State senators must stay until their work is done
State senators must stay until their work is done
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, who has had to guide the state through roiling economic waters since he took office in January 2007, must not let Republicans in the Senate play political games with the next biennium budget.
Strickland, a Democrat, has threatened to call the GOP-controlled Senate back into session if it breaks for the holidays without adopting the spending plan.
The Democratic controlled House has already passed the budget and in so doing filled an $851 million hole created by the Ohio Supreme Court’s putting the brakes on a bipartisan revenue-producing plan.
The plan would have permitted the placement of video-lottery terminals — slot machines — in Ohio’s seven horse-racing tracks.
In response, the governor came up with the idea of postponing the last installment of the 2005 income tax reduction. The House agreed.
But Republicans in the Senate balked, resulting in the current budget impasse.
Schools in jeopardy
The GOP leadership has a responsibility to the people of Ohio to do no harm. If a spending blueprint is not passed before the end of the year, harm will befall the 600-plus school districts in the state and state universities and colleges. The $851 million that would have been generated by the slot machines were earmarked for public education.
Senate President Bill Harris and other leaders contend that the votes aren’t there unless the budget bill includes a provision instituting new rules and regulations for state construction projects.
Strickland, who has indicated a willingness to review the procedures pertaining to state projects, is right in his contention that the state biennium budget is not the proper vehicle.
The changes should not be implemented until all parties, including the labor unions, have had a chance to be heard.
Republicans in the Senate should drop their demands for the inclusion of the state construction provision with the understanding that the governor will put the issue on the front burner in the near future.
This isn’t the time for political games. The GOP argues that Strickland and the Democrats are crying wolf about the effects of not passing a budget by Dec. 31. Indeed, they don’t even see public education as being at risk. They are of the opinion that $851 million can be cut from other parts of the budget.
That’s ridiculous. Since Strickland took office in 2007, more than 4,000 state employees have been let go, and the governor’s first biennium budget had the lowest growth in spending in 42 years. Strickland reduced outlays by $1.5 billion.
Big cuts made
The proposed budget reflects a reduction in government spending by nearly $2 billion, compared to actual spending in the previous budget.
But then came the $851 million shortfall as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the slots proposal and extreme measures were demanded.
Strickland did the responsible thing by calling for the postponement of the final phase of the income tax cut, and the Democratic controlled House followed suit by adopting a revised budget.
It is now up to the Republican-dominated Senate. It should pass a clean bill, without any hindrances, because it is the right thing to do.