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A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
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Gov. Ted Strickland has proposed what he's calling a framework for plugging the 3.2 billion dollar hole in the state budget. He's proposing cutting 2.4 billion in spending and is reversing his stance on slot machines - allowing them without an okay from voters. The two leaders who Strickland needs to get this proposal through the legislature have different opinions. The chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, Kevin DeWine, said it's a sad display of weak leadership. But not all Republicans share that view.
The $2.4 billion worth of spending cuts the governor has proposed is igniting a firestorm of protests from citizen-lobbyists across Ohio. And it's the stories that these advocates tell that are leading a small group of Democratic lawmakers to split from Gov. Ted Strickland and calling for a tax hike to help plug Ohio's budget deficit.
Meanwhile, the backers of the issue that would permit casinos to be built in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo say the governor's change of heart on slots won't affect their drive to the fall ballot. The developers, including the company that owns the Argosy casino in Indiana, this week filed petitions to put before voters their constitutional amendment, which they call the Ohio Jobs & Growth Plan.
The state is supposed to have a budget agreed upon by a conference committee, passed by both the House and Senate and signed by the governor by July 1. And as the six lawmakers who've been named to the conference committee wait for the next meeting to discuss the budget, there is plenty of speculation on what deserves to stay in and what should be taken out - or put back - in the final document. Senate Minority Leader Capri Cafaro, a Democrat from Hubbard near Youngstown, and Senator Tim Grendell, a Republican from Chesterland in northeast Ohio, share their thoughts on the budget.
The $2.4 billion worth of spending cuts the governor has proposed is igniting a firestorm of protests from citizen-lobbyists across Ohio. And it's the stories that these advocates tell that are leading a small group of Democratic lawmakers to split from Gov. Ted Strickland and calling for a tax hike to help plug Ohio's budget deficit.
Meanwhile, the backers of the issue that would permit casinos to be built in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo say the governor's change of heart on slots won't affect their drive to the fall ballot. The developers, including the company that owns the Argosy casino in Indiana, this week filed petitions to put before voters their constitutional amendment, which they call the Ohio Jobs & Growth Plan.
The state is supposed to have a budget agreed upon by a conference committee, passed by both the House and Senate and signed by the governor by July 1. And as the six lawmakers who've been named to the conference committee wait for the next meeting to discuss the budget, there is plenty of speculation on what deserves to stay in and what should be taken out - or put back - in the final document. Senate Minority Leader Capri Cafaro, a Democrat from Hubbard near Youngstown, and Senator Tim Grendell, a Republican from Chesterland in northeast Ohio, share their thoughts on the budget.
June 26, 2009