Auditor Yost won’t be bullied

COLUMBUS

Not too long ago, Republican state Auditor Dave Yost was at odds with Republican Gov. John Kasich’s administration over JobsOhio.

The nonprofit, a priority of the governor and Republican lawmakers during Kasich’s first term, spearheads the state’s economic development efforts.

The governor frequently touts Jobs-Ohio’s effectiveness in that task, holding the nonprofit up as a model for other states to follow.

You’ll recall that JobsOhio was set up as a private office and not subject to the same open-meetings and records laws as public agencies. Details of the results of its negotiations with companies looking to expand in the state are released once projects come to fruition. There’s also a separate audit of JobsOhio conducted by a firm hired for that purpose.

But Yost was battling the administration and JobsOhio a few years back over its financial books, saying his office should have full access to ensure public funds were being spent appropriately.

Subpoena

The auditor even subpoenaed the nonprofit, forcing the issue.

That was a few years back. And, while the brouhaha over JobsOhio has died down, Yost hasn’t changed his opinion on the issue.

“... The auditor of state should audit public money, and public money is what is funding, in my opinion, JobsOhio,” he said while campaigning last year for a second term. He added at that time, “The only thing that can be done is to ask the Legislature to change the law. I have no unilateral authority to change existing law. ... I don’t know that I have a willing conversational partner in the General Assembly today. ... The bottom line here is the rule of law constrains my office.”

This much is clear: Yost isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers within the ranks of his own party.

He apparently ruffled some recently when he announced a new “Sunshine Audit” initiative, providing a means for residents having issues getting copies of public records to voice their complaints without hiring attorneys and spending hundreds or thousands of dollars.

The program seemed like a good idea for those who advocate for better access to records and meetings funded by our tax dollars.

Somebody over in the Ohio House must have thought otherwise. Buried in the amended version of the biennial budget released in recent days was a provision barring the auditor from checking public records’ compliance of state offices.

Yost wasn’t mincing words or hiding his anger at the amendment a day after it came to light.

“This is a full-frontal assault on the independence of my office,” he said. “... I’m extraordinarily troubled by this and will fight it with every breath in my body.”

Dennis Hetzel, the executive director of the Ohio Newspaper Association, wrote in a letter to Republican House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger that the amendment was “a significant setback in transparency for Ohio citizens and also eliminates an opportunity for governmental agencies to avoid costly and time-consuming litigation. Ohio is one of a minority of states that has no meaningful appeal process for a record denial before a citizen must hire an attorney and go to court.”

So, once again, Yost is staring down some of his fellow Republican office-holders.

But keep in mind, the state budget is in flux. There are still weeks of amendments in the works and Gov. John Kasich’s final line-item veto authority that will shape the final legislation.

By the time you read this, the public- records amendment might be dead.

That’s Yost’s hope.

“This seems so wrong-headed that I can’t imagine that it would stay in the budget,” he said. “And I can’t believe that my friends and colleagues across the street in the General Assembly thought this through before they brought it forward.”

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