Social issues take back seat this year in state legislature

Republican leaders in the Ohio General Assembly have decided to make the revival of the state's economy, job creation and the containment of gasoline and natural gas prices priorities in this legislative session, to which we say, it's about time. Our cynical reaction to the decision by Senate President Bill Harris and House Speaker Jon Husted to focus on pocketbook issues is prompted by last year's blatantly political agenda that the state GOP designed to improve the political fortunes of Republican President George Bush in his re-election bid.
While the concealed carry gun law triggered a statewide debate, it was the ban on gay marriage that rallied the Republican faithful and brought out voters who otherwise might not have gone to the polls. Indeed, the Bush campaign made the ban on same-sex marriages a national issue and chose Ohio to be one of 11 states to have a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
Going into the 2004 presidential election, Ohio was considered a toss-up, which is why Republicans decided to make marriage the centerpiece of their campaign.
The constitutional amendment defined marriage as the union between a man and a woman, and even though there was no danger whatsoever of this state recognizing gay marriage, the issue was presented as a moral imperative. When the votes were counted, 3,329,335 Ohioans said "yes" to State Issue I, the so-called marriage amendment, and 2,065,462 said "no." Postmortems of the election revealed that the Republican Party successfully used the issue to drive people to the polls. Issue 1 passed and President Bush carried Ohio.
Distraction
But this preoccupation with marriage distracted Republican leaders in Ohio from such urgent matters as the state's faltering economy, the major loss of good paying manufacturing jobs, the unconstitutional method of funding public primary and secondary education and a higher education system that is not longer the envy of other states.
With Republicans controlling all statewide administrative offices, including governor, and having solid majorities in the House and Senate, Ohio's failures should be laid at their feet. Their emphasis on so-called social issues was no doubt good politics, but it did nothing to address such urgent problems as the exodus of educated, qualified Ohioans.
We were intrigued with a comment this week from Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who sponsored the gay marriage ban, with regard to the so-called values issues. Seitz said that many such issues have already become law and now it's time to focus on pocketbook issues.
"That's not to say we're deserting those issues," Seitz said. "What hasn't turned around to anybody's satisfaction is the economy of the state of Ohio."
No kidding.
We in the Mahoning Valley are suffering the consequences of such inaction more than any other region because a weak state economy hits us the hardest. That is why in the midst of last year's push for the marriage amendment we scolded Republicans for ignoring what we consider the true moral imperative for this state: job-creation.
We're pleased that House Speaker Husted and Senate President Harris have seen the light, but we wonder where Ohio would be today had they spent 2004 developing solutions to the state's faltering economy.