Week In Review
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010
AGRICULTURE
Ohio farmers who want to preserve their farmland through the Clean Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program can now find the 2010 application on the Ohio Department of Agricultures website at www.agri.ohio.gov. The applications are used by the department to evaluate and purchase agricultural easements to preserve Ohios farmland. All applications must be submitted to the department by no later than 5 p.m. on April 26.
BALLOT ISSUES
Former Ohio House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson will join former Democratic National Committee chairman and President Clinton campaign director David Wilhelm as co-chairs of the Third Frontier Issue 1 campaign, otherwise known as United for Jobs and Ohio's Future.
BUDGET
Gov. Ted Strickland released information Thursday demonstrating that the austerity executive order he issued has been effective in reducing state agency, board and commission spending by $366 million on contracts, maintenance and equipment for the first six months of FY10 compared to the same period in FY09. The results were outlined in a quarterly report submitted to the governor by Office of Budget and Management Director (OBM) Pari Sabety and Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Director Hugh Quill.
CORRECTIONS
Mentally ill prisoners filed a federal class action suit against the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) and the Ohio Department of Mental Health (DMH) claiming that the agencies do not do enough for inmates after they are released. The Ohio Justice and Policy Center, which filed the lawsuit, Serenity L. v. ODRC, on behalf of nine inmates, said that prisoners with mental illness are returned to Ohios cities with just two weeks of essential medications, $65, and a bus ticket and they often end up in homeless shelters or other unstable situations.
EDUCATION
A presentation to the State Board of Education on gifted and special needs students who make up 16 percent and 13 percent of the student population, respectively spurred passionate debate, with members channeling parents concerns about the efficacy of programs for special needs students and a perceived failure to actually serve students identified as gifted.
Columbus City Schools was awarded a $1.25 million grant by the National Education Association Foundation to implement a five-year student-achievement plan. Columbus was one of three districts nationally to get a grant.
The enrollment period for the Educational Choice Scholarship (EdChoice) for the 2010-11 school is now underway, Chad L. Aldis, executive director of School Choice Ohio, said in a release. It runs through April 16. According to Aldis, more than 88,000 children in 205 underperforming public schools across Ohio are eligible to receive school vouchers to attend private schools next year.
2010 ELECTIONS
Attorney General Richard Cordray certified the petition summary for a proposed constitutional amendment campaign to install anti-cruelty standards at the new Livestock Care Standards Board. The petition now must go to the Ohio Ballot Board, which will determine if the proposal represents one amendment or needs to be split into multiple amendments.
Former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman out raised all other candidates for the U.S. Senate seat from Ohio, reporting $6 million on hand through Dec. 31, the end of the last filing period. His primary opponent, auto dealer Tom Ganley, had $1.6 million. On the Democrats side, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher had $1.8 million, while Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner had $60,859.
Manfred Schreyer, a German-born restaurateur from Eaton, said he will challenge U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-West Chester) in the Republican primary.
LetOhioVote.org filed a second round of 177,000 signatures after falling 27,000 signatures short of the 325,000-signature threshold needed to gain a spot on the November ballot for its planned referendum on Gov. Ted Stricklands slots-at-racetracks plan.
Hardin County attorney Steve Christopher is planning to challenge former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine for the Republican nomination for attorney general, according to The Dayton Daily News.
The Ohio Ballot Board approved official ballot language for renewal of the Third Frontier and relocation of the Columbus casino. The board will meet again next week to approve formal arguments for and against the two proposed constitutional amendments.
With the Feb. 18 filing deadline fast approaching, a number of candidates on both sides of the aisle continued to jump into Ohio House, Senate and congressional races.
A Rasmussen Reports poll shows John Kasich leading 47-41 in his bid to unseat Gov. Ted Strickland. Strickland posted a 46-53 approval-disapproval rating in the poll.
Former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWines campaign for attorney general released results of a poll by Republican pollster Neil Newhouse showing DeWine leading incumbent Attorney General Richard Cordray 50 percent to 32 percent.
Clerk of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Maryellen O'Shaughnessy officially kicked off her bid for secretary of state Wednesday at the Ohio Democratic Party headquarters in Columbus, pledging to work towards greater participation in elections and improving relations between the office and Ohio businesses. O'Shaughnessy will take the place of Rep. Jennifer Garrison (D-Marietta) as the party's standard-bearer.
Two former state legislators vying for a state Senate seat have combined forces to take down the current occupant of the seat. Former Reps. Tom Brinkman and Michelle Schneider, both Cincinnati Republicans, had been vying for the 7th District Senate seat previously held by the late Bob Schuler and now held by Sen. Shannon Jones (R-Springboro). With his eye now on the Hamilton County auditor position, Brinkman endorsed Schneider Thursday. Schneider also signed an anti-tax pledge.
Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern endorsed Ben Kessler for the 3rd Senate District seat.
The Ohio Education Association endorsed Ted Strickland for governor; Maryellen O'Shaughnessy for secretary of state; Kevin Boyce for treasurer; and David Pepper for auditor.
ELECTIONS
The 10th District Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal of two political action committees hit with millions in fines by the Ohio Elections Commission for an improper transfer of funds, with the judges ruling the group sued the wrong entity. The All Children Matter PACs in Ohio and Virginia had sued Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, but should have sued the elections commission, the court said.
EMPLOYMENT/UNEMPLOYMENT
The national unemployment rate dipped below 10 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, while also releasing information that the nation has lost 8.4 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007.
According to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), the composite index of leading indicators for Ohio increased 0.2 percent to 89.3 in December. The indicator suggests that employment, on a seasonally adjusted basis, will increase at a slow pace. The initial claims for unemployment insurance and the average workweek of production workers in manufacturing increased, while the valuation of permits for new housing construction decreased in December. Nonfarm wage and salary employment in Ohio decreased to 5,086,900 jobs in December on a seasonally adjusted basis. The decrease was in the service-producing sector.
ENERGY
The state of Ohio launched the Ohio Energy Gateway Fund, a public-private partnership that Gov. Ted Strickland said will expand access to capital to grow and sustain the fuel cell, solar, wind and energy storage industries in Ohio. The fund, established through a partnership between Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) Director Lisa Patt-McDaniel and Mark Shanahan, energy adviser to Strickland and executive director of the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority (OAQDA), includes a $40 million commitment of advanced energy funds from the state stimulus plan and federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act State Energy Program.
GAMING
Penn National Gaming purchased the 123-acre property on Columbus west side, home to a shuttered auto-parts plant, that is to be the new site for a Columbus casino if Ohio voters in May approve a new constitutional amendment moving it from the old site in the Arena District.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE
House Democrats said they would begin taking resumes and applications of those hoping to replace Rep. Tyrone Yates (D-Cincinnati), who was appointed to Hamilton County Municipal Court by Gov. Ted Strickland.
The Controlling Board objected to requests from Youngstown State University for money to buy property adjacent to its campus, with board members raising concerns the property was overpriced.
Heavy snowfall led lawmakers to cancel voting sessions and most committee meetings for the week, with the House bailing early Tuesday and the Senate hanging on through most of its meetings that day before canceling all Wednesday commitments.
Senate President Bill Harris (R-Ashland) shuffled committee membership. On Finance and Financial Institutions, he removed Sens. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) and Mark Wagoner (R-Toledo) and appointed Sens. Karen Gillmor (R-Tiffin) and Chris Widener (R-Springfield). On Judiciary-Civil Justice, he removed Wagoner and appointed Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton). On State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs, he removed Wagoner and appointed Sen. Kevin Coughlin (R-Cuyahoga Falls).
Rep. Ron Gerberry (D-Austintown) introduced HB433, which would create an Energy Efficiency Stakeholder Advisory Group to monitor and review the development of energy efficiency and peak demand reduction programs in Ohio.
Facing mounting criticism, House Speaker Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) changed his mind Wednesday and will allow an Ohio teen to be recognized on the House floor for winning a National Right to Life oratory contest. Budish had signed the resolution honoring 19-year-old but refused a request from the resolution's sponsor, Rep. John Adams (R-Sidney), to recognize her on the floor, citing the political nature of Right to Life. The Ohio chapter and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio said that the rejection of the ceremony gave the impression that Budish was trying to silence views other than his own.
HOUSING
The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) announced $337,500 in nonprofit housing grants benefiting Habitat for Humanity of Ohio and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio.
INSURANCE
The Ohio Department of Insurance released its fourth annual Ohio Medical Professional Liability Closed Claim Report, showing a total of 3,080 claims were closed in 2008, with an average payment of $252,522 in cases where indemnity payments were made. The Ohio State Medical Association said the drop in claims shows tort reform legislation passed in 2005 is working.
JUDICIAL
Chief Justice Tom Moyer broke with his six colleagues on a disciplinary case ruling, saying their decision not to bring recommended sanctions against a county prosecutor who failed to disclose mitigating evidence in a rape case had undercut criminal prosecution procedures that go to the very heart of a fair trial.
Gov. Ted Strickland appointed Robert D. Rinfret, an assistant Holmes County prosecutor, to the Holmes County Common Pleas Court.
Proposed rule changes to be adopted by the Ohio Supreme Court no later than July would make it easier for parties to challenge contradictory decisions by the same appeals court - a standard of en banc proceedings proposed by the high court after one appellate district ignored its ruling on the subject - and make it easier for attorneys and trial experts to examine the statements of minors under the age of 13 believed to have been sexually assaulted by a criminal defendant.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Gov. Ted Strickland sent a letter to U.S. EPA chief Lisa Jackson advocating regional cooperation on stopping the spread of Asian carp to the Great Lakes, asking for consideration of closing a Chicago canal to the lakes, relaxed wastewater standards that could make the canal uninhabitable for the fish, new infrastructure to transport over land what now goes through canals, and stronger federal laws on ballast water.
PEOPLE
Rep. Bob Hagan (D-Youngstown) suffered a concussion and an injured rib and needed 11 stitches after he was punched in the face at a Youngstown restaurant, The Vindicator reported.
Ohio State University hired Geoffrey S. Chatas, recently a manager director at JP Morgan Asset Management, as chief financial officer at a salary of $625,000/year to replace the retiring William Shkurti who earns $341,000/year.
Clevelands MetroHealth System hired John Corlett, a former Ohio Medicaid director, as vice president for government relations and community affairs.
Attorney Luther Liggett Jr. joined the firm of Luper Neidenthal & Logan.
The Ohio Ethics Commission re-elected Lima attorney Ben Rose as chair and Capital University Law School Associate Dean Shirley Mays, vice chair. Rose, who chaired the commission in 2009, has been a member since 2006.
POLLS/STUDIES
The Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commissions Research and Analysis Subcommittee released a report Wednesday that preliminarily estimates about 1,000 youth and about 780 foreign-born people are victims of trafficking in Ohio. The report said thousands more people are at risk of trafficking, which researchers caution is a general, first-time snapshot built on conservative assumptions extrapolated from data and findings in news coverage, interviews with victims, previous criminal investigations, national reports and other sources.
STATE GOVERNMENT
The Department of Commerce said its Division of Securities will launch a public awareness campaign warning Ohioans about con artists through print, online, broadcast and billboard advertisements.
A recent report from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency showed that Ohio landfills took in less garbage overall in 2008 than the year before, marking the second year of declining in-flow. The amount of waste shipped to Ohio from other states also decreased for the second year in a row.
The Ohio Department of Transportation said it had more than 1,000 plows out by mid-day Tuesday in response to the second wave of a big winter storm, and had more than a quarter of its snow removal budget intact.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services announced it will be taking nominations for the Ohio Womens Hall of Fame through June 1.
TAXATION
A coalition of health groups including the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said Wednesday that lawmakers should explore a hike in the tobacco tax to solve budget woes pointing to a poll they commissioned showing support among Ohio voters. The poll found 64 percent of Ohioans support increasing the cigarette tax, favored overwhelmingly to other means of balancing the state budget such as across-the-board cuts to state services, increasing the sales tax, increasing the income tax, and cutting funding for health care programs. They said a $1 increase in the tax would generate $299.7 million in additional revenues for the state.
The next day a business coalition including the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants; the Ohio Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association; the Ohio Grocers Association; the Ohio Association of Convenience Stores; and the Ohio Petroleum Council came out against the idea of increasing the tobacco tax, saying it will hurt Ohio families.
TRANSPORTATION
Gov. Ted Strickland responded to critics of the states award of $400 million in federal stimulus to restart passenger rail service in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton, branding them cheerleaders for failure.
UTILITIES
Steven Lesser of Bexley, chief of staff to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, was appointed to a seat on the commission by Gov. Ted Strickland. He beat out three other prospects forwarded to Strickland by the PUCO nominating council: Wilson Gonzalez of Worthington, Ellis Jacobs of Yellow Springs and Suzann Rhodes of Prospect.
FirstEnergy and Allegheny Energy, Inc. announced on Thursday that both companies boards of directors have unanimously approved a definitive agreement in which the companies would combine in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the completion of the merger, it is anticipated that FirstEnergy shareholders would own approximately 73 percent and Allegheny shareholders would own approximately 27 percent of the combined company.
The merger between Frontier Communications Corporation, New Communications Holdings Inc. (NCH) and Verizon Communications Inc. was approved Thursday by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). After approval of the agreement, the Ohio Consumers Counsel (OCC) stated that more access to broadband and improved service quality are some of the benefits for Ohio residential customers as a result of the merger.
The results of the Dominion East Ohio's standard service offer (SSO) and standard choice offer (SCO) auctions were approved Thursday by the PUCO. The auctions secured natural gas supplies for Dominion's customers for the period of April 1 to March 31, 2011, and established a retail price adjustment of $1.20 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf). The OCC said it was pleased that the auction produced a lower price than what Dominion customers are currently paying.