Budget Bonanza

So, a lot of people are in a tizzy over Governor Kasich’s proposed budget, and I can understand why. The proposed budget guides Ohio away from the status quo, which President Ronald Reagan summed up best when he said, “status quo, you know, is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in.’” Specifically, Governor Kasich’s “$55.5 billion budget, which covers the next two fiscal years and fills an $8.6 billion shortfall, cuts $1.4 billion from Medicaid funding, sells five prisons to private operators, and slashes the money sent to local governments by 25 percent next year and an additional 25 percent in the following year.” Citation. For more general information read this article.

Here’s a quick breakdown of WHAT the budget proposes and their possible effects. I’m leaving it up to you, the reader, to determine your own opinion on each issue. Feel free to send comments to blog@eriecountyyoungrepublicans.com; note, your comment may be posted anonymously as food for thought for your fellow readers.

1. Cost Threshold in Public Construction – Undoubtedly the sexiest issue of all time is the proposed increase in the cost threshold for public construction projects from $78,258 to $5 million. In layman’s terms, this means local governments and the state do not have to pay the average wage for construction workers until the cost of the project reaches $5 million. The average wage for construction workers on public construction projects is determined by the Department of Commerce and is based on existing union agreements and the locality (e.g. the average wages may be different in Cincinnati and Sandusky). This proposal is to help keep the cost of government construction down. For more information, read this article.

2. Sharing Services – This proposal encourages local governments to share services in order to cut down on the overall cost for said services. An example given by Randy Cole, president of the State Controlling Board, was regional health insurance funds to compete with or replace current programs offered by local governments. For more information, read this article.

3. Medicaid – Currently the state’s biggest budget eater, totaling approximately 40% of the state’s annual budget. Governor Kasich’s budget challenges the state to reform Medicaid by switching to outcome-based medicine where medical providers are paid for outcomes rather than services. The budget also encourages Medicaid recipients to stay home and receive care there rather than in nursing homes, which could potentially save the state millions of dollars. For more information read this article and/or this article.

4. Mental Health – Tracy Plouk, the Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health, said this about changes to funding for local and state mental health programs: “next year, the state of Ohio will be responsible for funding community mental health Medicaid services rather than requiring the local alcohol, drug addiction and mental health boards to do so. This provides more financial predictability for the local boards and enables them to focus local resources on local priorities such as housing and services for children.” For more information, read this article.

5. Privatization of Prisons – The budget also proposes to sell 5 of Ohio’s prisons. The sale of these prisons to private firms would gross the state between $50 million to $200 million in profits. Several lawmakers recently said these 5 prisons might have been closed soon if they were not sold to private firms, as the state did not have the funds to keep them open. If that had occurred, prisoners would have been shipped to out-of-state facilities to serve their prison terms. By selling the prisons, inmates no longer face the prospect of serving time in another state several hundred miles away from their families and the prison staff face a better chance of keeping their jobs. For more information read this article and/or this article.

6. Transportation – (Signed into law 03/30/2011) Allows private companies who want to increase traffic to their business to agree to pay for construction of a road. The state would then pay the company back with interest or through tolls. The Transportation Budget also allows commercial truck drivers to register their trucks online. Finally, the budget increases the cost threshold for law enforcement officers to investigate motor vehicle accidents from $400 in damages to $1,000 in damages. For more information, read this article.

7. For discussion on SB5, JobsOhio and cuts to the Local Government Fund, please see the blog titled “Running At Sacred Budget Cows” from March 17, 2011.

Tune in next Thursday for another blog entry! Also, keep your eyes peeled for new additions to the ECYR blog. If you want to write a blog, please email blog@eriecountyyoungrepublicans.com!

The ECGOP and The Danger of Policy Endorsements

Last night the Erie County Republican Party Central Committee debated whether to become a Right To Life organization. For most Republicans, this is a no brainer; however, for others the issue of abortion is not so clearly defined in black and white.

Let me be perfectly clear, this blog post is NOT about the pros and cons of the Right To Life movement, nor is it an endorsement of either the Right To Life movement or the Pro-Choice movement. This blog post is about the future effectiveness and viability of the Erie County Republican Party in relation to it's primary goal and reason for being: electing Republican candidates to county offices.

Last night several Central Committee Members and a few Deputy Members stated the ECGOP needed to become a Right To Life organization in order for local voters to understand what the ECGOP stands for. The honest response to this argument is the ECGOP is a Republican organization and it supports the National Republican Party Platform, which includes a plank on the issue of abortion. You can read the National Party platform here.

The question local voters have is not "What does it mean to be an Erie County Republican?," but rather "What does it mean to be a Republican?" That question can be answered by learning about the National Platform, educating themselves on the issues and observing how their statewide and national Republican government representatives handle those issues.

Furthermore, last night quite a few people wondered what the consequences would be if the ECGOP became a Right To Life organization. Some opined it was a risk-free and morally right endorsement of a human rights issue. While I appreciate this viewpoint, I disagree with it on practical grounds.

Here's why. Say the ECGOP became a Blue Is My Favorite Color organization last night. Say there's a qualified and steadfast Republican named John Politico that wants to run for county commissioner in 2012, but his favorite color is lime green. So, in 2012 John Politico wins the Republican primary for County Commissioner and comes to the ECGOP for financial and moral support in his campaign to beat his opponent Dick Democrat. The ECGOP tells him, "Congrats on your win John Politico, but we can't give you any money or moral support because your favorite color is lime green and we're a Blue Is My Favorite Color organization. Sorry for the poor luck, go get 'em tiger!" Sadly, John Politico loses the county commissioner race to Dick Democrat because he didn't have the backing or support of the ECGOP.

My point is this: what may be an innocent endorsement of an apparent no-brainer policy issue to some Republicans now, could bite the ECGOP in the proverbial butt down the road. If the party makes these endorsements, do we use them as litmus tests on candidates? Do we bar any candidate who fails our tests from party funds and support? What's the end goal of making these endorsements?

We as a party have to look at every action we take in the big picture - our decisions must be made for the best of the ERIE COUNTY Republican Party today and in the future. Our decisions cannot be made for what is best for the STATE or NATIONAL party. Besides, the ECGOP supports the state and national Republican parties by being a strong, effective local party, not by trying to imitate the state and national parties.

Also, one of the core principles of the Republican party is limited government involvement in a citizen's every day life. If that's the case, why would we want our county party to tell candidates what issues they must and must not endorse, what they can and cannot believe? The two seem mutually exclusive.

The question facing the ECGOP is this: what is the ECGOP's primary purpose, its reason for being? Is it to endorse policy issues OR is it to elect local Republicans into county positions? I strongly believe it's to elect local Republicans into county positions. If we fail in this purpose by loosing sight of this purpose, we might as well close up shop and hand the county over to the Democrats on a silver platter.

Come back next week for the regularly scheduled blog on Gov. Kasich's budget proposals.

Comment to "Running At Sacred Budget Cows"

Below is an email I received from a local Republican in response to the ECYR's most recent blog post, "Running At Sacred Budget Cows." The comments are specifically related to SB5 and how certain provisions affect non-union public employees. I found the comments to be a well thought out constructive critique of SB5. What do you think? Please send any responses to blog@eriecountyyoungrepublicans.com.

I've left the name of the author off of the copy of the email below to protect their privacy. The email has been copied in its entirety with no changes.

I appreciate your enthusiasm in the Republican Party. I do have a few questions in regard to SB5. You have pointed out the cuts the union members are to take in this bill as public employees. Please keep in mind this bill will also affect exempt employees has myself.

My question is to why there is no talk in regard to the administrative positions in state and local government that have for years had 100% if their benefits paid by tax payers. Keep in mind I am not a union member but I do have friends that are union members. These are very intelligent people, school educators, engineers, etc. They would like to know if everyone is going to put some skin in the game. Take for instance school superintendents, college presidents, city council members, etc.

Please do not take this wrong but if you were to do a bit of research you will find the same union members of state public service took a 4% cut for two years (i.e. cost savings days). These people are willing to help find some of the needed solutions but to engage in an assault on this group of people is truly unfair.

In closing, I have asked a question of both parties some of the language contained in SB5 that may affect some public employees. There is a great number of us that felt we had a "social" contract when we decided to remain in public service for a number of years. A part of that contract was that we would receive "longevity" pay for years of service. SB5 proposes to eliminate this pay. If this is the case then will I lose that pay which I have already obtained? I find it very disturbing when elected officials of both parties have replied with, "I will have to go back and read the bill to see what the intent of the language is". Some of these members have already voted for this bill and indicate to me they are not sure of the intent of the language. I am sure with you in the law profession would understand my concern when we have member of the Ohio Senate which have voted to enter into a contract for the citizens of Ohio but do not know what the true intent of the language of the contract.

I hope you continue your hard work for our party in your fine work. I also hope you will find the time to place yourself in the shoes of us that have truly been public servants and worked with dedication to the tax payers of this great state hoping our service has given value to these tax payers.

Running At Sacred (Budget) Cows

Last night I listened to Senator Mark Wagoner as he outlined the reasons behind Senate Bill 5, JobsOhio and Gov. Kasich’s proposed budget. I was impressed by the comprehensive reform the Governor and the Ohio Legislature are tackling in order to lead Ohio into a new era of prosperity.

Now, SB5, JobsOhio and the budget are not individual bills standing on their own. They are integral pieces of a larger reform plan that’s necessary to bring Ohio into a competitive job market and to kick start our state economy. Here’s how they all work together.

We all know SB5 is controversial – it eliminates collective bargaining for public union members for issues ranging from health benefits to sick days. The bill also reforms the wage scale for public union members as pay will no longer be based on seniority and longevity; instead, pay will be based on merit, talent and job performance. SB5 also eliminates employer pick-ups for public employee pension plans (i.e., local governments will no longer pay their employee’s contribution to their pension plan – local governments will continue to pay their contribution to their employees’ pension plans). SB5 also requires public employees to pay 15% of their health care coverage costs; currently, private sector employees pay an average of 23% of their health care coverage costs. The bill does much more than this, and you can read more about the bill here

What is the end goal of SB5? To give local governments the flexibility to deal with reduced state funding from the Local Government Fund (“LGF”). The LGF is basically a revenue sharing program between the State of Ohio and the state’s 3,700 local governments. Gov. Kasich’s budget cuts the LGF by 50% over the next two-year budget cycle. “Wait,” you say, “why did the Governor cut the LGF so much?” Well, Ohio’s currently facing the largest budget deficit it’s ever seen (and that’s not being overly dramatic): approximately $8.5 BILLION. Here’s a list of what some local governments receive from the Local Government Fund:

Erie County: $1.7 million
Ottawa County: $800,000
Perkins Township: $260,000
Port Clinton: $325,000

Without the reforms proposed in SB5, over the next two years local governments will see a 50% reduction in funds from the LGF yet would be forced to do business as usual. This would spell “F-I-N-A-N-C-I-A-L R-U-I-N” for many local governments dealing with smaller budgets yet burdened with mandated expenditures under inflexible public union employee contracts.

Gov. Kasich’s proposed budget is the most revolutionary document Ohio has seen in a generation. It is necessary to pass Gov. Kasich’s proposed budget in order to deal with this insane deficit. Where did the deficit come from? Well it didn’t fall from the sky, that’s for darn sure. In the last several years Ohio’s economy slowed down, companies’ profits started to fall and employers laid off thousands of employees. Some businesses also moved to other states, almost like American Greetings and Bob Evans did this month (no worries, they’re both staying in Ohio). Consequently, state revenue dropped as companies were paying less in taxes and fewer employees were paying income taxes. Furthermore, as people lost their jobs they looked to the state government for assistance from programs like Medicaid. So, we had a decrease in revenue and an increase in demand, which caused a deficit.

Last year, good ol’ Gov. Strickland plugged the state deficit with one time stimulus money from the federal government and then went on with business as usual. Thank goodness the man didn’t get re-elected as governor because I shudder at what his fix for the deficit would have been. So, Gov. Strickland’s poor handling of the state budget resulted in the state facing an $8.5 billion deficit for the 2011-2012 budget cycle.

So, Gov. Kasich (a man who balanced the federal budget in 1994, which resulted in the first budget surplus the country saw since we put a man on the moon), reviewed the inner workings of state government and came up with several innovative solutions. Is he running at sacred budget cows head on instead of steering clear the way his predecessors did? Absolutely, and I’m cheering him on from the sidelines hoping he continues to do so (thanks Sen. Wagoner for that metaphor).

So Gov. Kasich’s budget deals with our current projected revenues for 2011-2012. What’s he doing to increase those revenues and get people back to work? Well, Gov. Kasich signed a bill creating JobsOhio. JobsOhio replaces the government run economic development office with a non-profit corporation funded with profits from state controlled liquor stores. JobsOhio’s job (no pun intended… well maybe) is to attract outside companies to move to Ohio and to keep current Ohio businesses in Ohio. JobsOhio is headed by Mark Kvamme, a venture capitalist from California with an eye for spotting good investments (such as Google and Facebook) and has unlimited passion to see Ohio succeed. This new business-esque model on state economic development, teamed up with several business friendly reforms coming down the pike to the State House, will make Ohio a competitive state once again.

So, Gov. Kasich and legislators like Sen. Wagoner are fighting to give local governments the necessary flexibility to deal with decreased funding from the state in order for the state to permanently plug the deficit, while at the same time encouraging job growth with business friendly reforms and JobsOhio. We won’t always agree with their methods but never doubt the end-goal or their sincerity to see Ohio thrive. Furthermore, the budget won’t be an easy pill to swallow, but swallow it we must. Ohio’s facing a fork in the road – will we have the courage to take the road less traveled?

Tune in next week for a discussion of other important provisions of Gov. Kasich’s proposed budget.

Facts and figures found in the Sandusky Register, the Port Clinton News Herald, and the Columbus Dispatch.

Quick Time

So much has happened in the last two weeks that I couldn't pick just one blog topic. So this week is a Quick Time post - lots of opinions in a short amount of time.

WISCONSIN COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
So Wednesday night, the Wisconsin Senate decided to take the nuclear option and split the collective bargaining lingo from the rest of the budget reform bill. The Wisconsin GOP Senators then went about passing the collective bargaining bill, signaling the end of collective bargaining for public unions in Wisconsin. This morning, Wisconsin DEM Senators whined and complained on the major network on how unfair the GOPers were in their strategy to pass the bill - ummm, I'm sorry, you left the state you sorry bunch of cowardly wimps. It's like not going to the polls on election day and then complaining about the election results - no one is to blame for the passage of the collective bargaining bill in the Wisconsin Senate other then the Democrats that were supposed to be there but decided to take the easy way out and bail on their constituents.

RECALL OF WISCONSIN REPUBLICAN SENATORS
Seriously, these people are the world's biggest sore losers! Wahhhhh, I don't like you and your decisions so I'm gunning for your job... because the Obama 2012 Campaign crew told me too! Wow. You know what, go recall the Democratic Senators that refused to come back to discuss or even vote on the bill. Oh, no? You decided they are your heroes? Then you need way more help and guidance then this blog can give you.

KASICH'S STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
Refreshing. Invigorating. Loved the fact that Gov. Kasich didn't use a teleprompter or read from a written speech. He spoke from the heart - he leads from the heart. He told the state what his plans were and how he was going to achieve those plans. Did he give explicit detail? No, you can't do that in a 65 minute speech. Did he give the state focus, hope and goals? Yes. I look forward to hearing the Governor's detailed plans as they are revealed over the next couple of weeks.

GAS PRICES
I drive quite a bit, so when gas prices go up my checkbook starts to freak out. Although intellectually I understand the economic, political and social reasons gas prices have gone up, I find myself reverting to the age of three as I fight a strong desire to throw a temper tantrum over gas prices. Increased instability in OPEC countries and fear over that instability is driving oil prices higher every day. This leads to increased food and basic good prices... it's a never ending cycle. Tighten your belts folks, it's going to be a wild ride in 2011.

RICK JEFFREY SWORN IN AS AUDITOR OF ERIE COUNTY
Congrats to Auditor-Elect Rick Jeffrey who will be sworn in on Sunday, March 13, 2011 and will officially take office on Monday, March 14, 2011!