Madison graduation 2012
Warren County CC graduation
New Miami graduation 2012
Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2011 > May > 24
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Drilling plans march forward
Plans to allow drilling for oil and gas on state-owned land, including parks and preserves, is moving forward in the Ohio House this week.
The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday voted 12-7 along party lines in favor of the bill that would set up a five member Oil and Gas Leasing Commission and require state-owned property to be classified according to deed restrictions or encumbrances. The full House is expected to take up the measure on Wednesday.
Republicans on the House committee tabled more than a dozen amendments offered by Democrats who echoed concerns raised by environmental groups.
Democrats tried to get a two-year moratorium on horizontal hydro-fracking in state parks. Hydro-fracking involves forcing water down into a well, causing fractures that provide a route for oil and gas to follow.
Democrats also unsuccessfully attempted to insert a ban on drilling in or under Lake Erie.
Supporters of the bill say it is a way to raise cash for state park maintenance and tap into local energy sources. They noted that there is already a federal ban on drilling under or in the Great Lakes.
House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Dave Hall, R-Millersburg, said drilling is most likely to occur in eastern Ohio and could raise up to $3,000 per acre per year for the state.
TweetPoll: Obama weak in Ohio but stronger than GOP rivals
President Barack Obama’s approval rating with Ohio voters is below 50 percent but the Democratic president still appears to be in decent shape to carry the state in 2012 against potential GOP candidates, according to a Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday.
The survey from the Democratic polling company, based in Raleigh, N.C., found that 46 percent of Ohio voters approved the president’s performance while 49 percent disapproved. That’s down from March when 47 percent approved and 46 percent disapproved.
However, in matchups against potential GOP candidates, Obama prevailed. The closest race was with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, with Obama leading, 46-42 percent.
Obama led former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 49-40 percent and Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP candidate for vice president, 50-40 percent.
The poll also matched Obama against Ohio’s first-term Republican U.S. senator, Rob Portman, with Obama ahead, 48-38 percent.
“These Ohio numbers epitomize Barack Obama’s status right now - he’s not terribly popular but the Republican field is even more unpopular and because of that he’d be in a solid shape for reelection if we have to vote today,” Dean Debnam, PPP president, said in a press release.
“If a GOP candidate really captures the attention of the voters, Obama will be in trouble but that is far from inevitable.”
Release of the survey follows a Quinnpiac University poll released last month that found among registered voters, 49 percent approved Obama’s performance, while 45 percent disapproved.
The PPP survey was taken from Thursday, May 19 to Sunday, May 22 with 565 voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent. The survey was conducted through automated telephone interviews.
Tweet“John Glenn Friendship 7 Day” bill gets Senate committee OK
A Senate committee on Tuesday gave its approval to legislation to commemorate John Glenn’s historic space flight on Feb. 20, 1962 aboard Friendship 7.
Senate Bill 155, approved by the State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs Committee, would commemorate next Feb. 20th as the 50th anniversary of the flight which made Glenn the first American to orbit the earth. Every Feb. 20 after that would be “John Glenn Friendship 7 Day” in Ohio.”
Next stop for the bill would be consideration by the full Senate. To take effect, it also would have to be approved by the House and signed into law by Gov. John Kasichg.
Glenn, 89, later went on to serve four terms in the U.S. Senate as a Democrat and returned to space for a second time in 1998.
TweetJacobson opens lobbying firm
Former state senator and Montgomery County GOP party chairman Jeff Jacobson is opening a Columbus-based lobbying firm called Strategic Insight Group, Ltd.
Jacobson, who led the county party from 1991 to 2003, served in the Ohio House from 1992 to 2000 and the Senate from 2001 to 2008. In the Senate, he climbed to the number two leadership post.
Facing term limits, Jacobson resigned in October 2008 — a few months before his term was to end.
Jacobson said he plans to put his experience to work as a lobbyist.
“Understanding how, when, and why important decisions get made in government is half the key to having a maximum impact on policy outcomes,” Jacobson said in a written statement. “The other half is the strategy and art of engaging with decision makers on a daily basis. Our clients will benefit from the insight gained during my six years in Senate leadership and the sixteen years I spent serving in the General Assembly.”
Tweet
