Lawsuit: JobsOhio functions like a state agency

COLUMBUS (AP) — A lawyer who formerly played a leading role in a legal challenge to Gov. John Kasich’s private job-creation office has filed her own constitutional challenge against the entity.

Former ProgressOhio attorney Victoria Ullmann filed the 4-page complaint today at the Ohio Supreme Court.

It asks justices to declare JobsOhio a state agency because the privatized economic development entity acts as the “functional equivalent” of one under the law.

Such a ruling would open JobsOhio to public records requests and other forms of scrutiny that were prevented under its enabling legislation.

In April, justices rejected Ullmann’s attempt to retain a leading role in the high-profile constitutional challenge brought by ProgressOhio and two Democratic state lawmakers. She and the liberal think tank had parted ways in a dispute over legal strategy.