Strickland touts progress in first year as governor

Photo

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D-Lisbon)

COLUMBUS — Gov. Ted Strickland believes he’s made progress toward his oft-mentioned Turnaround Ohio plan, via primary and secondary education and economic development initiatives included in the state’s biennial budget in 2007.

But he acknowledges there’s still much work to be done, particularly in light of continued economic doldrums that are putting pressure on the state’s finances.

“I think we’ve done quite a bit during this first year, but we’re just starting to lay the foundation for this turnaround effort, knowing that we’re not there yet,” the first Democratic governor in 16 years told the Dix Capital Bureau.

“But I think we have started to do this, and we’ve done it in a very bipartisan way with cooperation from the two parties.”

Looking back at his first year in office, Strickland touted the budget, his proposed electricity and energy policy and tax cuts for seniors and the disabled among his accomplishments:.

Question: Looking back at your first year, what do you think you’ve accomplished toward your Turnaround Ohio plan?

Answer: “Our budget was constructed in a way that re-ordered our priorities, with the goal toward turning around Ohio. We’ve had limited resources, but we’ve tried to use those resources in ways that … promoted the goals of the Turnaround Ohio initiative.

“… [We] put significant resources into early child care and education. We expanded poverty aid to our elementary and secondary schools by 20 percent and parity aid by about 8 percent. We froze college tuition for two years and put about 100 million additional dollars into student grants and scholarships. So I think we did some very significant things for education across the spectrum… “We have focused hugely on the work force development and trying to bring an approach to work force development that will lead to the training that’s being provided being consistent with the employment needs that exist in our state …”

“We were able to securitize our tobacco settlement resources and gain the ability to build about 250 new schools in Ohio during the next three or so years, so that our kids will have safe, modern buildings to attend.

“And we gave a property tax cut to every senior citizen home owner and every disabled person in Ohio, and the state is making up to local schools the resources that would have been lost by this property tax cut, so that the total state investment in elementary and secondary schools now at the end of our budget will be about 54 percent instead of 48 percent that it is now.”

Read the rest of Part I of a 3-part series of year-end interviews with Gov. Strickland on Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.