COLUMBUS Gov. Taft announces top priorities

Only a small portion of the governor's $1.5 billion capital bill is expected to be allotted for community projects.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Emboldened by a sweeping victory, Republican Gov. Bob Taft said seeking enactment of the state's two-year capital construction bill and medical malpractice reform legislation are two of his priorities through the end of the year.
"We're obviously working very hard on the capital budget," Taft said Wednesday, a day after his sweeping victory over Democrat Tim Hagan for a second four-year term. "That's a bill we need to have enacted by the end of the year."
In even-numbered years, the state adopts a budget for construction or rehabilitation of state-owned facilities -- the so-called "capital bill."
"We have part of our 'Third Frontier' initiative in that capital budget," Taft said.
That initiative is a 10-year blueprint to spend $1.6 billion on the creation of high-tech jobs through a plan to combine construction budget dollars and operating funds.
"The departments and agencies have a number of important ... capital budget projects. There are also a number of community projects that we are considering from across the state," Taft said.
Brian K. Hicks, Taft's chief of staff, said he expects the administration to unveil the approximate $1.5 billion capital bill in the coming weeks as the Legislature moves to finish the 124th General Assembly.
Only between $60 million to $90 million of the bill will be allotted for community projects, Hicks said. Two years ago, the state passed a $1.8 billion capital bill, with what Hicks said was about $150 million for community projects.
Medical malpractice
Taft said another priority for the remainder of the year was seeking legislative passage of a bill that would place a limit on jury awards in some medical malpractice cases.
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. David Goodman, R-Bexley, is poised for passage in the GOP-dominated Senate when the Legislature reconvenes next week for the beginning of a lame-duck session. The bill is pending in the Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee.
"This is a serious issue in Ohio," Taft said.
Doctors are complaining that rising malpractice insurance premiums are forcing physicians to retire, move elsewhere or stop doing high-risk procedures.
The medical malpractice issue was prominent in Tuesday's Republican victories for two seats on the Ohio Supreme Court -- incumbent Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton was re-elected, and Lt. Gov. Maureen O'Connor was elected to the second seat. Both had the support of physicians groups.
Taft said his administration is still working to try to combat a projected deficit in the next two-year state operating budget that is to be in place by July 1. The current two-year state budget is about $44 billion.
Taft has refused to say how much of a deficit is expected because of uncertainties surrounding the economy, among other reasons.
State departments are working on budget requests, the governor said.
Taft, 60, was basking in the glow of his defeat of Hagan, the Democrat and former Cuyahoga County commissioner, by a final, unofficial tally of 58 percent of the vote to Hagan's 38 percent.
"I think our victory yesterday was a tribute to a lot of hard work and a lot of planning," Taft said.
"We've worked in all corners of the state," Taft said. "We worked hard in the Mahoning Valley. We were working hard for Northeast Ohio, for Appalachia and for all regions of the state of Ohio."