Rolling dice on the budget

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Budget Planning Management Commission, the lawmaker panel that is developing recommendations to deal with a coming multi-billion-dollar hole in the state budget, launched a new website last week.

The purpose: To gather ideas from the public about how to deal with a $4 billion or $6 billion or $8 billion shortfall.

You’ll find it online at bpmc.legislature.state.oh.us.

Lawmakers in charge of the commission said the information “will be invaluable as we roll up our sleeves and move toward developing solutions” and help members “keep an open mind and look at all possible options.”

But be warned, because users will have to register and log in, anything submitted will be part of the public record.

Casino Commission

Close to 50 people already have submitted their applications to Gov. Ted Strickland for consideration for the new state casino control commission.

Gov. Ted Strickland will appoint seven people to the board (with the consent of the Ohio Senate). They’ll make about $60,000 a year overseeing voter-approved casinos in Toledo, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus.

Strickland didn’t offer any specifics on potential nominees when asked about it by Statehouse reporters last week.

“I will be looking for people of integrity, experience, competency and people who have the interest of the people of our state at heart,” Strickland said.

Animal Agreement

The Humane Society of the United States said the death of an employee at an exotic animal park near Cleveland by a captive bear is further evidence of the need for Ohio to ban ownership of such animals.

In a released statement, humane society Chief Executive Officer Wayne Pacelle said, “The tragic death of an Ohio man, who died after being attacked by a captive bear, demonstrates the need for immediate action to prohibit private ownership of dangerous wild animals in the state. The Humane Society of the United States commends Governor Strickland’s commitment to address this issue by executive order. Other states have taken action, but Ohio has been one of the outliers, putting both public safety and the welfare of the animals at risk.”

In June, the humane society, Strickland and the Ohio Farm Bureau announced an agreement to implement a number of specific livestock care standards to keep an animal welfare issue off the November ballot.

Part of the agreement calls for the governor to push administrative rules to ban the sale or possession of “big cats, bears, primates, large constricting and venomous snakes and alligators and crocodiles. Existing owners will be grandfathered in but they could not breed or obtain new animals.”

Strickland said last week that the mauling “is but the latest example of how individuals keeping such animals can be quite dangerous.”

But he said fulfilling the terms of the agreement with the humane society will take time, given that legislative approval is needed to complete the task.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.