat of lawsuit.”
TweetOhio pensions sue ratings agencies
Ohio’s public pension systems are suing Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch - companies that provide credit ratings for investments.
The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Richard Cordray in U.S. District Court, alleges that the three credit rating agencies wreak havoc on U.S. financial markets by providing unjustified and inflated ratings for mortgage-backed securities in exchange for lucrative fees.
“The rating agencies were central players in causing the worst economic crisis in Ohio since the Great Depression. The rating agencies assured our employee pension funds that many of these mortgage-backed securities had the highest credit ratings and the lowest risk,” Cordray said in a written statement. “But they sold their professional objectivity and integrity to the highest bidder. The rating agencies’ total disregard for the life’s work of ordinary Ohioans caused the collapse of our housing and credit markets and is at the heart of what’s wrong with Wall Street today.”
The agencies gave triple A ratings and assured the pension funds and others that the investments were extremely safe, the lawsuit alleges. But the misleading ratings cost Ohio’s pension funds more than $457 million, the suit said.
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., which owns Standard & Poor’s, said, “We believe the claim has no legal or factual merit and we intend to defend ourselves vigorously against it. A recent SEC examination of our business practices found no evidence that decisions about ratings methodologies or models were based on attracting or losing market share.”
The pension systems collectively hold $186 billion in investment portfolios and represent 1.7 million workers, retirees and beneficiaries.
The lawsuit says that the rating agencies knowingly gave favorable reviews to the mortgage-backed securities in part because they received big fees from the same groups that they were supposed to be objectively evaluating.
Cordray said the lawsuit is an attempt toward holding Wall Street accountable for its wrongs.
TweetEthics laws apply to stimulus money
As $8 billion in federal stimulus money flows into the state, the Ohio Ethics Commission has a message for public officials and contractors: all that dough is subject to the Ohio ethics laws.
That means public officials cannot profit from contracts using stimulus money or participate when family or business friends might benefit from them.
“The ethics law restricts public officials from securing a financial stake in, or participating in any fashion in the award of public contracts or oversight of public funds where their families and business associates could have a direct benefit, whether funded by stimulus or any other public money,” Ethics Commission Executive Director David Freel said.
TweetSenators propose ban on convicted felons in casino business
Sens. Timothy Grendell, R-Chesterland, and Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, on Thursday, Nov. 19, unveiled legislation that would outright ban convicted felons from ever having anything to do with the casino business in Ohio.
Senate Bill 208 goes beyond a proposal from casino backers that would allow a convicted felon to apply for a casino-related license five years after a conviction if the “applicant ….is honest, truthful and of good reputation, and there is no basis in fact for believing that the applicant or other person will commit such an offense again.”
Grendell said the bill is aimed at curbing “the potential for mischief.”
The bill also is tougher than the casino-backed plan in defining who would be subject to a background criminal check, Grendell said. The casino bill defines owner as someone with 10 percent or more of an interest in a casino while the Grendell-Seitz plan defines owner as someone with 5 percent or more interest.
Also, Grendell and Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, introduced Senate Bill 206, that would limit gambling interests from contributing more than $500 a year to a political campaign. The casino industry-backed bill went further, banning all such contributions.
The proposed legislation follows voter approval on Nov. 3 of a plan to put casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. Penn National Gaming and Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, were key backers.
TweetNational poll: Voters disapprove of Dems’ health care plan
Efforts by President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats to overhaul the nation’s health care system got a thumbs down from voters across the country in a Quinnipiac University Poll released on Thursday, Nov. 19.
In the poll, 51 percent of voters disapproved the Democratic-backed health care overhaul passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, 35 percent approved and 14 percent didn’t know or had no answer.
Also, 53 percent disapproved of Obama’s handling of health care, while 41 percent disapproved and 6 percent didn’t know or were had no answer..
This was slightly better for Obama than the results of a poll released last week for Ohio in which 57 percent of voters disapproved and 36 percent approved his handling of health care.
Release of the poll came a day after Senate Democratic leaders released their version of a plan to overhaul health care.
There was a bright spot for Obama in the poll. Nearly three quarters of voters - 74 percent - like Obama as a person, but just 47 percent like most of his policies.
“Most Americans like President Barack Obama and might like to have a beer with him,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute, said in a press release.
“But millions of voters who sided with him last November because they thought he would bring change to Washington aren’t crazy about the kind of change he is trying to bring.”
The poll was taken Nov. 9 - Monday, Nov. 16 with 2,518 registered voters nationally and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
TweetStrickland blasts Senate GOP budget plan; Husted fires back
Gov. Ted Strickland has told Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, that the Senate Republican budget plan unveiled on Wednesday, Nov. 18, “is not a responsible way to address the serious budget challenges facing the state and Ohio’s schools,” Amanda Wurst, Strickland’s spokeswoman said.
“…the governor believes that the Senate has the responsibility to either put forward a realistic and responsible proposal or adopt the tax freeze, even if that means working through the weekend,” said Wurst.
Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, fired back, calling Strickland’s response “almost childish.”
“We accept some of his ideas and try to work with him and then he starts name-calling when he doesn’t get exactly what he wants,” said Husted. The Strickland ideas in the GOP plan include prison sentencing reform and construction reform, said Husted.
Husted accused Strickland of “schizophrenic leadership” by first opposing any tax increases and then proposing a tax cut freeze - which some Republicans call a tax hike - to fill the budget hole.
The Democratic-controlled House already has adopted Democrat Strickland’s proposed freeze on a 4.2 percent income tax cut as the path to filling a $851 million budget hole.
The Senate GOP plan calls for raising about $560 million by freezing two-thirds of the scheduled tax cut and then coming up with the rest through $200 million in casino licensing fees, revenue from oil and gas drilling at Salt Fork State Park and the state Housing Trust fund, savings from prison sentencing reform and other sources.
Republicans control the Senate, 21-12.
TweetSenate GOP offers own budget-balancing plan; Dems say no
Senate Republicans have offered their own plan to fill a $851 million hole in the state budget but Senate Democrats rejected it and their votes are needed.
Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, said on Wednesday, Nov. 18, that the plan is aimed at winning approval not just in the GOP-controlled Senate but from Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and in the Democratic-controlled House.
Senate Minority Leader Capri Cafaro, D-Hubbard, categorically rejected it in a prepared statement:
“We respect the work the majority caucus has done so far. But, it is in conflict with our core values and counts on money that can’t be relied on.
“The Senate Democratic Caucus is unified in opposition to the substitute budget plan offered today by Senate Republicans. We remain united in support of HB 318 as passed by the Ohio House of Representatives.”
Senate Republicans appeared to have given up on trying to pass their plan on Wednesday. The full Senate, which met earlier, won’t meet Wednesday night, Maggie Ostrowski, spokeswoman for Harris, announced in an e-mail about 5:45 p.m. However, the Senate Finance Committee was scheduled to meet Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. to continue discussing efforts to fill the budget hole.
The House earlier passed the plan offered by Strickland, House Bill 318.
That plan called for delaying for two years a 4.2 percent cut in state income taxes, the last in a five-year series of income tax cuts. That would solve the current budget hole. The GOP plan goes beyond that to provide long-term help to the budget problems, said Harris.
The Senate GOP plan would come up with about $560 million by allowing one-third of the scheduled income tax reduction to go into effect but freezing two-thirds of it.
It also would take money from other sources, including $200 million in casino licensing fees.
The constitutional amendment approved by voters on Nov. 3 to permit four Ohio casinos calls for using the $200 million from licensing fees for job training and workforce development. The GOP plan says that the $200 million would be transferred into the state’s general fund “to offset current regional job program expenditures.”
The GOP plan also projects getting $10 million from oil and gas drilling at Salt Fork State Park in eastern Ohio. “
Other sources of funds in the GOP plan include:
*$50 million in savings at state prisons from sentencing reforms.
*$30 million from the Housing Trust Fund
*$30 million from liquor profits
Republicans hold 21 of 33 Senate seats but only about five GOP votes are expected for the plan so all 12 Senate Democrats would have to go along for it to pass.
Sen. Fred Strahorn, D-Dayton, was one of the Senate Democrats who was opposed.
“We still have a lot to talk about,” Strahorn said.
Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said the GOP plan is better than what Strickland and the House supported because it leaves intact some of the tax cut. It’s important that Ohio send out the message that it’s friendly to business.
Also, Husted said the Senate GOP plan has two parts that have been priorities for Strickland- sentencing reform to save money at prisons and construction reform to save money on state building projects.
Both those proposals get at “long-term (budget) structural problems” while the tax cut freeze alone only solves a temporary problem, said Husted.
Bill Faith, executive director of the Coalition for Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, blasted the plan to take $30 million from the Housing Trust Fund. He called it “outrageous” and said the money is needed to help the homeless.
“It’s the wrong thing to do at the wrong time,” said Faith.
According to Faith’s office, the Ohio Housing Trust Fund, established in 1990, is a state funding source for services related to affordable housing and homelessness.
In 2004-2005, the Ohio legislature created a permanent, dedicated funding stream for the OHTF through an increase in county recordation fees.
For the last several years, the HTF was capped at $53 million/year, the remainder of which went to the state’s General Fund. Currently, only $35 million in revenue has been generated because of lost fees due to the housing crisis.
Harris, the Senate president, said Republicans are holding in reserve a “plan B,” which is believed to include much less of what Strickland wanted, but declined to provide details.
TweetDann aide gets 45 days jail, including Christmas
Tony Gutierrez, a former top aide and friend to Democrat Marc Dann, must report to the Franklin County jail beginning Dec. 4 to serve a 45 day sentence spread out over weekends, including Christmas and New Years Day.
Gutierrez, 52, was sentenced Wednesday, Nov. 18, to 45 days in jail and five years probation, plus he must pay $6,876 in restitution. He pleaded guilty to felony theft in office and unauthorized use of property as well as misdemeanor charges for filing an inaccurate ethics statement, soliciting or receiving improper compensation and attempted workers compensation fraud.
In Franklin County Common Pleas court, Gutierrez apologized to his wife and children for what he has put them through and to the state and the court.
Gutierrez is the only one to face criminal charges in the sexual harassment scandal that led to Dann’s resignation in May 2008.
In February 2007, Dann hired Gutierrez, a neighbor and friend in a Youngstown suburb, to head up the attorney general’s general services department, despite knowing about problems in Gutierrez’ background. The job paid $87,500 a year but Gutierrez also ran his private construction business on state time, using state equipment and employees.
Gutierrez said coming from the construction industry, he was ignorant of state ethics laws.
“The top guy was my best friend and he guided me down the road wrong,” Gutierrez said of Dann.
Then two junior female staffers accused Gutierrez of sexual harassment and drunken driving of state vehicles. That triggered multiple investigations and eventually Dann’s admission that he had an extramarital affair with a staffer and wasn’t prepared to be attorney general when voters elected him over Republican Betty Montgomery in November 2006.
Dann admitted to misusing his campaign account and paid $1,000 fine to the Ohio Elections Commission.
Earlier this year, the state agreed to pay the two female staffers a combined $495,000 to settle the case.
TweetRep. Luckie proposes bill to monitor sex offenders
Rep. Clayton Luckie has introduced legislation to require GPS monitors for sex offenders who do not have permanent addresses, Luckie, D-Dayton, announced on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
House Bill 369 would apply to all Tier 3 sex offenders, considered the most violent, and require them to wear a global positioning device until they have a fixed address.
“This bill will allow law enforcement to keep better track of sex offenders,” Luckie said in a press release. “We cannot lose track of these offenders just because they are homeless. Using GPS to monitor their whereabouts is necessary to protect the citizens of Ohio.”
Luckie said that the attack of a nurse outside of Miami Valley Hospital by a sexual predator who was living under a railroad bridge near Patterson Boulevard underscored the need for the legislation.
TweetCasino backers offer draft plan to get gambling started
The successful backers of the Nov. 3 ballot issue to permit four casinos in Ohio have sent lawmakers draft legislation to get the casinos up and running.
The purpose is to give legislators the benefit of the experience that Penn National Gaming, which is to operate casinos in Columbus and Toledo, has had in other states and to answer some of the questions raised in the campaign, Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for the pro-casino Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan, said on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
The other two casinos are planned for Cincinnati and Cleveland. Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert is the backer of those casinos.
Key points of the legislation:
*90 percent of the casinos’ employees are to come from the four metro areas where the casinos are to be located.
*The casinos will use a cashless wagering system with chips, tokens, tickets, electronic cards and similar objects. Critics had said cash wagering at casinos would be exempt from taxation.
*Charitable gambling, such as church casino nights, would not be prohibited. Critics had charged such gambling would be banned.
*Building permits for casinos should be processed “without unreasonable delays.” In Franklin County, which includes Columbus, voters rejected the casino plan and there has been talk of delaying efforts to get the casino started.
Keary McCarthy, spokesman for House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, said Budish wants to hear from all parties and the draft is a “first step.” Budish, who supported the casino plan, wants to get the best deal for the state, said McCarthy.
Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, who opposed the casinos, hasn’t had a chance to look at the draft, said Maggie Ostrowski, Harris’ spokeswoman.
TweetObama approval dips below 50 percent nationally; tracks Ohio results
President Barack Obama’s approval rating among voters nationally has dipped below 50 percent for the first time, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
In the poll 48 percent approved the Democratic president’s performance, while 42 percent disapproved, while the rest didn’t know or didn’t answer. This compares to a 50-41 percent approval rating in an October poll.
The national results track closely with a slide in approval for Democrat Obama among Ohio voters. A Quinnipiac poll released last week showed that 50 percent of Ohio voters disapproved of his performance, compared to 45 percent who approved.
“Although President Obama’s job approval rating is below 50 percent for the first time nationally, it is not statistically different from his 50 percent approval rating in October,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a press release.
“Nevertheless, in politics symbols matter and this is not a good symbol for the White House.
Other key poll results:
*By a 48-41 percent margin, voters said fighting the war in Afghanistan is the right thing to do.
*Voters said by a 47-42 percent margin that Obama should send 40,000 more combat troops to Afghanistan as military commanders on the ground have requested.
*Voters disapproved of Obama’s handling of the economy, 52-43 percent.
*91 percent of voters said the state of the economy was “not so good” (42 percent) or poor” (49 percent). Just 8 percent said it was “good” and nobody said it was excellent.
The poll was taken from Nov. 9 - Monday, Nov. 16 with 2,518 registered voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
TweetOhio Business Roundtable backs tax cut freeeze to balance budget
The Ohio Business Roundtable on Tuesday, Nov. 17, joined three other major business groups in endorsing a plan to close a $851 million budget hole by postponing for two years the fifth year of state income tax cuts.
The announcement came as Senate Republican continued to caucus behind closed doors in an effort to reach agreement on how to fill the budget hole. The Democratic-controlled House has approved postponing the tax cut but that reportedly is only one of several options being considered by Senate Republicans.
“We do not believe there are other responsible options that can be pursued at this time that will generate $850 million in revenue or cost savings, certainly not by the end of this calendar year at which time the state must act on the governor’s proposal,” the roundtable said in a prepared statement.
The group is a partnership of the chief executives of the state’s major businesses.
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association and the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, previously endorsed postponing the tax cut.
The Senate plans to consider a bill cutting legislators’ pay by 5 percent separately from the bill to fill the budget hole. The pay cut was part of the House bill.
The Senate pay cut bill also calls for 5 percent cuts for the governor, lieutenant governor and members of the governor’s cabinet.
TweetState worker caught golfing on work time
State worker Myron “Skip” Downard falsified his time cards, saying he was at work when actually he was ducking out to play with his Wednesday afternoon golf group at courses around Columbus, a report by state Inspector General Tom Charles said Tuesday, Nov. 17.
The inspector general investigated after a supervisor at the Industrial Commission of Ohio noticed discrepancies on Downard’s time records. Downard, who made $81,904 a year as a manager at the commission, retired Oct. 17, on his 26-year anniversary with state government and after the inspector general confronted him.
Scoring records from the Ohio Golf Association and time sheets filled out by Downard show he was golfing a dozen times while on the clock between April 2008 and April 2009, the report said. Four times Downard used sick time to escape to the links.
The report has been sent to the Columbus city attorney and Franklin County prosecutor for review.
TweetODOT worker caught running a real estate business on state time
Ohio Department of Transportation employee Roland O. Lapido ran a real estate business on state time, a report from state Inspector General Tom Charles said on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
Lapido, who works as a technician at ODOT’s headquarters in Columbus, made or received 17,976 calls on his personal cell phone during work hours during the course of 17 months. The calls to banks, mortgage companies, tenants and others amounted to 560 hours on the phone, or 69 work days, the report said. At Lapido’s rate of pay and benefits, it cost the state $29,994.
A second ODOT employee, Albert S. Antoine made more than 2,300 calls on his personal cell phone during work hours, amounting to 13 work days, Charles found. At Antoine’s rate of pay and benefits, that added up to $6,508.
Charles referred the report to the Franklin County prosecutor for review and to ODOT for a response.
TweetDayton-area Dems endorse Fisher in U.S. Senate race
Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher on Tuesday, Nov. 17, announced endorsements from Dayton-area Democrats in his bid for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2010.
He is running against Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner for the nomination.
Fisher announced endorsements from:
State Senator Fred Strahorn, D-Dayton
State Representative Clayton Luckie, D-Dayton
State Representative Roland Winburn, D-Harrison Twp.
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck
Huber Heights Mayor Ronald A. Fisher
Riverside Mayor Johnnie Doan
Springfield Mayor Warren Copeland
Trotwood Mayor Darreyl D. Davis
Wilmington Mayor David Raizk
“Ohio’s hard-working families need an advocate in Washington D.C. who will look out for their best interests and work to improve their quality,” Strahorn said in a press release.
“With Lee in the U.S. Senate, Ohio will finally have two senators committed to ensuring that our state becomes a clean energy pioneer, bringing thousands of new jobs and revitalizing our economy.”
Fisher said he welcomed the endorsements.
Former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman of suburban Cincinnati and Cleveland-area car dealer Tom Ganley are seeking the Republican nomination.
The race is for the seat now held by Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who is retiring and not seeking re-election.
TweetGreenville attorney suspended
The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday, Nov. 17, suspended a Greenville attorney’s law license for six months for violating a court’s gag order and then lying to the court about it.
While serving as appointed defense counsel for a child accused of setting a fire that killed five people, attorney David Rohrer violated the trial court’s gag order by indirectly leaking a document to the Darke County Daily Advocate newspaper, the Supreme Court found. The newspaper ran a story based on the leaked document. Later, during a court hearing, Rohrer made misleading statements about his role in the leak.
The Supreme Court said Rohrer’s conduct violated the discipline rules that prohibit knowingly making a false statement to a tribunal, knowingly disobeying a rule or order of a court, engaging in conduct that reflects adversely on an attorney’s fitness to practice law, engaging in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, and engaging in conduct that involves fraud, deceit, dishonesty or misrepresentation.
TweetYost, DeWine call for AG Cordray to withdraw his representation in “Joe the Plumber” case
The two Republican candidates for attorney general in 2010 on Monday, Nov. 16, called on Attorney General Richard Cordray to withdraw the attorney general’s office’s representation of three former state employees being sued by Samuel Joseph “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher.
“To take this case, the attorney general has to be able to say that what these three did was part of their jobs - and that’s not an argument you can make with a straight face,” David Yost, the Delaware County prosecutor, said in a press release.
Former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine of Cedarville said Cordray “should stop doing it.”
Cordray’s office had no reaction beyond comments the attorney general made last week.
Wurzelbacher sued the three former employees - Helen Jones Kelley, Douglas Thompson and Fred Williams - in U.S. District Court, charging that they violated his rights by accessing confidential information through state databases when they were working for the state.
Cordray, a Democrat, said last week that by providing representation he was following state law that “says in effect if you’re a state employee and you’re sued for work done in the course… of your employment, you’re entitled to a defense by the state attorney general’s office.”
He acknowledged that there are exceptions to this requirement but said that his decision would “minimize taxpayer exposure.” That’s because if representation is denied, the employee later can try to recover expenses after a lawsuit is settled, he said.
The exceptions are: if the employee “was acting manifestly outside the scope of his official employment or official responsibilities, with malicious purpose, in bad faith or in a wanton or reckless manner.”
Jones-Kelley formerly was director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Williams was assistant director and Thompson was deputy director of child support.
TweetSenate to consider pay cuts, budget fix separately
Breaking ranks with the Democratic-controlled House, the Republican-controlled Senate now plans to consider a bill cutting legislators’ pay by 5 percent separately from a measure to fill a $851 million budget hole, Senate Finance Committee John Carey, R-Wellston, said on Monday, Nov. 16.
It’s still not clear how the Senate will propose closing the budget hole, he said. The House-passed version of House Bill 318, which included the legislative pay cuts, calls for postponing for two years the fifth year of state income tax cuts to fill the budget hole.
“The debate still rages,” said Carey. Some senators want to count on future revenue from video lottery terminals at Ohio racetracks, although Carey said he doesn’t support this.
“I don’t personally think it’s a good idea,” he said. The slots-at-the-tracks plan first would have to face a vote of the people if a petition drive to get the issue on the next May’s ballot comes up with enough signatures.
The Senate version of the pay cuts, Senate Bill 209, also calls for 5 percent cuts for the governor, lieutenant governor and department heads. There also has been discussion of more budget cuts and using some of the $200 million in casino licensing fees, among other things.
The legislative pay cuts would trim the salaries of rank-and-file members, who earn $60,584 annually, by $3,092. The cuts would be bigger for legislative leaders who earn more.
Tweet182,700 H1N1 doses on order
The Ohio Department of Health ordered another 182,700 doses of H1N1 flu vaccine from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The doses will be delivered directly to 467 local health departments and doctors for high-risk people such as pregnant women, health care workers, people 6 months to 24 years of age, and people 25 to 64 years of age with chronic medical conditions.
The latest order brings Ohio’s total to 1.6 million doses so far.
TweetVonage customers to get refunds, AG says
Vonage, an Internet-based phone service, will give refunds to eligible consumers who filed complaints about Vonage between Jan. 2004 and March 16, 2010, according to a multi-state settlement reached Monday, Nov. 16.
Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray signed the settlement.
“Through this settlement, Vonage is held accountable for customer service and advertising practices that led Ohioans to be confused and dissatisfied,” said Cordray.
Consumers had complained that it was nearly impossible to cancel their Vonage service. It turns out Vonage paid its customer service representatives incentives for keeping patrons from canceling. The settlement puts strict limitations on this practice and requires recording and verification of these phone calls, according to Cordray’s office.
Also, Vonage will be revising its disclosures regarding offers of “free” services, money back guarantees and trial periods.
Ohioans may file complaints about Vonage through www.SpeakOutOhio.gov or by calling (800) 282-0515.
TweetFormer U.S. Supreme Court Justice O’Connor to miss judicial reform forum
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who was to be the headliner, has bowed out of a Columbus forum scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 19-Friday, Nov. 20 on judicial selection.
O’Connor’s husband, John J. O’Connor III, died on Nov. 11 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease and O’Connor told Ohio Supreme Court Justice Thomas Moyer in a phone call that she would not be able to attend the forum as planned, according to the Web site of “A Forum on Judicial Selection - A Time for Action.”
The forum will be held at the Ohio Judicial Center and the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in downtown Columbus.
Discussions will focus on finding alternatives to Ohio’s system partisan elections of Supreme Court justices. It is one of just eight states in which Supreme Court justices are chosen in partisan elections.
Moyer, an advocate for changing the system, has said he wants to develop a system that removes the perception that money - campaign contributions - determines the outcomes of cases.
TweetSarah Palin’s book tour coming to Ohio
Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, is planning two Ohio stops on her book tour to tout “Going Rogue: An American Life.”
Both Ohio stops are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 20:
Cincinnati
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
2692 Madison Road
noon - 3 p.m.
Columbus
Borders Books and Music
6670 Sawmill Road
6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Palin,the former governor of Alaska, already is being mentioned as a possible 2012 GOP presidential candidate.
TweetPoll: AARP Ohio members back key elements of health care overhaul
Ohio AARP members strongly supported key elements of the health care overhaul plan recently passed by the U.S. House, according to a poll released on Monday, Nov. 16, by AARP Ohio.
Here are key poll results:
*77 percent backed a ban on denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
*73 percent backed stopping insurance companies from charging much higher premiums based on age.
*68 percent supported closing the Medicare “doughnut hole.”
*81 percent supported requiring insurance companies to cover routine checkups and preventive care - like screenings for diabetes, prostrate cancer and osteoporosis - at no extra charge.
“Despite divisive rhetoric, our members - across party and ideological lines-= support health care reform that allows all Americans to get quality, affordable coverage and protects Medicare for today’s seniors and future generations,” Jane Taylor, state president for Ohio AARP, said in a press release.
The Senate now is considering the health care overhaul plan.
AARP Ohio surveyed 421 members from Oct. 30 to Nov. 8. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.8 percent, the press release said.
TweetHouse Republicans set “town hall” on government reform for Blue Ash library
The Ohio House Republican Policy Committee will hold a “town hall” to discuss state government reform on Monday, Nov. 16, at the Blue Ash Branch Library, 4911 Cooper Road.
The session is from 5-7 p.m. Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, chairs the committee. Morgan and Reps. Ron Amstutz, R-Wooster, John Adams, R-Sidney and Joe Uecker, R-Miami Twp., are expected to attend.
The public is invited but you can RSVP to victory@sethmorgan.org or to ohiohousepolicy@gmail.gov.
TweetButler County GOP endorses Yost in AG race
The Butler County Republican Party Central and Executive Committee has endorsed Dave Yost, the Delaware County prosecutor, for attorney general in 2010, Yost’s campaign announced on Friday, Nov. 13.
Yost is running aganst Mike DeWine of Cedarville, the former U.S. senator and lieutenant governor, in the GOP primary for attorney general.
The winner is expected to take on Democratic incumbent Richard Cordray.
“This is an enormous win for our campaign, but it’s even more important as a signal of a fresh start for Ohio,” Yost said in a press release. “I’m humbled and encouraged by this vote of confidence as a signal of the desire among voters for a new generation of leadership.”
DeWine could not be reached.
TweetTime names Gee one of top 10 university presidents
In an issue due out Friday, Nov. 13, Time magazine paints Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee as a tireless fund-raiser, a cunning political operator, and a man pushing for dramatic change in higher education.
Gee tops Time’s list of 10 Best College Presidents. The magazine names the bow-tie wearing Gee as the “big man on campus” while the others on the list are “nine presidents to watch.”
Among the nine to watch is University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman. Absent from the list are any Ivy Leaguers.
Gee, 65, oversees an enterprise with a $4.4 billion annual budget, 39,987 employees, and 63,217 students. He is paid $802,125 a year as a base salary and this year Gee elected to donate his $220,584 bonus and raise to student scholarships.
Gee led OSU between Sept. 1990 and Jan. 1998 and returned to the president’s job in 2007.
To read the Time article on Gee, click here.
TweetGarrison pushes petition reforms
Democrat Jennifer Garrison, who is running for Secretary of State next year, plans to introduce legislation that aims to clean up the petition circulating process in Ohio that has been marred in recent years by fraud, dead voters, and lying workers.
Garrison, a state representative from Marietta, wants petition firms to be licensed by the Secretary of State, circulators to be registered with the state, and training to be offered to anyone who is circulating ballot petitions.
Earlier this year, the signatures of 23 dead people showed up on petitions in Montgomery County; in 2008, workers circulating pay day lending petitions inaccurately told voters the issue would lower loan rates; and in 2007, there was misconduct among circulators of a strip club referendum.
“Ohio must beef up its laws to protect direct democracy,” Garrison said. “And if it does not, our system will continue to be hijacked by well-financed special interests that subvert the process through illegal or misleading activity.”
TweetPoll: Ohio voters back U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, including more troops
Ohio voters believe the United States is doing the right thing in Afghanistan and support the recommendation from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander, to send 40,000 more U.S. troops, according to a poll released on Thursday, Nov. 12.
The Quinnipiac University Poll found that voters support U.S. involvement, 48-43 percent. By a 51-40 percent margin, they support sending the additional troops, the poll found.
However, 55 percent said that they’d be willing to commit U.S. troops for two years or a shorter time period.
That limited support “is hardly a mandate for the type of long-term commitment that the Pentagon has said will be needed for victory,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a press release.
The poll was taken from Thursday, Nov.5 to Monday, Nov.9 with 1,123 Ohio voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.
TweetObama, other Dems slide in new poll
For the first time, more Ohio voters disapproved of Democratic President Barack Obama’s performance in the White House than approved, according to a poll released on Thursday, Nov. 12.
The Quinnipiac University Poll also found that for the first time Republican Rob Portman of suburban Cincinnati is moving ahead of the two Democratic candidates in Ohio’s 2010 U.S. Senate race.
In earlier polls, the Democrats led Portman.
The poll found that 50 percent of the voters disapproved of Obama’s performance while 45 percent approved, down from a September poll when 53 percent approved and 42 percent disapproved.
Here is your chance to get in the debate:
In the Senate race, Portman, a former U.S. House member and trade representative and budget director for President George W. Bush, led Democrat Jennifer Brunner, the secretary of state, 38-34 percent and Democrat Lee Fisher, the lieutenant governor, 39-36 percent.
Among Democrats, Fisher led Brunner, 24-22 percent, with 51 percent undecided.
For the Republican nomination, Portman led Tom Ganley, the Cleveland-area car dealer, 26-7 percent, with 64 percent undecided.
Obama’s slippage should catch the White House’s attention, said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
“Ohio is still the most important swing state in the country,” said Brown. “The fact that the president is under water in Ohio is a sign for the White House that something is going on.”
The slip in the president’s overall approval rating was just one of the negative signs for Obama, who carried Ohio in 2008.
Others included:
*For the first time, voters split 40-40 on who is doing he better job handling health care — Obama or congressional Republicans.
*Voters disapproved Of Obama’s handling of health care, 57-36 percent.
*Voters disapproved of the president’s handling of the economy, 53-42 percent.
Brown cautioned that it’s too early to read too much into the Senate race results.
“Nobody knows who they are,” Brown said. “Nobody knows who any of the four candidates are.”
The Thursday poll results followed a Wednesday poll that showed likely Republican challenger John Kasich tied 40-40 percent with incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.
The fates of all the Democrats are tied to Obama’s, said Brown.
“Politics is a team game. The players on the team are affected by the captain..In this case it’s captain Obama,” Brown said.
Republicans still have their own problems, he said.
“The Republicans don’t have a captain,” he said. “Nationally, the Republican brand is still in bad shape.”
The poll was taken from Thursday, Nov. 5 to Monday, Nov. 9 with 1,123 voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
TweetRecession over but it doesn’t feel like it to Ohio workers
The economic recession is officially ended but Ohio continues to struggle with high unemployment and job losses, according to the latest monthly financial report from the state’s Office of Budget and Management.
The state’s unemployment rate slipped to 10.1 percent in September compared with 10.8 percent in August, but state officials estimate that many Ohioans have given up actively looking for work, which means they aren’t counted as unemployed.
What’s more, the median duration of unemployment hit a record high of 18.7 weeks. Between 1967 and 2007, Americans out of work typically went jobless for 7.1 weeks at a time. And of those unemployed in October, 55.1 percent said they were on permanent lay off. That figure is much higher than the 40-year average of 33.9 percent being on permanent layoff.
In September, 5,900 Ohioans lost their jobs. And between October 2008 and September 2009, Ohio lost 258,200 jobs, including 14,700 in the Dayton area.
Another indicator of tough economic times is Ohio’s Medicaid caseload, which now stands at 2.01 million. The state and federally funded program provides health insurance for aged, blind and disabled Ohioans as well as low-income families. September, when 22,211 more people were added, marked the 21st consecutive month of growth in the Medicaid caseload in Ohio.
TweetVoters prefer split control of state legislature
Ohio voters prefer split control of the state legislature, with Democrats controlling one house and Republicans the other.
In a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 52 percent said they favored split control, while 22 percent favored Republicans controlling both houses and 19 percent wanted Democrats to be in charge of both.
Currently, Republicans control the Senate while Democrats control the House.
In the poll, 47 percent disapproved of the job the legislature is doing while 33 percent approved and 20 percent didn’t know or provided no answer.
The poll was taken with 1,123 voters from Thursday, Nov. 5 to Monday, Nov. 9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percent.
TweetVoters rate Sens. Voinovich, Brown about the same
Ohio voters gave about the same approval ratings to U.S. Sens. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
In the poll, 47 percent approved of how Voinovich is handling his job while 36 percent disapproved and 17 percent didn’t know or had no answer.
For Brown, 46 percent approved, 31 percent disapproved and 23 percent didn’t know or had no answer.
The poll was taken from Thursday, Nov. 5 to Monday, Nov. 9 with 1,123 voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percent.
TweetGanley starts TV ads in Ohio — and not to sell cars
Republican Tom Ganley, a Cleveland area car dealer, launched a statewide television ad campaign in his bid to upset GOP favorite Rob Portman for the Ohio Republican Party nomination for U.S. Senate next spring.
The 60-second ad talks about Ganley’s ability to create jobs and his character, according to his campaign. Ganley owns 32 auto dealerships as well as finance and insurance companies that together employ more than 1,000 workers.
Portman, a former Congressman and Bush White House budget director, and Ganley will face off in a primary in May 2010. The winner will go against the Democratic party nominee — either Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner or Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher.
All four are vying to replace Republican George Voinovich, who is retiring.
TweetKasich catches Strickland in governor’s race poll
Republican John Kasich has moved into a 40-40 percent tie with Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in a poll of voters for the 2010 governor’s race released on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
The tie in the Quinnipiac University poll compares to a 46-36 percent lead for Strickland in a Sept. 15 poll.
“It’s obvious these numbers reflect voters’ views of the governor, not of John Kasich,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “They don’t know who he (Kasich) is.
Nearly seven out of 10 voters - 69 percent - said they had not heard enough about Kasich to express an opinion about him.
In contrast, just 23 percent of voters said they hadn’t heard enough about Strickland to have an opinion about him.
Kasich is a former U.S. House member from suburban Columbus.
Here’s your chance to express an opinion on the race:
Strickland got a low score for handling the economy, with voters disapproving 52-33 percent. Also, 41 percent said Kasich could do a better job rebuilding the economy, compared to 33 percent who said Strickland could.
Also, 42 percent of voters said Kasich could do a better job of handling the state budget, compared to 34 percent who picked Strickland.
Strickland and Kasich both fare well with members of their own parties, while Kasich leads narrowly among independents.
Among Republicans, Kasich led 76-9 percent, about the same as the governor’s 76-10 percent lead among Democrats. Among independents, Kasich was ahead, 39-34 percent.
Another warning sign for Democrats - there was almost no gender gap in the poll. Women, who have been a source of strengths for Democrats, favored the governor barely, 40-38 percent, while men favored Kasich, 43-41 percent.
Brown said the poll, released nearly a year before the 2010 election, doesn’t mean Strickland is going to lose.
The race will be about Strickland’s record as governor but also “this is going to be a race to define John Kasich,” Brown said.
The poll was taken from Thursday, Nov.5 to Monday, Nov. 9 with 1,123 Ohio voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
TweetSen. Seitz surprised by House committee OK of election bill; could doom quick final passage
Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, said late on Tuesday, Nov. 10, that he was surprised that earlier in the day the House Elections and Ethics Committee passed a comprehensive elections overhaul bill.
The 7-6 vote on House Bill 260 was along party lines, with Democrats voting “yes” and Republicans “no.” Democrats control the House.
Seitz is sponsor of Senate Bill 8, a less comprehensive election overhaul bill being considered by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Seitz said he thought there had been an agreement for him, Rep. Dan Stewart, D-Columbus, and key staffers to negotiate an agreed-upon bill that both the House and Senate could consider before any action was taken.
Now it is likely the Senate will proceed with its own bill and that there will not be time to reach agreement on a final bill before the end of the year, said Seitz. The goal had been to have a bill signed by Gov. Ted Strickland for the May 2010 primary. It is not considered likely that negotiations would go on in 2010 before the primary and general election on a topic as sensitive as election overhaul.
Seitz predicted that if the full House goes ahead as planned next Wednesday and approves House Bill 260, that the Senate would pass its own bill and the two pieces of legislation would pass each other like two ships in the night.
He said he objects to many parts of the House bill. For example, it would allow the secretary of state to break a 2-2 tie on a county board of elections to permit increasing the number of early voting centers in a county from one to as many as four.
Seitz’s bill would require approval of at least three of four elections board members to increase the number of early voting centers. His bill would let counties increase the number of early voting centers to three. Seitz said he is not concerned whether the number of centers would be three or four but that a three-member super majority should be required to add early voting centers, not the involvement of the secretary of state.
TweetRep. Yates proposes overturning Ohio’s same-sex marriage ban
Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Cincinnati, wants voters to repeal the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Yates on Tuesday, Nov. 10, introduced House Joint Resolution 7 which calls on the House and Senate to put the repeal on the May 2010 ballot. To get a constitutional amendment on the ballot would require 60 votes in the 99-member House and 20 in the 33-member Senate.
Yates said his timing might not be good but he wants to start a discussion.
“I think in light of the recent situation in Maine, that the actual hopes may be for the moment diminished,” he said.
Maine voters last week repealed a state law that would have allowed same-sex marriage.
Ohio voters in 2004 approved 62-38 percent the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The amendment also bars government from creating a legal status for situations such as civil unions that approximate marriage.
Yates said that over time he thinks Ohioans will see that some provisions of the amendment are “not business friendly and make it difficult for us to attract a diverse population.”
TweetGay rights advocate takes national job
Equality Ohio Executive Director Lynne Bowman is leaving the statewide gay rights advocacy group for a national job with Equality Federation.
The federation is an association of all statewide lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgendered rights organizations across the country.
Bowman, who has led the Ohio group since its inception five years ago, will work on leadership development, strategic planning and other topics as state services director for Equality Federation.
Equality Ohio is interviewing candidates for the executive director post.
Tweet
Committee OKs elections overhaul; full House to vote next week
The House Elections and Ethics Committee on Tuesday, Nov. 10, approved a major overhaul of the state’s elections system, setting the stage for a vote by the full House next week.
The committee vote was along party lines, with Democrats in support and Republicans opposed.
Key provisions of House Bill 260:
*Ohioans would have 28 days before an election to vote absentee, either in person or byi mail.
*Absentee voting would end on the Monday before a Tuesday election.
*Counties could have up to four early voting locations.
*Online voter registration would be authorized for Ohioans who have a current and valid ID from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
*To vote, Ohioans would be required to show government or school-issued photo identification or provide their birth dates, signatures and the last four digits of their Social Security or driver’s license numbers.
*The overhaul provides clear rules for quickly and efficiently providing ballots to military and overseas voters. It modernizes the system for absentee ballot requests from these voters and uses up-to-date technology to track when ballots are received and mailed.
“This is an important day for for Ohio voters,” Committee Chairman Dan Stewart, D-Columbus, said in a press release. “As we take one step closer to long-needed corrections in our election law.”
The Senate is considering its own elections reform plan, Senate Bill 8.
TweetCordray warns of AG impostor scam
Somebody’s posing as Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray - or at least a representative from Cordray’s office.
Cordray on Tuesday, Nov. 10, issued a press release warning Ohioans of a phone scam in which he said callers say they are from the attorney general’s office and demand personal information.
The calls are not authorized and Ohioans shouldn’t provide personal information, Cordray said.
Kim Kowalski, a Cordray spokeswoman, said the office has received reports of such calls being made statewide, including in the Dayton area.
“We know that these scam artists are particularly assertive and in at least one instance have used threats of arrest and job loss,” Cordray said.
Some reported calls have been automated, while others involved a live voice, the release said. In both types of calls, recipients were asked to provide Social Security numbers.
Ohioans who believe they’ve been victims of a scam, can file a complaint by calling Cordray’s office at 1-800-282-0515 or at the Web site, www.SpeakOutOhio.gov.
Cordray provided these guidelines to avoid falling victim to such scams:
*Don’t give out personal information to an unexpected caller. The attorney general’s office won’t ask for your Social Security number.
*When in doubt, ask for the name of the organization and check it out on your own. Call back to a listed number.
*If you think you’ve given out your Social Security number in a scam, place an alert on your credit reports and monitor your credit reports for unauthorized activity.
TweetTax refunds could go directly toward retirement
Ohio taxpayers could have their state income tax refund checks deposited directly into a retirement savings account, such as a 401(k) or an individual retirement account, if a bill sponsored by state Sen. Eric Kearney, D-Cincinnati, becomes law.
Kearney says the bill would make retirement saving easier and it would cut costs for the state. The Ohio Department of Taxation already allows direct deposit of refunds for checking or savings accounts.
TweetHealth care bill divides Ohio delegation
Ohio’s 18 members in the U.S. House of Representatives split almost evenly on the vote Saturday, Nov. 7 on the controversial health care bill. The bill represents the most significant expansion of government run health care since Medicare was created in 1965.
The 1,990-page bill passed largely along party lines with a 220-215 vote.
Ohio Congress members voting in favor included: Steve Driehaus, D-Cincinnati, Marcia Fudge, D-Cleveland, Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Columbus, Tim Ryan, D-Niles, Zack Space, D-Dover, Betty Sutton, D-Chardon, and Charlie Wilson, D-St. Clairsville.
Those opposed were: Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, John Bocceri, D-Alliance, John Boehner, R-West Chester, Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, Dennis Kucinich, D-Cleveland, Steve LaTourette, R-Bainbridge, Robert Latta, R-Bowling Green, Jean Schmidt, R-Cincinnati, Pat Tiberi, R-Columbus, and Mike Turner, R-Centerville.
TweetCasino backers to meet with Strickland, legislative leaders
Two key backers of the successful campaign to approve casinos for four Ohio cities are scheduled to meet separately on Tuesday, Nov. 10, with Gov. Ted Strickland, House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, and Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for the pro-casino Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan said.
“It’s really an initial meeting to say, ‘look, there’s legislation that needs to be passed,’” said Tenenbaum.
Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Tim Wilmott, president and chief operating officers of Penn National Gaming, are to be in the meetings with the top state officials, said Tenenbaum
Issue 3, the casino ballot plan approved by voters last week, called for passage of legislation implementing the casino plan within six months.
The constitutional amendment also called for Strickland, with the approval of the Senate, to appoint the seven members of the Ohio Casino Control Commission.
Tenenbaum said that Gilbert and Wilmott are aware that there already has been talk of putting new constitutional amendments on the ballot next year to change the casino plan.
The plan approved by voters calls for casinos in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo and Columbus.
TweetCourt reinstates death sentence for killer
An Ohio man with a long history of luring gay men into secluded areas to rob them can be put to death for a 1985 murder case, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in a 9-0 ruling released Monday, Nov. 9.
The ruling reinstates the death sentence of Robert Van Hook for the murder of David Self.
The sentence had been set aside earlier this year when the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that defense attorneys failed to uncover information about Van Hook’s childhood.
Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray appealed that ruling, saying Van Hook’s lawyers performed adequately. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed.
“We are very pleased with the court’s decision,” Cordray said. “The trial court learned extensive details about Mr. Van Hook’s difficult childhood and upbringing, but the court still elected to impose a death sentence. That decision was appropriate given the horrific nature of the murder in this case.”
Van Hook met Self in a Cincinnati bar, lured him to an apartment for sex, strangled him, mutilated his body and robbed him.
TweetHealth care forum and competing rally planned
Supporters of free market health care reforms will hold a public forum and supporters of the health care reform making it way through Congress will rally in downtown Dayton on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
A panel will discuss “Free Market Health Care Reform” in the Dayton Convention Center, 22 E. Fifth St., Dayton from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Presented by Take It Back in association with other local organizations, the forum will include discussion on how to solve the health care issue using “community resources and free market principles,” according to a news release.
Also Wednesday, a rally will be held in support of the health care reform package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives over the weekend and proposals under consideration in the U.S. Senate. Sponsored by liberal advocacy group, ProgressOhio, the rally is at 6 p.m. and begins at 131 S. Wilkinson Street and includes a march to the Dayton Convention Center.
TweetDowntown rally for jobs planned
A rally for jobs and and for the government to provide more help to needy people is being held in downtown Dayton on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 4:30 p.m., according to Logan Martinez rally coordinator and a member of the Miami Valley Full Employment Council.
The rally is in front of the Old Court House at Third and Main streets at 4:30 p.m. Martinez said the rally is to call for living wage jobs; support for people who are unemployed, underemployed or underpaid; new job creation programs; abolition of time limits for families on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; a rollback in Greater Dayton RTA fare increases and putting a stop to evictions and renegotiating home mortgages.
Tweet434,800 H1N1 vaccine doses on the way
Another 434,800 doses of H1N1 flu vaccine are on order for Ohio, the state Department of Health said Monday, Nov. 9. The doses were ordered from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday and are expected to be shipped directly to 315 local health departments and hospitals across the state.
The vaccine is earmarked for health care workers, pregnant women, children and young adults, adults with chronic medical conditions, and people who live with or care for babies less than 6 months old.
Once this round of doses arrive, Ohio will have had 1.4 million doses. More vaccine is expected in the coming weeks.
TweetHusted names county chairs for secretary of state campaign
State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, on Monday, Nov. 9, announced 88 county chairs for his secretary of state campaign.
“A successful campaign in Ohio starts with building a strong grassroots organization in all 88 counties,” Husted said in a press release. “A full year before the election we have Republican and community leaders throughout the state actively working to build a winning campaign for secretary of state.”
Husted is running against Sandy O’ Brien, the former Ashtabula County auditor, for the Republican nomination in the secretary of state’s race.
State Rep. Jennifer Garrison, D-Marietta, is the Democratic candidate.
Here are Husted’s county chairs in Dayton-area counties:
Montgomery, Rep. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering; Carl Wick, campaign treasurer and Maureen Patterson, regional leader
Butler, Alex Coelho, president, Miami University College Republicans
Champaign, Mike Terry, county Central Committee chair
Clark, state Sen. Chris Widener, R-Springfield
Darke, Darryl Mehaffle, Ohio Republican Party Central Committee member
Greene, Mike Bir, assistant executive chair, county party
Miami, Jim Oda, Central Committee member
Preble, Kim Craft, county Executive Committee member
Warren, Tom Raga, former state representative
For other county chairs, click www.hustedforohio.com.
TweetState flags ordered to fly at half-staff
All Ohio and American flags at public buildings and grounds are to be flown at half-staff until Tuesday, Nov. 10, in honor of the victims of the Fort Hood shootings, Gov. Ted Strickland ordered. “Ohio grieves for the victims of the tragedy at Fort Hood. The prayers of our people seek comfort for the families of those who were lost, recovery for those who were injured, and solace for all whose lives were affected by this senseless violence,” Strickland said in a written statement.
TweetIn Congress the rich get poorer, a little bit anyway
While regular Joes across America rely on unemployment benefits and max out their credit cards to get by, members of Congress can say they feel their pain.
Current congressional members’ median wealth uncharacteristically dipped 5 percent in 2008 compared with 2007, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of federal personal financial disclosure reports found.
Don’t feel too badly for them, though. Congress is still a club with 237 millionaires and 50 members have at least $10 million.
“Generally speaking, members of Congress are wealthy by comparison with the vast majority of Americans. That doesn’t mean they’re immune to the effects of this ailing economy — they’re not,” said Sheila Krumholz, the Center for Responsive Politics’ executive director. “But they are much better positioned to withstand financial pressures than the people they represent.”
The CRP found that current U.S. senators have a median reportable worth of $1.79 million while House members’ median income was $622,254 in 2008. That’s down from $2.27 million and $724,258, respectively, in 2007, the report said.
U.S. senators currently serving have a median reportable worth of $1.79 million for 2008, down from $2.27 million in 2007, CRP’s analysis indicates. Meanwhile, currently serving House members’ median income was $622,254 in 2008, down from $724,258 in 2007.
Members of Congress are required to report their wealth and liabilities in broad ranges. CRP calculated members range of asset values and average estimated wealth. Here is Miami Valley delegation members’ net worth ranges and how they ranked in the House and Senate:
Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, net worth $6,006 to $90,000, ranks 387th John Boehner, R-West Chester, net worth $1.7 million to $6.6 million, ranks 70th Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, net worth $105,008 to $327,000, ranks 319th Jean Schmidt, R-Cincinnati, net worth $2.8 million to $9 million, ranks 48th Mike Turner, R-Centerville, net worth $172,091 to $1.4 million, ranks 192nd.
Sherrod Brown, D-Avon, net worth $65,009 to $275,000, ranks 92nd George Voinovich, R-Cleveland, net worth $665,055 to $2.3 million, ranks 58th
TweetAG Cordray, Texas mortgage servicing company sue each other
Attorney General Richard Cordray and a Texas-based mortgage servicing company on Thursday, Nov. 5, sued each other in separate but related lawsuits.
Cordray filed suit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in Cleveland against American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc., alleging violations of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act. The company services more than 12,000 subprime and prime mortgage loans in Ohio, including the Dayton area, Cordray’s office said.
Separately, the company sued Cordray in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus seeking a declaration that the company’s servicing practices comply with Ohio law. The suit seeks to dispute “unsupported allegations made” in a letter from Cordray’s office to the company before the suit against the firm was filed in Cleveland.
The suit filed against the company alleges:
*Incompetent and inadequate customer service.
*Unfair and deceptive loan modification terms.
*Failure to respond to requests for assistance.
*Failure to offer timely or affordable loan mitigation options to borrowers.
“The acts of some mortgage servicers have gone beyond the point of being negligent,” Cordray said in a press release. “They have become predatory financial practices and in Ohio they won’t be tolerated.”
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction against continuation of unfair and deceptive loan modification practices, restitution, civil penalties and damages.
Jordan Dorchuck, the company’s executive vice president and chief legal officer, said in a press release that “we are convinced that these allegations are entirely without merit, and intend to defend ourselves vigorously against them.”
Dorchuck cited the “positive feedback we have received from many Ohio state and non-profit agencies regarding our homeownership preservation efforts.”
TweetCommittee unveils new version of elections overhaul bill
Ohioans would have 28 days before an election to vote absentee either in person or by mail under a new version of comprehensive voting legislation unveiled on Thursday, Nov. 5, by the House Elections and Ethics Committee
Also, absentee voting would end on the Monday before a Tuesday election, rather than on the Saturday before the election as called for in a previous version of the proposal.
The new version also creates online voter registration for Ohioans who have a current and valid ID from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
The new version of the bill also pulls back from a plan to eliminate special elections now allowed in February and August and instead create a task force to study the issue.
Elimination of the special elections was seen as a way to save money but Committee Chairman Dan Stewart, D-Columbus, said school districts often need the option of special elections for votes on levies.
Majority Democrats accepted the new version of the bill while Republicans opposed it.
He called House Bill 260 a “common sense” proposal and said he committee would vote it out on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The goal is for the full House to consider it by the end of the month, Stewart said.
The Senate also is considering a proposal to overhaul elections. Stewart said he hopes the two chambers can reach agreement on a final bill by the end of the year so changes would be in effect for the May 2010 primary.
Other provisions in House Bill 260:
*Counties could have up to four early voting locations.
*A challenge to a voter’s registration would have to be upheld by a majority of elections officials present. Now one official may make the challenge.
*To vote, Ohioans would be required to show government or school-issued photo identification or provide their birth date, signature and the last four digits of their Social Security or driver’s license number.
The previous version would have allowed the use of ID cards from nonprofits to vote.
TweetStrickland surprised by McLin’s loss
Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin’s upset loss came as a surprise to Gov. Ted Strickland, who had endorsed McLin and attended a recent fund-raiser for her but did not actively campaign on her behalf.
Strickland said didn’t know if stumping for her would have made a difference.
“The mayor and I are very close. I talked to her today, I talked to her last night. She didn’t really, you know, have that kind of campaign as far as I know, in terms of doing a lot of media and stuff,” Strickland said on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Strickland described McLin as a terrific friend who worked her heart out for the city of Dayton.
“Of all the things that happened (in the election) that was perhaps the thing that was most upsetting to me,” he said.
“It was a close election and I feel badly for her. But I admire her greatly,” the governor said.
TweetParty bosses trade insights on McLin loss
Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern attributed Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin’s loss to not enough campaigning early enough in the year.
McLin’s campaign “caught fire in the final weeks. We needed it to catch fire in the final months,” Redfern said. McLin was too busy governing and didn’t commit enough time to campaigning, he said.
But Ohio GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine of Fairborn said McLin’s loss represented the voters rejecting the status quo and the Democratic party’s lack of vision on jobs and its mantra of bigger government. He called McLin defeat after eight years in office “a humiliating defeat for Democrats in Ohio.”
“For a McLin to lose a re-election in the city of Dayton is nothing short of stunning,” DeWine said.
Each party chairman tried to spin Tuesday’s election results to look the best for their party and said they are positioned to win big in 2010.
“The 2010 election is officially underway,” DeWine said.
TweetPenn National goal: two “Hollywood” casinos in Ohio by 2012
Penn National Gaming hopes to have “Hollywood” casinos like the one in Lawrenceburg, Ind., operating in Columbus and Toledo by late 2012, Tim Wilmott, Penn National president and chief operating officer said on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
“We’re very anxious to begin work here in Columbus and also in Toledo,” Wilmott said at the proposed site of the Columbus casino.
It is on the west end of the city’s downtown Arena District which includes the Columbus Clippers’ Huntington Field baseball park and Nationwide Arena, home of the NHL’s Blue Jackets.
Wilmott said the company hopes to break ground next year and plans to invest $600 million to build both casinos, with slightly more going to the one in Columbus.
The $335 million Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg has 3,200 slots and electronic table games and 41 live poker tables plus bars and restaurants. Dealers are celebrity look-alikes for Michael Jackson, Elvis, Rod Stewart and others.
Voters approved Issue 3 on Tuesday which permits casinos in Columbus,Toledo, Cincinnati and Cleveland. Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, will own the casinos in Cincinnati and Cleveland and also has said he wants them to open in 2012.
Franklin County, which includes Columbus, was the only casino county where voters rejected Issue 3. Wilmott and Eric Schippers, Penn National senior vice president, said company officials want to work with Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, who opposed the issue, and others to produce a first-class attraction that will add visitors and business to the bustling Arena District.
TweetMcLin ducked out of dinner on election night
State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said Mayor Rhine McLin made a brief appearance at a business dinner at the Racquet Club in the Kettering Tower on election night but left before the event got started.
No one in the room was aware that McLin was about to lose her bid for a third term, Husted said.
“Everybody today is saying ‘Oh, we should have seen that coming,’ ” he said. “…It really caught everyone by surprise.”
The dinner, attended by Gov. Ted Strickland and other state officials, was to welcome Beijing West, the company that purchased some of Delphi’s business lines.
TweetMontgomery County Treasurer Rice urges support for land bank authority
Montgomery County Treasurer Carolyn Rice on Wednesday, Nov. 4, urged a House committee to pass legislation permitting Montgomery County and other counties with populations greater than 100,000 to have the authority to organize county land banks.
The land banks would be used to acquire abandoned properties and make plans for reusing them, Rice told the Local Government and Public Administration Committee.
There have been 23,262 foreclosures filed in Montgomery County from Jan. 1, 2005 to Oct. 26, 2009, leading to an big increase in abandoned properties, she said.
“I wish I had the exact number of vacant and abandoned properties to share with you but I don’t,” said Rice. “The number changes every week.”
The crisis affects villages like Phillipsburg as well as the city of Dayton, she said.
“This problem touches every jurisdiction in our county,” she said.
Interest on delinquent property taxes would be a source of revenue to get the land bank started, she said.
The committee on Wednesday heard from supporters of the plan. More hearings are expected before the committee acts.
TweetStrickland disappointed casino issue passed
Gov. Ted Strickland said he is personally disappointed that Issue 3 passed but he understands, given the economic recession, why Ohioans are willing to give casinos a chance.
“The voters have spoken and state leaders and legislators must now implement the constitutional amendment while making sure it benefits the people of this state and puts more Ohioans to work,” Strickland said in a written statement.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Clyde Evans, R-Rio Grande, promised to introduce a constitutional amendment in the General Assembly that modify the casino proposal that voters just adopted.
Evans wants to bump up the tax rate to 60 percent of gross revenues, instead of 33 percent; route the tax revenues through state government for scholarships and education; select casino managers through a competitive bid process run by the Ohio Lottery; and allow for legislative input on where the four casinos may be located.
TweetSen. Voinovich despairs over passage of Issue 3
U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, a former governor and long-time opponent of casinos, on Wednesday, Nov. 4, issued a statement expressing disappointment with passageof Issue 3.
“I am terribly disappointed. As a result of the passage of Issue 3 there will be a great deal of pain and suffering in Ohio - I feel for the families of those who will experience casinos for the first time in their lives and, once lured in, will become addicted to gambling.” said Voinovich, also a former Cleveland mayor.
“I predict there will be a particularly heavy burden on the city of Cleveland, whose poverty rate is already one of the highest in the nation. The jobs promised will not be forthcoming. I expect those who supported Issue 3 to be responsible for making sure the promises made are promises kept. And, I intend to be their conscience.”
Issue 3 permits casinos in Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo and Cleveland.
Tweet233 lawyers suspended by Ohio Supreme Court
The Ohio Supreme Court suspended the law licenses of 233 attorneys who failed to meet a biennial registration deadline and pay their $350 registration fee.
Ohio has 57,311 registered attorneys, 41,808 of whom are active licensees. They have to register every other year with the supreme court. Registration fees, due Sept. 1, pay for administration of the bar and run the disciplinary system that polices lawyers and judges.
The court suspended the 233 attorneys when they missed the Sept. 1 deadline and failed to pay the registration plus a late fee by Nov. 2.
TweetLawmaker ponders casino “correction” amendment
State Rep. Lou Blessing, R-Cincinnati, a leading opponent of the successful four-casino plan on the Tuesday, Nov. 3 ballot, said he’ll work with fellow lawmakers immediately to put a new constitutional amendment before voters to make corrections.
Blessing said the corrections amendment would make sure that Issue 3, for example doesn’t affect church casino nights. Issue 3 supporters have said the new constitutional amendment wouldn’t affect church casino nights but Blessing and others have disagreed.
For the legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot would require support from 60 members of the 99-member House and 20 members of the 33-member Senate.
Issue 3, approved 53-47 percent, permits casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.
TweetThree big casino counties fuel Issue 3 victory
Voters in three counties now in line to get casinos - Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Lucas- provided overwhelming support for Issue 3 on Tuesday, Nov. 3, fueling passage of the casino plan.
Voters in those counties approved the Issue 64-36 percent, according to final, unofficial returns from Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
Supporters outnumbered opponents, 461,384 to 260,083, a margin of more than 201,301 votes.
Statewide, voters approved the issue, 53-47 percent. The margin of victory statewide was 186,557 votes.
Voters in the fourth casino county, Franklin, overwhelmingly rejected the issue, 58-42 percent.
Casinos now are slated for Columbus (Franklin), Cleveland (Cuyahoga), Toledo (Lucas) and Cincinnati (Hamilton).
TweetMontgomery County voters reject casinos - barely
Montgomery County voters ended up barely defeating the plan to put casinos in four Ohio cities, according to final, unofficial returns from Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
The final tally was 72,007 against Issue 3 - 50.09 percent - to 71,736 - 49.91 percent- for the plan for casinos in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo. The issue was ahead most of Tuesday night as election returns were posted by Brunner’s office.
Statewide, voters approved the plan 53 to 47 percent.
TweetSupport for casinos holding at 53 percent
With 78 percent of the state’s precincts reporting, voters were approving Issue 3, the four-casino plan, 53-47 percent. Those were the latest results posted by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner at 11:15 p.m.
Support was strong for the plan in three of the four casino counties - Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Lucas- while Franklin County voters were rejecting it by a big margin.
Locally, voters in Montgomery, Preble, Clark. Warren and Butler counties were approving the plan while voters in Miami, Greene, Darke and Champaign counties were turning it down.
The casinos could open by 2012. The plan would permit casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.
TweetFranklin County strongly rejecting casinos
Voters in Franklin County, which includes Columbus, were breaking ranks with voters in other casino counties on Tuesday, Nov.3, and soundly rejecting the four-casino plan.
In results posted by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner about 10:15 p.m., Franklin County voters were voting down Issue 3, 58-42 percent.
Voters in the other three casino counties- Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Lucas - were voting strongly in favor of the issue, which would permit casinos in Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo.
Statewide, the issue was winning 54-46 percent with 49 percent of the precincts reporting.
TweetCasino opponent: “For sure it’s going to win”
Tom Smith, a leading opponent of the four-casino plan, said on Tuesday, Nov. 3, that “I think for sure it’s going to win.”
“It’s not looking good,” Smith, public policy director for the Ohio Council of Churches, said in a telephone interview. “I think more than anything it’s the aspect of the economy, jobs. People bought into that.”
Casino backers said the plan would create 34,000 jobs, a figure that Smith and other opponents disputed.
Smith spoke about 10 p.m. as results posted by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner showed voters approving Issue 3, 54-46 percent statewide, with 42 percent of precincts counted.
The issue would permit casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo.
TweetCasino issue chairman: “Cautiously optimistic”
Charles Luken, chairman of the pro-casino Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee, said on Tuesday, Nov. 3, that he is “cautiously optimistic” that voters will approve Issue 3.
Luken, the former U.S. House member and former Cincinnati mayor, spoke on the Ohio News Network from Cleveland.
He spoke with statewide results posted by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner showing voters approving the issue, 56-44 percent at about 9:45 p.m. with about 24 percent of the state’s precincts reporting.
The issue would permit casinos in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland and Toledo.
TweetCasino counties provide strong support for Issue 3
Issue 3 was winning by big margins in three of the four counties that would get casinos under the proposal in results posted by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner about 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Here are the results:
Cuyahoga County Cleveland, winning, 68-32 percent
Hamilton County, Cincinnati, winning, 70-30 percent
Lucas County, Toledo, winning, 59-41 percent
Results were not posted for Franklin County, which includes Columbus.
Statewide, the issue was winning, 60-40 percent, with more than 12 percent of precincts reporting.
The plan would permit casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.
Voters have rejected gambling plans four times since 1990.
TweetMost local counties supporting casinos
The Issue 3 casino plan was winning in Montgomery, Butler and Warren counties in early returns posted by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
Champaign and Darke County voters, however, were turning down the issue.
Here were results posted about 9 a.m.
Butler County, winning, 67-33 percent
Champaign County, losing, 53-47 percent
Darke County, losing, 53-47 percent
Montgomery County, winning, 59-41 percent
Warren County, winning, 59-41 percent
Statewide, voters were approving the issue, 59-41 percent.
Much of the early results came from absentee ballots and casino backers worked hard to get supporters to vote absentee.
The plan would put casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.
TweetHamilton County voters go big for casinos
Early returns posted from Hamilton County show voters overwhelming supporting Issue 3, which would put a casino in Cincinnati.
The results from Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner posted just after 8:35 p.m. showed Issue 3 winning, 70-30 percent in Hamilton County. Statewide, the issue was ahead, 61-39 percent.
Issue 3 also would put casinos in Columbus, Cleveland and Toledo.
TweetCasino plan winning early in Montgomery County
First results from Montgomery County posted by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner showed Issue 3 - the plan to put casinos in four Ohio cities - winning 59-41 percent.
Statewide, the issue was winning about 60-40 percent according to the results posted about 8:10 p.m. Montgomery County was the only Dayton-area county with results posted by Brunner.
Issue 3 calls for casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo.
TweetCasinos take early lead
Early results posted by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on Tuesday, Nov. 3, showed the plan to put casinos in four Ohio cities leading, 68-32 percent statewide.
The results were posted just after polls closed at 7:30 p.m. and are believed to be from absentee ballots, according to Brunner’s office.
Issue 3 calls for casinos in Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo and Cleveland.
Tweet389,500 more H1N1 doses on order
Health departments and hospitals across the state will be getting another 389,500 doses of H1N1 flu vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state Department of Health said.
State health officials on Friday, Oct. 30, ordered 60,800 doses of nasal spray vaccine and 328,700 shots of the H1N1 flu vaccine.
The doses are earmarked for health care workers, pregnant women, people who live with or care for children less than 6 months old, people ages 6 months to 24 years, and people 25 to 64 who have chronic medical conditions.
The orders should start arriving Nov. 3. Including the latest order, Ohio’s allotment so far is 984,700 doses.
For more information on vaccine availability, check the ODH Web site at http://www.flu.ohio.gov or call the ODH H1N1 information line at 1-866-800-1404 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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