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Kasich’s commerce director to focus on reforming business regs
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Governor John Kasich
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Gov.-elect John Kasich has chosen a former state senator to head the Ohio Department of Commerce, and he indicated he will sign an executive order pushing regulation reform across his incoming administration.
David Goodman, a Republican from the Columbus, served more than two years in the Ohio House and nine in the Senate, leaving in December due to term limits. He will take the helm of an agency that will focus on one of Kasich and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor’s initiatives — streamlining business regulations.
“The Department of Commerce is involved in a tremendous amount of regulation,” Kasich said during a press conference at the Statehouse. “And one of the things that you all understand that we will be doing, and one of the first executive orders that I will issue on Monday when we drop the ‘elect’ from my title is the need to have a coordinated effort among all the cabinet working with the small-business community and the chamber to repeal burdensome rules and regulations.”
Also Saturday, Kasich named Christine Money director of the Ohio Department of Youth Services. She has held that position on an interim basis since May, under Gov. Ted Strickland.
Money earlier served as a deputy director of the department, superintendent of the Scioto Juvenile Correctional Facility and warden of three Ohio prisons.
Kasich will take his oath of office at the Statehouse at midnight, then take part in ceremonial inauguration activities later in the day Monday.
He’s also expected to sign a handful of executive orders, including the one he mentioned Saturday.
“It’s basically going to say that the cabinet directors ...are going to coordinate with [Taylor] to systematically review the regulations that they’ve found in their areas that are overly restrictive,” Kasich said. “... I want them to understand how serious we are in terms of [regulation] reform and repeal and flexibility.”
He added, “Everybody talks about it. It’s been talked about in this administration. It’s been talked about since Moby Dick has been a minnow, [but] we don’t make much progress.
... You have to take this issue seriously.”