OHIO Group fails Taft for fiscal record

Bob Taft scored the second lowest of any governor in the study.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- When it comes to fiscal policies, a nonpartisan public policy research foundation gives Gov. Bob Taft an F, making him one of only four governors in the country to get that grade.
In a 65-page study, the Cato Institute, based in Washington, D.C., graded the nation's governors on 17 measures of their fiscal performance, including the changes in real per capital spending, tax revenue, personal income tax rate, sales tax, gasoline tax, and cigarette tax under their watch.
Criteria for grading
Governors who cut taxes and spent the most received the highest grades while those who raised taxes and spending the most received the lowest grades.
Taft's score of 40 points was the second lowest among any governor in the nation, the study shows. Only Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber did worse with a score of 30 points.
Of those receiving A's and B's in the study, all but one was a Republican. Of the 18 governors receiving D's and F's, half were Republicans and half were Democrats.
Taft, a Republican, received a D in last year's Cato study.
"Bob Taft has been the highest-taxing governor in America recently," the study says. "He has also proven to be a prodigious spender."
The study says that during his first two years as governor, Taft raised spending by more than 10 percent, raided the state tax refund account, campaigned for a $400 million environmental bond issue, and refused to cut income taxes or fuel spending.
Budget deficit
Also, the state's budget deficit increased to $2 billion this year, and Taft "began to renege" on a pledge not to raise taxes, the report states.
"The cash shortage didn't prevent Taft from calling for a huge 10-year, $1.6 billion industrial policy program in an attempt to lure high-tech firms to the state," the report states referring to the governor's Third Frontier program. "Taft then conspired with legislators to raise the cigarette tax by 31 cents, a 130 percent increase, along with more tax hikes on businesses, in order to get $400 million more cash from Ohioans."
Defends his record
Taft defends his economic record, saying he has cut about $700 million to $800 million from the state budget during the past two years, and is creating programs for school construction, brownfield cleanups, and the Third Frontier high-technology initiative.
The Cato Institute did not rate Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker because he's been in office for less than a year.
skolnick@vindy.com