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00:00:38The battle over Senate
00:00:39Bill one goes on
00:00:39before it goes into effect.
00:00:42And voters
00:00:42statewide will decide on
00:00:44an infrastructure issue
00:00:44next month.
00:00:46We'll dive into issue two this
00:00:46week in the state of Ohio.
00:01:08Just.
00:01:09Welcome to the state of Ohio.
00:01:10I'm Karen Kasler.
00:01:12Union groups have begun
00:01:12the march to the ballot
00:01:14that they hinted at
00:01:14when Republican lawmakers
00:01:16passed a law aimed at stopping
00:01:16what they see
00:01:19as liberal indoctrination
00:01:19at public universities
00:01:22by banning faculty
00:01:23strikes and most mandatory
00:01:23diversity programs.
00:01:26Senate Bill one also requires
00:01:26post tenure
00:01:29performance reviews
00:01:30and what's
00:01:30termed
00:01:30as intellectual diversity
00:01:32on certain
00:01:32controversial topics.
00:01:34The union representing
00:01:34Youngstown State University
00:01:37faculty
00:01:37started circulating petitions
00:01:39to repeal Senate
00:01:39Bill one over the weekend.
00:01:41That quickly grew
00:01:41into a statewide effort,
00:01:44including a signature
00:01:44gathering event
00:01:45and protest outside the City
00:01:45Club of Cleveland on Thursday.
00:01:49As Senate Bill one,
00:01:50sponsor, Senator Jerry Serino,
00:01:50spoke inside,
00:01:53he said the law,
00:01:53which goes into effect in
00:01:55June,
00:01:55is in the execution stage.
00:01:59We're not kidding around with
00:01:59this law will not be ignored.
00:02:02It will be a
00:02:02it will be welcomed.
00:02:05And it will be implemented
00:02:05at our universities
00:02:08and community colleges.
00:02:09And maybe
00:02:10even some of our private
00:02:10colleges are thinking about,
00:02:13adopting some of the
00:02:13components of that.
00:02:15So we're going to make sure
00:02:15that,
00:02:17that all the work we've done
00:02:18doesn't go to waste
00:02:18because it's being ignored.
00:02:20We're going to make sure
00:02:20it happens.
00:02:22And nothing speaks like money.
00:02:24The union groups must get 1000
00:02:26signatures
00:02:26to start the process
00:02:28of taking the repeal
00:02:28to the ballot.
00:02:30To get before
00:02:30voters in November.
00:02:32They'd have to get around
00:02:33250,000
00:02:33more signatures by early July.
00:02:37If their ballot language
00:02:37is approved
00:02:39and full disclosure
00:02:39of the Youngstown State
00:02:41Faculty Union is an affiliate
00:02:42of the Ohio
00:02:42Education Association,
00:02:44which is an underwriter
00:02:44of this program.
00:02:47Also on Senate Bill one,
00:02:48Ohio House Republicans added
00:02:48to their budget a requirement
00:02:52that nonprofit, independent
00:02:52universities and colleges
00:02:55admit any Ohio graduate
00:02:55who makes the top 10%
00:02:58of their graduating class.
00:03:00And they extended the
00:03:00governor's merit Scholarship,
00:03:02which gives $5,000 to the top
00:03:025% of graduating seniors
00:03:06if they stay in state
00:03:06for college.
00:03:08All this means
00:03:08those private institutions
00:03:11will have to abide by certain
00:03:11Senate Bill one regulations.
00:03:14That's what's Ohio
00:03:14University's
00:03:16founded on religious doctrine.
00:03:18In a predicament
00:03:19from the Catholic mid-sized
00:03:19University of Dayton
00:03:22to smaller
00:03:22Baptist campuses statewide.
00:03:24And so all of those provisions
00:03:26are now required
00:03:26of our colleges.
00:03:28And then there's
00:03:29the appearance of an exemption
00:03:29for religious practice.
00:03:32But it's religious practice
00:03:32as judged by the chancellor.
00:03:35And so the chancellor
00:03:35is going to have to be
00:03:37in the business
00:03:37of deciding every syllabus.
00:03:40Does it comply
00:03:40with a sincerely held
00:03:42religious belief?
00:03:43Does this announcement by
00:03:43or op ed by the president
00:03:47conform to a sincerely held
00:03:47religious belief?
00:03:50Where's the line between
00:03:50what is and what isn't?
00:03:53And the government
00:03:53is going to be
00:03:54in the business of deciding
00:03:54what religions believe.
00:03:58That's antithetical
00:03:58to the First Amendment.
00:04:00It's just shocking that it
00:04:00came out of this legislature,
00:04:04The budget is now in
00:04:04the Senate.
00:04:05Lawmakers are set to return
00:04:07from break
00:04:07the week of April 28th.
00:04:09But so far, Serino,
00:04:10who chairs the Senate
00:04:10Finance Committee,
00:04:12says no hearings for that
00:04:12panel have been set yet.
00:04:16The May ballot will feature
00:04:16local primaries
00:04:18and money questions,
00:04:18but only one statewide issue.
00:04:21It's issue two,
00:04:21a renewal of the state
00:04:23Capital improvements program
00:04:23and almost 40 year
00:04:25old initiative
00:04:26that allows the state
00:04:26to issue bonds
00:04:28to pay
00:04:28for public improvements.
00:04:30This year's renewal includes
00:04:30an increase
00:04:32in borrowing authority,
00:04:33up to $2.5
00:04:33billion over ten years.
00:04:37Jeff Stauch is the elected
00:04:37county engineer in Union
00:04:40County.
00:04:41The County Engineer's
00:04:41Association of Ohio is among
00:04:43the more than 80 organizations
00:04:43supporting issue two.
00:04:46can you explain it,
00:04:47you two, in simple terms,
00:04:47why this is needed.
00:04:50It's been around since 1987.
00:04:50But why?
00:04:52Why is it now
00:04:52in front of voters?
00:04:54So a little history.
00:04:56As you said, it was first
00:04:56implemented in 1987.
00:04:59So, gosh, it's been
00:05:00close to 40 years
00:05:00since it's been been in place.
00:05:03And,
00:05:03it goes in ten year cycles.
00:05:05So this is it allows the state
00:05:05to renew or reauthorize,
00:05:10the sale of bonds
00:05:10to fund infrastructure
00:05:13projects in the state of Ohio
00:05:14for local
00:05:14communities and counties.
00:05:18And the
00:05:20issue is for obligation bonds
00:05:20up to $250 million a year.
00:05:23So over that
00:05:24ten year, ten year period,
00:05:24the 250 million goes towards,
00:05:28infrastructure projects
00:05:28could be bridges, roads,
00:05:31certainly, sewer projects,
00:05:31sanitary sewer,
00:05:34water lines, storm sewers.
00:05:36And, you know, I think back
00:05:36when it was first formed,
00:05:40the decision was made to,
00:05:42you know, allow the voters
00:05:42to take another
00:05:43look at this
00:05:43every, every ten years.
00:05:45So we're at that cycle.
00:05:47It's been renewed,
00:05:47I think three other times,
00:05:51pretty handily,
00:05:51because people,
00:05:52I think, understand
00:05:52the need for infrastructure.
00:05:55So we are at that,
00:05:56that, stage right now where
00:05:56it's for it's up for renewal.
00:06:00If local communities
00:06:00want these projects,
00:06:02why can't local communities
00:06:02just pay for them?
00:06:05Why have the entire state
00:06:05of Ohio
00:06:07decide on this kind of money?
00:06:09So it's it's fair question.
00:06:10I've been I've been engineer
00:06:10now for 16 years,
00:06:14and I'm
00:06:14the guy that does the budget.
00:06:16We wear a lot of hats
00:06:16in the county engineer
00:06:18world, but, you know,
00:06:18for managing projects,
00:06:21getting them
00:06:23to work in the budget,
00:06:24trying to find it,
00:06:24put all the pieces together.
00:06:27All this stuff takes
00:06:27takes money, obviously.
00:06:29And, there's just not enough
00:06:29to go over.
00:06:33Never enough money
00:06:33to do everything you want.
00:06:35Certainly in the engineering
00:06:35world as well.
00:06:37But this is a great tool
00:06:37to be able to help
00:06:40get some of these other
00:06:40projects across the line.
00:06:42One unique component of
00:06:42this is it requires
00:06:46matching funds to score well,
00:06:48and we can talk about
00:06:48how projects are scored here
00:06:50if we want to get in the
00:06:50weeds a little bit. But the,
00:06:54the grant usually
00:06:54requires matching funds.
00:06:57So we take some of our money
00:06:59that we get every year
00:06:59through our local revenues,
00:07:02match it
00:07:02with these grant dollars
00:07:03to actually be able
00:07:03to build a project.
00:07:05Now, the state
00:07:05capital improvement program,
00:07:07which is what issue
00:07:07two would fund,
00:07:09was created with
00:07:09the original issue 2 in 1987.
00:07:13That was $1.2 billion.
00:07:14That went up to $1.75
00:07:16billion in 2005
00:07:16and $2 billion in 2014.
00:07:19So why has that borrowing
00:07:19authority
00:07:21continued to grow over this
00:07:21almost 40 years?
00:07:24So I think it's just
00:07:24the natural,
00:07:26trend of construction
00:07:26inflation.
00:07:28You know, we all live,
00:07:28especially
00:07:30these last couple of years,
00:07:30the effects of inflation.
00:07:34I tell folks all the time,
00:07:34construction
00:07:35inflation
00:07:35is at a different level,
00:07:38a different pace
00:07:38than even normal inflation.
00:07:41What used to
00:07:42cost less than $100,000
00:07:42a mile to pave a road
00:07:45is now up
00:07:45close to 175,000 for us.
00:07:48That's just the blacktop.
00:07:49One one mile a road.
00:07:51So I think that's part of it.
00:07:53You know, there's
00:07:55Ohio's doing pretty well,
00:07:55especially the central
00:07:57part of the state and the,
00:07:57the pressures with growth,
00:08:02more traffic, more needs
00:08:02or just a natural thing.
00:08:06So you talk about the expense
00:08:06of these projects,
00:08:09why have these projects gotten
00:08:09so expensive?
00:08:12Are the materials
00:08:12just the cost of them
00:08:15increasing so dramatically?
00:08:16These projects have got
00:08:17or are the projects themselves
00:08:17just getting bigger?
00:08:20It's, it's probably
00:08:20a little bit of everything,
00:08:22to be honest.
00:08:23You know, the labor
00:08:23rates
00:08:23of have obviously grown some,
00:08:26but I think
00:08:26probably the biggest component
00:08:27would be,
00:08:27materials concrete, asphalt,
00:08:31just the materials that, that
00:08:33it takes, to go in,
00:08:33getting these projects built.
00:08:37Why can't these projects
00:08:37be part of the capital budget
00:08:40or the transportation
00:08:40budget? Why?
00:08:42What makes these projects
00:08:42separate
00:08:44from those other budgets
00:08:46that lawmakers
00:08:46approve in different cycles?
00:08:49So there's a lot
00:08:50of a lot of sources of money,
00:08:50that go into,
00:08:54you know, the
00:08:54when we step out the door
00:08:55every morning
00:08:55and hop on a local road
00:08:58and work our way to wherever
00:08:58it may be, school or work,
00:09:01you're driving along
00:09:02in a number of different
00:09:02jurisdictions.
00:09:05Could be Odot,
00:09:05could be a city,
00:09:06could be a county
00:09:06council, could be even,
00:09:09and some of those, you know,
00:09:09four lane highways are funded
00:09:13with federal dollars as well.
00:09:14So, I think that's
00:09:14part of it.
00:09:17You just have a number of
00:09:19funding streams for different,
00:09:19different agencies.
00:09:22What's unique
00:09:22and most helpful about these?
00:09:25They go to local
00:09:25local projects.
00:09:28And if I haven't mentioned it,
00:09:28it's it's
00:09:29counties, it's
00:09:29cities, it's villages.
00:09:32Perhaps the utility district,
00:09:32sanitary sewer district,
00:09:36it's reserved
00:09:36for those smaller agencies
00:09:39that, you know,
00:09:40for instance,
00:09:40in Union County,
00:09:41we are one of the fastest
00:09:41growing,
00:09:42if not the fastest
00:09:42growing county in the state.
00:09:44A lot of development,
00:09:44a lot of growth.
00:09:47But the development doesn't
00:09:47pay for itself.
00:09:50We do and have for the last 10
00:09:50or 12 years, really worked
00:09:54with the developers
00:09:54to have them
00:09:56help fund,
00:09:56you know, the project impacts
00:09:58their traffic impacts.
00:10:00But it's it's just one piece.
00:10:02It takes some of that.
00:10:04It takes some of our local
00:10:04dollars,
00:10:05occasional federal dollars,
00:10:07if we're lucky
00:10:07enough to get Ahold of those.
00:10:09But back to your question.
00:10:10It it takes all those pieces,
00:10:10and this allows money
00:10:14to be targeted
00:10:14just to the local projects.
00:10:16You talk about
00:10:16scoring projects,
00:10:18that
00:10:19there are a lot of projects
00:10:19that will potentially
00:10:21be competing for this money.
00:10:22How do you determine
00:10:22what makes the cost so, an
00:10:26example, in our district
00:10:26we have I think there are
00:10:2919 districts
00:10:29across the state.
00:10:32We be in west central Ohio,
00:10:32as we call a district 11.
00:10:35There are eight counties.
00:10:36Each county gets an allocation
00:10:36every year.
00:10:39Ours is is somewhere
00:10:39in the neighborhood,
00:10:41averages about 1 to 1 point
00:10:42million, for Union
00:10:42County each, each
00:10:45and every year and has
00:10:45for the last number of years.
00:10:48So the,
00:10:48the applications come in
00:10:52on an annual basis
00:10:52and they are scored.
00:10:55And so the best projects,
00:10:56the ones that maybe have
00:10:56the most traffic,
00:10:58you know, for instance,
00:10:58you get more points
00:11:01if you are teaming
00:11:01with other agencies,
00:11:03if you're partnering
00:11:03with the city, City of Dublin
00:11:06or City of Marysville
00:11:06or a township,
00:11:08that increases your chances.
00:11:10And a lot of it
00:11:10is just to be able
00:11:12to take the best projects
00:11:12and move them forward
00:11:14with the funding.
00:11:15So the score sheets are
00:11:15are reviewed.
00:11:18A small committee that's local
00:11:18helped choose the projects.
00:11:21We submit them to the state,
00:11:23for approval
00:11:23for the funding. So
00:11:27I think
00:11:27that's a good component
00:11:28because it
00:11:29helps separate
00:11:29the best projects
00:11:30from the ones that that won't
00:11:30have quite the same impact.
00:11:34On the other hand, you know,
00:11:35small village may not compete
00:11:35very well
00:11:37with with one of the projects
00:11:37they want to get done.
00:11:39So there's a small government
00:11:41fund is a part of the program.
00:11:43If you're less than
00:11:43a population of 5000, you can
00:11:46you can apply
00:11:46to the small government
00:11:48fund to have
00:11:48your smaller project funded
00:11:48and have a better chance.
00:11:52So there is a pretty strong
00:11:52measure of local control here.
00:11:55Even though this is state
00:11:57money and this is a state
00:11:57voter decision,
00:12:00there's a lot of local control
00:12:00here.
00:12:02It really is.
00:12:02And we you know, obviously
00:12:03from our standpoint,
00:12:03we think that's a great thing.
00:12:06In our world,
00:12:06we we often say every trip
00:12:08begins
00:12:08and ends on a local road.
00:12:10So the local projects need
00:12:10need some attention too.
00:12:14I want to ask you about
00:12:14a question
00:12:15has come up
00:12:15in the last couple of weeks
00:12:17since we've been reporting
00:12:18on the $600
00:12:18million package of bonds
00:12:21for the Cleveland
00:12:21Browns Stadium in Brook Park.
00:12:22That's in the House budget,
00:12:24and whether issue two would
00:12:24somehow be tied to that,
00:12:27for instance, if that bond
00:12:27package is removed or vetoed,
00:12:31could issue to pay
00:12:31for the Browns stadium,
00:12:35or could issue to pay
00:12:36for another stadium for, say,
00:12:36Cincinnati or somewhere else.
00:12:40Can issue
00:12:40$2 be used in that way
00:12:43that they cannot in being
00:12:43and just being honest.
00:12:45As a diehard, lifelong,
00:12:45diehard Cleveland Browns fan,
00:12:49I I've followed that closely.
00:12:50And I have my opinions
00:12:50about whether or not they need
00:12:53the stadium up there.
00:12:54However, the funds here
00:12:56that we're talking about
00:12:56for issue two
00:12:58are again, are directed
00:12:58just for local infrastructure
00:13:01roads, bridges.
00:13:02The bonds are not tied to this
00:13:02proposal for a new stadium
00:13:06or any other stadium
00:13:06for sports teams.
00:13:08At all.
00:13:09Are you concerned that
00:13:09because of all the reporting
00:13:11that's been done
00:13:11and because of the inclusion
00:13:13of this bond package
00:13:13in the budget,
00:13:15that that might affect
00:13:15how people view issue two?
00:13:18I mean, issue
00:13:18two has in the past,
00:13:20in its various iterations,
00:13:20passed pretty.
00:13:23It needs to pass
00:13:23by a simple majority.
00:13:25It's passed by larger
00:13:25percentages than that.
00:13:27Are you concerned that
00:13:27people might get confused?
00:13:31Concerned about this and vote
00:13:33against issue two
00:13:33or not vote at all?
00:13:35So, yeah, I'm sure
00:13:35there's always concern there.
00:13:38I just I think what helps us
00:13:38though is we
00:13:40we have a track record of, of,
00:13:42you know, so many years
00:13:42since 87 and we,
00:13:46we try to do a good job
00:13:46locally.
00:13:47I know other engineers and,
00:13:48and city engineers out there
00:13:48try to share, you know, where
00:13:53where the funds, come from
00:13:53to build a certain project,
00:13:55a roundabout or a bridge.
00:13:57And hopefully people
00:13:57remember that
00:13:59and they do
00:13:59a little bit of research
00:14:00to be able to separate the,
00:14:02the, the true
00:14:02from the not true.
00:14:04And finally,
00:14:05I'm sure you don't
00:14:05want to think about this,
00:14:06but if issue two fails,
00:14:07what is the effect
00:14:09on communities
00:14:09that are looking down the road
00:14:11and thinking,
00:14:11we need to replace this road,
00:14:11or we need to do this
00:14:14water sewer project
00:14:14or whatever?
00:14:16Yeah, it would definitely be
00:14:16impactful for us.
00:14:19I took a look, before
00:14:19driving down our district,
00:14:23again, the eight counties
00:14:23average is between 600,000
00:14:27and $3 million a year
00:14:27annually for the projects.
00:14:31So each of those counties
00:14:32is somewhere
00:14:32in the middle of that range.
00:14:34So if you could just imagine
00:14:34taking away
00:14:37that funding for one year,
00:14:37it's it's likely,
00:14:40you know,
00:14:40three miles of paving for,
00:14:42for a certain county
00:14:43or maybe a bridge doesn't
00:14:43get built, water line.
00:14:46Does it go into a treatment
00:14:46plant for sanitary sewer?
00:14:49Doesn't happen until,
00:14:51you know, they figure out
00:14:51another way to fund it.
00:14:53It would be impactful.
00:14:54Issue two was overwhelmingly
00:14:54supported by state lawmakers
00:14:58when they voted in December to
00:14:58put it before voters in May.
00:15:01But there was a single
00:15:01no vote in the Senate
00:15:03from Republican former
00:15:03lawmaker Niraj Antony.
00:15:06And four of the most
00:15:06conservative
00:15:07Republican
00:15:07members of the House
00:15:09also voted against it.
00:15:10Ron Ferguson, Brian Lawrence,
00:15:10Reggie Stoltzfus
00:15:13and Jennifer Gross.
00:15:14I talked to Representative
00:15:14Grosz
00:15:16about why she opposes
00:15:16issue two
00:15:18and why she was also
00:15:18one of five Republicans
00:15:20who joined all House Democrats
00:15:22in voting against the budget
00:15:22in the House last week. two.
00:15:25What are your concerns about
00:15:25issue two?
00:15:27It is a renewal of a program
00:15:29that's been around
00:15:30since 1987, has funded 19,000
00:15:30local projects,
00:15:34which communities
00:15:34may not have been able
00:15:36to afford
00:15:36without that assistance?
00:15:38What's your concerns
00:15:38about issue two?
00:15:40I think as you said,
00:15:40this started in 1990, at 1987
00:15:44under Governor Celeste.
00:15:46And, the reason
00:15:46this bond issue was started
00:15:49was because we had issues
00:15:49with roads and bridges.
00:15:52My understanding was
00:15:52it wasn't only local projects
00:15:55back then,
00:15:56it was all of our highways
00:15:56and that we were,
00:16:00we were losing opportunities
00:16:00because our roads were in
00:16:04disrepair.
00:16:05So under a Democrat governor,
00:16:05we started a new bond.
00:16:08We have a transportation
00:16:08budget to care.
00:16:10And so that transportation
00:16:10budget is supposed to cover
00:16:13roads and bridges.
00:16:15And this bond covers
00:16:15roads and bridges.
00:16:18I'm really,
00:16:19I'm really not sure that all
00:16:19the money is going into
00:16:24one pot and all the money
00:16:24is going into another.
00:16:27Odot Odot works in both areas,
00:16:27is my understanding.
00:16:32The other thing about this
00:16:32bond is that it went to 2014.
00:16:37It was 1.75 billion.
00:16:40And now ten years later,
00:16:40we're at 2.5 billion.
00:16:44When we started in 1987,
00:16:44we were at 500 million.
00:16:49And so
00:16:50we have another revenue stream
00:16:50when we already passed
00:16:53the transportation budget,
00:16:53that we're spending.
00:16:57And so I think it gets
00:16:57confusing for the citizens
00:17:00to see that we have six, six
00:17:00revenue streams, five budgets.
00:17:04One is it
00:17:04transportation budget.
00:17:06Then we come to the ballot
00:17:06and we ask for more money
00:17:09for roads and bridges,
00:17:09when in my opinion,
00:17:12it should be,
00:17:12it should be all in one.
00:17:14The other thing
00:17:14that there have been
00:17:15since the last Celeste is one.
00:17:17There have been seven
00:17:17governors,
00:17:19five have been Republican,
00:17:21two have been Democrat,
00:17:21Strickland and Celeste.
00:17:24And we just keep increasing
00:17:24our spending.
00:17:26So, in a time
00:17:26when the citizens of Ohio
00:17:30have said that we need
00:17:30to, dodge
00:17:33and really spend our money,
00:17:33well, I might have approved
00:17:36of a smaller increase
00:17:36because of inflation.
00:17:39And you could
00:17:39argue that in ten years, 31
00:17:39plus percent increase
00:17:43in spending in this particular
00:17:43amendment is reasonable.
00:17:49I don't think so.
00:17:50I, I may have have thought of
00:17:50a smaller amount, but again,
00:17:54it's a sixth revenue stream
00:17:54and we have five budgets.
00:17:57We already have a transport
00:17:57budget.
00:17:59I don't see the need.
00:18:00We started it as a as a fix
00:18:00and as government will do.
00:18:06It never ended.
00:18:07And all it does is
00:18:07keep increasing and spending.
00:18:10Where would you come up with
00:18:10the increase
00:18:13for the revenue stream?
00:18:14I mean, Odot has said that
00:18:15the gas tax revenue
00:18:15is not going to fund
00:18:19roads and bridges
00:18:19and all that.
00:18:20Over time,
00:18:20they're going to have to start
00:18:22talking about maybe increasing
00:18:22that. Where would you come?
00:18:25Where would you find
00:18:25another revenue stream?
00:18:27I think, you know, I'm
00:18:27not the expert
00:18:28or the queen of the world,
00:18:28but I would say that
00:18:31first of all,
00:18:31we need to dodge everything.
00:18:33So we need to be sure
00:18:34that we're spending the money
00:18:34we do have most efficiently.
00:18:37No, nothing against Odot
00:18:37or anything like that,
00:18:42but we all what I see
00:18:42a lot of times in government,
00:18:46maybe
00:18:46not so much in ours, but,
00:18:48but we do need to be sure
00:18:48that we're spending
00:18:51all of our citizens dollars
00:18:51wisely.
00:18:54And,
00:18:54we'll be talking a little bit
00:18:56more about that,
00:18:56I'm sure, in the budget,
00:18:58as we continue
00:18:58our conversation,
00:19:00I want to ask you
00:19:00about the budget.
00:19:02You were one of the votes
00:19:03against the budget,
00:19:04and you mentioned
00:19:05the Department of Government
00:19:06Efficiency
00:19:06at the federal level.
00:19:08And there's a Dodge caucus
00:19:10in Ohio
00:19:10that you're a part of as well.
00:19:12Why did you vote against
00:19:12the budget?
00:19:14You know,
00:19:14that's a great question.
00:19:15I want to start off
00:19:16by saying it was one of
00:19:16the most efficient budgets.
00:19:19I think Speaker Hoffman
00:19:19ran it very, very well.
00:19:23Chair
00:19:23Stewart did a fabulous job.
00:19:25The the plan of using standing
00:19:25committees to hear, budget,
00:19:31asks, aloud
00:19:31almost 95 as chair
00:19:36Stewart says representatives
00:19:36to participate
00:19:41and add amendments
00:19:41to the budget.
00:19:43I think that
00:19:43when the budget is heard
00:19:44and remember,
00:19:44we had a robust schedule.
00:19:46The governor presenting our
00:19:46his February 3rd
00:19:50and us getting it voted out
00:19:50April 9th.
00:19:52That is a very robust budget.
00:19:54Me as chair of Medicaid,
00:19:54my assignment was to
00:19:58trim Medicaid and look at it,
00:19:58make sure that we are
00:20:01as transparent as possible,
00:20:01which I believe we succeeded
00:20:05in doing.
00:20:06I had
00:20:06a lot of input in the budget.
00:20:09As far as the speaker
00:20:09allowed me to and Chair
00:20:13Stewart allowed me
00:20:13to as my job as chair.
00:20:16But when it came to remember
00:20:16our budget.
00:20:19Karen is spending.
00:20:21So, spending the people
00:20:21when they voted
00:20:24for President Trump
00:20:25said, we want responsible
00:20:25spending of our dollars.
00:20:29And then the people of Ohio
00:20:31have been frustrated
00:20:31with property tax, relief.
00:20:34We did not deliver
00:20:34when it comes
00:20:37to income tax relief
00:20:37and property tax relief.
00:20:40And so in the end, I'm
00:20:40a I'm a Dave Ramsey girl.
00:20:43And, we have needs
00:20:43and we have wants and,
00:20:47I believe that
00:20:47the needs of the Ohio people,
00:20:50we needed to bring them
00:20:50a type of relief
00:20:55and that would include, for me
00:20:55property tax relief,
00:20:58which is undoubtedly
00:20:58extremely complicated.
00:21:00Karen.
00:21:01But but we didn't
00:21:01we didn't deliver.
00:21:03So in the end, as hard
00:21:05as it was to vote
00:21:05against my own work,
00:21:07which I'm very proud of,
00:21:07and as as much as I love
00:21:11the caucus
00:21:11and I love the leadership.
00:21:15If I was voting
00:21:15because I liked my colleagues,
00:21:18I would have voted yes.
00:21:19But because I represent
00:21:19my district
00:21:22and my district was not happy
00:21:23with the budget,
00:21:23I had to vote no.
00:21:25And I was very much
00:21:25and have always been
00:21:27in the last four years,
00:21:29very much in touch
00:21:29with my district.
00:21:31When you talk about property
00:21:31tax relief,
00:21:33there was a provision
00:21:33in the budget
00:21:35that would cap
00:21:35what school districts can hold
00:21:37the property taxes.
00:21:38They collect
00:21:39the cap off of 30%,
00:21:39and they would have to refund
00:21:42the rest of it
00:21:42to their property taxpayers.
00:21:45That was described as
00:21:45immediate property tax relief.
00:21:49Those school districts
00:21:49have said
00:21:50it's going to be disastrous
00:21:50for them.
00:21:52Was that,
00:21:53you said there wasn't property
00:21:53tax relief in the budget?
00:21:56What about that?
00:21:56I was tempted by that.
00:21:56I'm not going to lie.
00:21:59It sounded so good. I'm like,
00:21:59ooh, this could be good.
00:22:01The problem is what we heard
00:22:01in caucus.
00:22:04I guess I'm allowed to say
00:22:04that, was that almost 300?
00:22:07Or maybe Representative
00:22:07Williams set it on the floor.
00:22:10300 schools,
00:22:10or the school districts
00:22:15were not going to receive
00:22:15any property tax relief.
00:22:18but the citizens
00:22:19that were in those districts
00:22:19that are already at the 30%
00:22:22of their operating budgets
00:22:22have no, nothing left.
00:22:26So the citizens that live
00:22:27in those districts
00:22:27get no property tax relief.
00:22:30That would not have included
00:22:30my own district.
00:22:33But again, it's a budget.
00:22:34We need to
00:22:35we need to give property
00:22:35tax relief to all Ohioans.
00:22:38And we just didn't deliver my
00:22:38particular school districts.
00:22:42We're not happy with it.
00:22:44And, the other thing is that
00:22:46and they're
00:22:47already talking about this,
00:22:47what will stop the schools now
00:22:51from attempting
00:22:51to get additional dollars
00:22:51by placing
00:22:53more levies on the ballot?
00:22:55I mean, if we
00:22:55if we give it back, they're
00:22:58just going to keep that.
00:22:59I mean, it it was maybe,
00:22:59not a fully back baked idea.
00:23:04And for me,
00:23:04it was not a guarantee of
00:23:06tax relief and, property
00:23:06tax relief.
00:23:10And so, I need,
00:23:13and this will date me, but,
00:23:13I can't vote.
00:23:16If you give me a cheeseburger
00:23:16today,
00:23:18I can't vote for that.
00:23:19You'll give me a dollar
00:23:19tomorrow.
00:23:21So, it just
00:23:21it didn't deliver in the end.
00:23:26Although, again,
00:23:26I will say it was a very.
00:23:28It's probably
00:23:28one of the hardest votes
00:23:30that I have ever taken.
00:23:32You were also concerned about
00:23:32the $600 million bond package
00:23:35for the stadium,
00:23:35for the Cleveland Browns
00:23:37and Brooke Park.
00:23:38You say you've already heard
00:23:38from two other
00:23:42facilities
00:23:42that also want money. Yes.
00:23:45Yes. And and so, you know,
00:23:45those requests
00:23:50had already come in
00:23:50even before the vote.
00:23:53And those requests
00:23:53were from Packer
00:23:54Stadium and Cincinnati
00:23:54and also, football clubs,
00:23:58Cincinnati and pay Korea
00:24:00and pay Car had come
00:24:00in the night before the vote.
00:24:03And I believe FC Cincinnati
00:24:03may have come in
00:24:05right around the time
00:24:05we were voting.
00:24:07If you look at the timing and
00:24:07I thought the people of Ohio
00:24:12cannot be the bank,
00:24:12giving out loans to,
00:24:16these corporations,
00:24:16as much as we love soccer
00:24:20and football, we,
00:24:20we cannot keep doing that.
00:24:24We I've seen other spending
00:24:24and I'm not going to pick out
00:24:27particular, organizations,
00:24:27but it is not the role
00:24:31of the Ohio people
00:24:31to bolster up business.
00:24:34People that are running
00:24:35business
00:24:35can run their business
00:24:37on their own
00:24:37without the taxpayers taking,
00:24:40you know, the risk for them.
00:24:43So, and it's not really clear
00:24:43to me,
00:24:46honestly, is,
00:24:46it also wasn't clear.
00:24:49But my understanding
00:24:50with this bond
00:24:50is that that the people,
00:24:53if it wasn't paid back,
00:24:53the people would be holding
00:24:56the, the debt in the end.
00:24:59And so, again,
00:24:59I wasn't clear on that.
00:25:03But again, I the concept
00:25:03is not not palatable for me.
00:25:07One final note on issue two.
00:25:09It has that number, though.
00:25:10It's the only statewide
00:25:10issue on the May ballot
00:25:13because Ohio has a law
00:25:13requiring sequential numbering
00:25:16of statewide ballot issues
00:25:16starting with issue one,
00:25:18the redistricting issue
00:25:18last fall.
00:25:21So there won't be
00:25:21another issue
00:25:22two for at least decades.
00:25:25And that is it for this week
00:25:25for my colleagues
00:25:26at the statehouse news
00:25:26viewer of Ohio Public Media.
00:25:28Thanks for watching.
00:25:29Please check out our website
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