Public Policy Advocates

House Assistant Minority Whip Cheryl Grossman (R-Grove City) discusses a variety of issues, including her new caucus leadership position, her legislative goals for 2010, the importance of economic development, and some advice for other women who might be interested in public service.

The Ohio Supreme Court issued a ruling on Monday regarding the Governor’s plan to install Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) at Ohio’s seven racetracks. The court ruled 6-1 that the enabling legislation from House Bill 1, and the Governor’s Executive Order, are subject to a referendum by the people. The lawsuit was filed by a ballot issue group called LetOhioVote.org.

LetOhioVote.org now has 90 days in which to submit at least 241,366 valid signatures, from at least 44 of the state’s 88 counties. If they are able to get these signatures, the issue will be placed on the November 2, 2010 ballot.

Governor Strickland said in a statement that he was “disappointed” in the court’s decision. However, Mr. Strickland did not reveal whether he would direct the Lottery Commission to move forward with the slots program in the meantime until this issue is put before the voters.

House Minority Leader William Batchelder (R-Medina) shares his thoughts on the Ohio budget process.

Good afternoon:
 
Conference Committee on HB 1 announced it will meet tomorrow at 4:15PM in Statehouse Rm. 313.
 
Thank you.

Today Senate Republicans unveiled a joint resolution, which proposes Ohio Lottery-operated slots at seven locations around the state but does not specify horse racetracks. If eventually placed on the ballot and approved by voters, the proposal calls for the operations to be licensed to the highest bidders. The resolution will be officially introduced this afternoon.
 
Senate President, Bill Harris (R-Ashland) sent a letter to the Governor to urge him to support the Senate’s proposal. In his letter he stated that the Governor’s proposal did not include funding from the video lottery terminals until May 2010, so Sen. Harris believes that there is ample time for voters to decide the issue on November 3rd.
 
We will keep you posted as additional information is made available.

Thank you.

Political tensions grew to an all time high yesterday with the Governor accusing the Senate republicans of game-playing and using the budget for political advantage. During the House Finance and Appropriations hearing, democrat members continued to accuse the Senate republicans for delaying the budget process by not accepting the Governor’s video lottery terminal (VLT) proposal. Meanwhile, the Senate Select Committee on VLT continued its hearings on the Governor’s proposal, and have identified major areas of concerns.   There is a “clawback” provision that would return the $65 million license fee paid by each racetrack owner ($455 million of the estimated $933 million the proposal is to generate for the state) if a competing casino issue that will be on the ballot in November passes.  The Governor stated he does not support the “clawback” provision, but it is included in the draft legislation the Senate was asked to approve. Sen. Husted, a member of the Senate panel, responded, “If that’s not the plan, what is the plan?” The Committee is scheduled to meet again today at 10:00AM to review constitutional issues.
 
Yesterday, the Senate passed HB 245, which is another one-week interim budget. The bill provides 70% funding for the state to continue to operate from July 7th-July 14th. This will provide another week for Ohio’s leaders to finalize the budget. Sen. Harris and Speaker Budish are scheduled to meet this afternoon to try to work through some of the issues. There is speculation that government could shut down if a deal is not agreed to this week. The Governor has stated his concerns about a third interim budget and the federal funding the state loses everyday. Without a full operating budget, a part of government would have to shut down.

The Ohio Senate begins hearings today on the Governor’s video lottery terminals (VLT’s) proposal today. The Governor’s VLT proposal is estimated to raise $933 million in revenues to help fill the current $3.4 billion deficit.  Sen. Mark Wagoner (R-Toledo) will chair the Select Committee on Video Lottery Terminals. The panel also includes Sen. Jon Husted (R-Kettering), Sen. Timothy Grendell (R- Chesterland), Senator Capri Cafaro (D-Hubbard) and Sen. Dale Miller (D-Cleveland).  The hearings are intended to help Senators better understand the specifics of gambling proposal the Governor has proposed. The Lottery Commission Executive Director, Michael Dolan, the Office of Budget and Management Director, Pari Sabety and other interested parties have been invited to testify. The Committee is scheduled to meet at 10:00AM on Friday, Saturday and Sunday if needed.
 
In response to the Senate’s plans, the Ohio House Finance and Appropriations Committee is holding hearings beginning today at 3:00PM to provide interested parties the opportunity to testify on the “impact of potential Senate budget decisions.”  The hearings are also scheduled for Monday at 10:00AM and Tuesday at 2:00PM. The House hopes these hearings will put pressure on the Senate to adopt the Governor’s gaming proposal.

The Governor, House and Senate leaders continue to meet to discuss how to address the estimated $3.2 billion shortfall. Until decisions are made, the Conference Committee will not begin the public portion of the process, which they expect will begin the middle of next week. If so, that will allow less than a week for the Conference Committee to meet the June 30th deadline.

It has been reported that the Administration has shared with House leadership a potential $2 billion cut scenario, which includes reductions or eliminations to TANF Title XX, child care, kinship care, PASSPORT and PACE programs for seniors, Medicaid optional services, Medicaid provider rates, MR/DD Services, the children’s Buy-in Program, as well as others. The Administration did not share these scenarios with the Senate, and is not making this information public at this time.

Ohio leaders continue to deny the possibility of a tax hike to address the budget deficit. They prefer to pursue budget cuts and reductions due to the economic implications of increasing taxes during the current recession.  However, several legislators are beginning to promote revenue enhancement ideas within their caucus, such as a temporary sales tax increase, an increase in cigarette tax or expanded gaming, as possible ways to generate revenue.

Yesterday, Pennsylvania’s Governor Rendell announced a proposal to increase his state’s personal income tax by a half percent to address its  $3.2 billion deficit.

House Majority Whip Jay Goyal (D-Mansfield) shares his thoughts on the use of one-time Federal dollars to balance Ohio’s budget.

House Majority Whip Jay Goyal (D-Mansfield) discusses the Ohio budget process.