Ohio House speaker wants more control over development funds

COLUMBUS (AP) — Lawmakers would have greater control over state grants awarded to entrepreneurs to start or expand tech companies, according to a proposal announced Thursday by House Speaker Jon Husted.

The move came two days after Gov. Ted Strickland said $72 million from the Third Frontier Project would be put toward college scholarships and research. Third Frontier grants are approved by a nine-member board appointed by the governor.

Husted’s plan would require competitive bidding on grants and approval by the State Controlling Board, made up of six lawmakers and a president who represents the governor.

Lawmakers called for that arrangement in the $53 billion state budget approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature in June, but Strickland vetoed it. Husted said he would introduce a bill restoring the plan.

Husted said that while he supports the scholarships, he objected to the shifting of the $72 million from the fund for which it was intended.

Voters in 2005 approved a bond issue to raise $500 million for the program, which is intended to fund high-tech and academic research ventures.

“We cannot afford to spend our precious Third Frontier dollars on political priorities,” Husted, a Kettering Republican, said in a statement. “We need to invest in economic priorities. We made a promise to the voters of Ohio when this program was approved and we should keep that promise.”

Strickland, a Democrat, believes the process was followed correctly, spokesman Keith Dailey said.

“The administration believes that we came up with the right approach this week to ensure an open and competitive process, but the governor is always open to speaking with the speaker about his ideas,” Dailey said.

Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut, whose office oversees public colleges and universities, said Husted was off-base describing the move as political.

“With all due respect to the speaker, I believe he is mistaken about the action taken this week. The Third Frontier operates by issuing RFPs [requests for proposals], which are approved by the commission,” Fingerhut, a commission member, said. “There was absolutely no change.”

Fingerhut added that the program announced Tuesday also included $30 million in scholarships that did not require commission approval but was submitted anyway.