Ex-lawmakers: JobsOhio foes lack standing to sue

COLUMBUS (AP) — Two former state lawmakers who helped craft Gov. John Kasich’s ’s privatized nonprofit job-creation entity tell the state’s high court that a lawsuit against JobsOhio shouldn’t be allowed to proceed.

Republicans Tom Niehaus and Mark Wagoner argue in a brief filed today that granting standing to the liberal policy group and Democratic politicians challenging JobsOhio’s constitutionality would upset the “delicate balance” among Ohio’s three branches of government.

ProgressOhio, state Sen. Mike Skindell and former state Rep. Dennis Murray contend Ohio’s Constitution prohibits public dollars from being given to a corporation such as JobsOhio, which was created in 2011.

Niehaus and Wagoner tell justices their opponents haven’t been personally harmed by JobsOhio, but are turning to the courts after being on the losing side of a policy debate.