Senate Republicans yesterday proposed placing a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would give electronic slot-machine licenses to the seven highest bidders and break the stalemate on the state budget.

But the ink was barely dry on the plan before Gov. Ted Strickland swatted it down, arguing that even if voters supported it, the proposal would not produce revenue fast enough to help fix a $3.2 billion hole in the 2010-11 budget.

"That is not an answer to this budget problem," Strickland told reporters.

Ohio's elected leaders drew no closer to settling the ongoing state budget impasse, which officially has entered its second week.

Strickland said that each week of interim budgets increases Ohio's budget shortfall by nearly $14 million because of lost fees, lost federal money and the continued funding of programs that are slated to be cut, such as an early-learning program.

The budget impasse also caused a week's delay in mailing this month's welfare checks, which finally went out yesterday.

Doug Lumpkin, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said the agency was unable to issue payments until getting the OK of the Office of Budget and Management to exceed spending limits called for in the seven-day interim budget.

Likewise, state payments to counties for child-welfare, elderly-care and other programs also have been delayed or reduced. Counties are unable to provide genetic testing to settle child-support cases because they can't process a purchase order for such services.

"As each week proceeds, it gets more and more difficult," Lumpkin said.

But it remained unclear just how or when the stalemate will be broken.

"I intend to make sure the legislature stays here continuously until we have a budget," Strickland said.

"I don't know why the governor continues to insinuate threats. We're trying to do what's right," Senate President Bill M. Harris, R-Ashland, said.

Asked about concerns that his plan for a November vote on slots wouldn't provide any money for the two-year budget, Harris said the governor's plan to place slots at seven Ohio racetracks without a statewide vote presents the same problem.

Republicans say their plan is less risky because Strickland's proposal would not be approved by voters, would be challenged in court and wouldn't generate the projected $933 million during the next two years to balance the budget.

Though Strickland disagrees, Harris said track owners won't fork over money for licensing fees until they see whether an issue passes in November that would allow full-fledged casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo.

Sen. Mark Wagoner, R-Toledo, said the Senate plan would not need additional cuts if lawmakers agreed to do a one-year education budget, front-load federal stimulus money into 2010, and then hope the slots plan passes in November.

"That technically can balance the budget," he said. And if the ballot issue fails, he said, "That's what we have budget-correction bills for."

But Strickland insisted that a one-year budget is unacceptable and not workable because of restrictions on the use of federal money and a host of other factors.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, yesterday afternoon invited Harris to a meeting of the budget conference committee today so the two legislative leaders could debate publicly which slots plan is better. "Unfortunately, their plan raises more questions than provides answers," Budish said.

A few hours later, that meeting was canceled.

Both Strickland and Budish said they don't like that the Senate plan could allow casino-like facilities to be developed anywhere, including near "family-oriented venues."

But Republicans say Strickland's plan has "fatal flaws," and Harris said the open bidding is a better deal for the state than "giving seven (racetrack owners) a guarantee that they're going to get extremely wealthy."

No 'Obamamania' for Kilroy

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/07/08/rematch.ART_ART_07-08-09_A3_L8EDKDL.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

WASHINGTON -- Republican Steve Stivers' decision to challenge Democratic Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy next year not only sets up a rematch of their close 2008 race, but also could serve as a referendum on the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency.

On the same day last year that an enthusiastic Democratic turnout helped Obama carry Ohio against Republican John McCain, Kilroy edged Stivers by a mere 2,312 votes in the 15th District, which for more than a decade had been held by Republican Deborah Pryce.

This time, Kilroy will have to face Stivers as the state's economy continues to shed jobs and the approval ratings of Obama and Gov. Ted Strickland have tumbled.

Kilroy will have to explain her votes for a controversial global-warming bill that has been championed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and for the $787 billion stimulus package, which critics have complained has done little to spark the nation's economy.

"This is going to be a premier race," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan organization that analyzes elections.

"It was close last time," Rothenberg said. "There is no reason why Kilroy should have an easier time now, and there's every reason why she should have a harder time, given the difficulties of the economy and the stimulus."

Republican congressional leaders are banking their election strategy next year on a belief that many Americans who backed Obama are having "buyer's remorse," because they're getting a form of change they don't want.

But although the trend appears to give Stivers a better opportunity to win next year than he had last year, when voters were disgusted with the Republican Party, Kilroy remains a formidable candidate, well-known to Columbus voters.

She works diligently to avoid the liberal label. She has been an enthusiastic backer of overhauling the nation's health-care system. This spring, she took a visible role when the House approved a bill putting new curbs on banks and credit cards.

"The politics will have to wait," said Paul Tencher, a Kilroy spokesman. "She was sent to Washington to change the status quo, and her work is an example of that change."

But Democrats already have made clear that Kilroy intends to once again link Stivers to the banking industry, which remains unpopular with voters. In 2008, she assailed Stivers for working for seven years as a lobbyist for Bank One.

"In these difficult economic times, central Ohio voters deserve a representative who fights for solutions to the challenges they face, not someone like Steve Stivers, a former bank lobbyist who is only looking out for Washington special interests," said Gabby Adler, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

In addition, conservatives haven't warmed up to Stivers, who favors abortion rights. Last year, Stivers essentially lost the election because social conservative Don Elijah Eckhart and Libertarian Mark M. Noble siphoned off 9 percent of the vote.

But this time, Stivers might get a pass from conservatives. Eckhart said yesterday he does not plan to run, although he expressed hope that an abortion opponent enters the race. Noble and Robert M. Wagner, an economics instructor who lost to Stivers in the 2008 Republican primary, have not decided whether to run.

If conservatives do not challenge Stivers, he could stake out the middle in the political spectrum. He clearly signaled that by saying, "We've got to start some checks and balances against the extremes in government. There are extremes on both sides."

In a test-drive of what might become a campaign theme, Stivers complained that Kilroy votes so often with Pelosi that "it's almost as if Nancy Pelosi gets two votes."

State aid for schools dwindling

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/07/08/edbudget08.ART_ART_07-08-09_A1_Q6EDL6N.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Most Ohio school districts are expecting funding cuts in the next two years, but considering the hits being doled out to other parts of the state budget, even education advocates say it's not a bad deal.

Ohio's elected leaders say they continue to make education a top priority. But as the state faces an unprecedented downturn in revenue creating a $3.2 billion shortfall, 364 of 612 school districts can expect cuts in state funding, including 36 of 49 districts in central Ohio.

That is according to the plan worked out by Gov. Ted Strickland, House Democrats and Senate Republicans. However, the agreement is in limbo as state leaders continue to fight over whether to use electronic slot machines to help balance the budget.

Strickland wants to place slots at Ohio's seven racetracks to raise an estimated $933 million over the biennium. But Senate Republicans are insisting that the slots plan go to the ballot in November, and they propose a one-year education budget -- front-loaded with federal stimulus money -- that can be replaced with gambling revenue in 2011 if voters approve a slots plan.

The education plan would limit district cuts to 1 percent in fiscal year 2010 and 2 percent in 2011. In all, 214 districts would take the maximum cut, including Hilliard, Gahanna-Jefferson, Worthington and 25 other central Ohio schools.

No district gets a windfall; 85 would receive increases of more than 2 percent in either year.

Columbus is practically flat-funded, getting a $1.5 million increase over two years on top of annual funding of more than $230 million. South-Western, which is struggling again to pass a levy, would lose 1 percent next year and gain less than 1 percent in 2011.

"We've been telling our members it could be worse," said David Varda, executive director of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials.

"Given the economy and given the range of reductions that are being done across state government, K-12 education certainly has been maintained as a priority. It is just indicative of the times, and it's going to lead to more difficult ballot issues in tough economic environments. But, it's also a time when we'll have to manage our resources better."

Under the agreement, Strickland would keep in place his new evidence-based school-funding model; however, it would be molded into a per-pupil funding figure. Senate Republicans are expected to block the charter-school cuts proposed by Strickland and House Democrats.

An analysis by the Legislative Service Commission shows that charter-school funding overall would drop at about the same rate as overall school funding, going from $638 million this year to $635 million by 2011.

Overall, state funding to schools would be cut by 0.24 percent each year. However, all districts also would share in about $900 million worth of federal stimulus money directed toward poor and disabled students. That money will be gone after two years and is not designed to fund current, continuing programs.

Ohioans pile on Obama

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/07/08/obama_poll.ART_ART_07-08-09_A3_L8EDKDJ.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

President Barack Obama's approval rating has nose-dived in Ohio, a sign that voters are beginning to blame him for their economic problems.

In a state considered by many political observers as a must-win in presidential elections, a new survey released yesterday by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute shows that 49 percent of voters approved of the way Obama is handling his job, a 13-point drop in just two months. The poll found that 44 percent of voters disapproved of his performance.

The rating is Obama's lowest in any national or statewide Quinnipiac poll since he was inaugurated in January. In May, 62 percent of Ohioans approved of his job performance, and 31 percent disapproved.

"These numbers indicate that, for the first time, voters have decided that President Barack Obama bears some responsibility for their problems," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the polling institute.

"Until now, voters have given President Obama high ratings on the economy, blaming former President George W. Bush for their problems. They might be taking out their frustration on President Obama, possibly deciding that the change he promised has not come as quickly as they expected."

In other findings, the Quinnipiac survey showed Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner still running neck-and-neck for the 2010 Democratic nomination to succeed Republican Sen. George V. Voinovich, who is retiring.

Fisher narrowly leads former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman of Cincinnati, the leading GOP candidate for the seat, in a hypothetical general-election matchup; Brunner's tiny lead over Portman is within the margin of error, according to the poll.

Ohioans, by 48 percent to 46 percent, disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy, a decrease from his 57-36 favorable rating on the economy in a May 6 Quinnipiac poll of Ohio voters.

In a "prototypical swing state" that Obama won last year with 52 percent of the vote, independents now disapprove of the president's handling of the economy by the same degree, 48 to 46, Brown noted.

"These numbers indicate that he may be losing, at least for now, some of those who voted for him in November, and should be an indication to the White House that his honeymoon with voters may be ending."

The poll found that 66 percent of Ohio voters are at least "somewhat dissatisfied" with the way things are going in the state, while 33 percent are at least "somewhat satisfied."

On Friday, a statewide Quinnipiac poll showed that Ohio voters also are blaming Gov. Ted Strickland for the economy, and his overall approval rating was down 11 points from the institute's May poll. The sinking numbers for Obama and Strickland could mean trouble for Democrats in next year's midterm election.

"If the election is a referendum on how Ohio's doing, which is what Republicans will try to make it, then it's bad news for Democrats," Brown said.

In the hotly contested primary showdown for the Democratic Senate nomination, Fisher holds the lead over Brunner, 24 percent to 21 percent; 51 percent are undecided.

In a general-election trial heat, Fisher leads Portman 37 percent to 33 percent, and Brunner leads Portman 35 percent to 34 percent.

The poll shows Portman ahead of Cleveland auto dealer Tom Ganley for the GOP Senate nomination. Portman is favored by 33 percent of the vote, Ganley by 10 percent, and 55 percent are undecided.

A source close to the Portman campaign said the GOP candidate will report next week that he raised about $1.5 million in the second quarter of 2009. Fisher reportedly will say he raised nearly $900,000 in the quarter. A fundraising estimate was not available from Brunner.

The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute surveyed 1,259 Ohio voters from June 26 through July 1. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

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Cleveland Plain Dealer (return to top)

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland says temporary budgets are costly, hurt vulnerable citizens

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/07/ohio_gov_ted_strickland_says_t.html

COLUMBUS -- State government is starting to crack along the seams as Ohio moves into the second week of temporary budgeting with costs reaching about $14 million a week, Gov. Ted Strickland estimated Tuesday.

The Democratic governor said the budget impasse is hurting the state because federal matching money can't be drawn down and fee increases proposed for the next budget cannot take effect. (For example, nursing homes would be paying almost $1 million a day more in franchise fees if Strickland's budget proposal had been enacted by lawmakers by the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1.)

In real terms, though, the standoff is hurting people, Strickland said.

"They may not be visible to us, we may not know their names, but there is unnecessary human deprivation and suffering taking place as a result of this budget impasse," he said during a news conference in his Statehouse office.

Strickland, who is reluctant to sign off on any more budget extensions beyond July 14, said he is considering using his executive power to call the legislature into session in an attempt to goose lawmakers into taking action.

Strickland and Republican Senate President Bill Harris have been bickering for more than two weeks over Strickland's plan to place slot machines at seven Ohio racetracks to raise $933 million. Harris wants the plan to go before voters, and Strickland wants lawmakers to include it in the operating budget for 2010 and 2011.

Neither has budged, each blaming the other for the delay, and lawmakers have approved a pair of one-week interim budgets to keep state government afloat. Both leaders agree the interim budgeting is harming the state. The temporary budgets give most state agencies only 70 percent of their funding from fiscal 2009, divided by 52 to get a weekly allotment.

The temporary budgets mean that county officials won't get quarterly checks from the state for local mental health services, which normally go out on July 10, according to state mental health department spokeswoman Trudy Sharp.

Sharp said the quarterly payment to Cuyahoga County last year was $9.2 million, but the weekly budgeting makes it impossible to cut such big checks to county agencies.

That was news to Bill Denihan, head of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County.

"If we don't get that $9 million, it's going to be catastrophic for us," said Denihan. He was in Columbus Tuesday hoping to testify before a House panel about the impact of the budget cuts ordered so far by legislative leaders and Strickland.

"We'll have to figure out what we can do to ensure our consumers are safe," Denihan said. "But those options are becoming nil when the foundation is treatment and medication, and when our funding evaporates like this, it really becomes the state hospital or prison."

Department of Job and Family Services officials said that a Medicaid consumer hot line has shut down because they do not have the money to maintain a new contract. Similarly, they have been unable to sign a contract to have private physicians and psychologists review disability cases when a nurse has been unable to approve them. Normally, they review about 890 cases a day, state officials said.

Agency Director Douglas Lumpkin said that counties are running into problems at different points, depending on how often they pay child care and foster care providers. By the end of this month, every county will face serious problems if the temporary budgeting continues, he said.

"As it continues to drag, the number of issues will grow and become more problematic," Lumpkin said.

Ohio Senate President Bill Harris wants to sell slots licenses to highest bidder under ballot plan

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2009/07/ohio_senate_president_bill_har.html

COLUMBUS -- Senate President Bill Harris on Tuesday offered up a solution that took the state's budget stalemate over racetrack slot machines in a whole new direction.

The Republican and longtime gambling opponent proposed a ballot issue to allow the state to sell the rights to seven slot machine venues to the highest bidders.

The presumption is that the competition for the lucrative licenses could net Ohio a hefty, quick return and open the slot machine business to anyone, not just the owners of the state's seven horse-racing tracks, as proposed by Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.

But with the licenses going for a minimum of $65 million apiece, bar and restaurant owners, who want in on the slots sweepstakes, say they still would be left out. That leaves deep-pocketed track owners, Las Vegas-style gaming companies or private investment groups the most likely bidders.

Harris proposed putting a constitutional amendment on the November ballot for a vote "by those who elected us."

But Strickland immediately dismissed the idea, as did House Speaker Armond Budish, calling it irresponsible to try to balance the budget today with money that may not be available four months from now.

The Democrats also said that because Harris' plan does not limit locations for the slots parlors, the games could end up in family-friendly places like Cedar Point and bowling alleys.

Strickland and Budish, a Beachwood Democrat, are sticking by the governor's proposal to raise $933 million for the next two-year budget by legislatively authorizing slot machine gambling at each of Ohio's seven racetracks, with the state charging a 48 percent tax. The Ohio Lottery would oversee the games.

Harris has repeatedly said voters should make that decision. Although voters have rejected four expanded gambling proposals in the past two decades, 65 percent of the respondents in a Quinnipiac University poll released last week said they would support slot machine gambling at Ohio's seven racetracks. However, 84 percent said the decision should be made by voters, not the legislature.

The Senate president contends that the governor's plan would probably be legally challenged, tying up revenue the state might expect to realize in the next biennium. The state faces a $3.2 billion budget shortfall and its worst budget crisis in decades.

Gaming analysts say Ohio is smart to consider jumping into the gaming business like neighboring states, but they differ on whether the Senate proposal could work fiscally.

Harris' plan would require an open bidding process for each license, with no winning bid below $65 million for a 10-year license. Details haven't been worked out, including whether the licenses would be transferable and useable anywhere in the state, Harris' spokeswoman said.

"Sixty-five million, that's chump change," said Jeff Hooke, a Maryland-based investment banker and gaming industry analyst.

"The going rate in a populated market like Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland would be $300 million to $500 million per license," Hooke said. "They shouldn't even set a low-ball starting number of $65 million."

In December 2008, Illinois sold a license for a Chicago casino for $435 million, Hooke said. And in October 2008, New York sold a license for a New York City gaming parlor for $370 million, though the winning bidder has since reneged on the deal and bidding has reopened.

In Pennsylvania, a gaming company bought a casino license for the state fee of $50 million but then sold it in November 2006 to another gaming company for $220 million.

"It is a shame that most of the states have given most of these licenses away for nothing," Hooke said.

But Joseph Weinert, vice president of Spectrum Gaming in New Jersey, said the nearly 50 percent tax Ohio would charge on slots revenues would make the licenses hard to sell.

"A $65 million bid and a 50 percent tax rate is going to cause a lot of potential bidders to sit on the sidelines," Weinert said.

He said many gaming companies put their profits back into their casino property to make it more attractive and more inviting to gamblers. But if half the money after payouts is going to the state, the owners won't invest in the upkeep of their properties, he said.

"Legislators tend to want to extract the highest tax rate and highest tax fee, and while they might get that in the short run, in the longer run these places are not going to be developed into attractive casinos that can draw tourists," Weinert said.

Further complicating the situation is a constitutional amendment for casino gambling backed by Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert and Penn National Gaming that is likely to be on the November ballot.

That plan, which is not backed by any state leaders, requires a $50 million license fee for each of the four casinos and a 33 percent tax to the state.

Harris said the casino amendment, if approved, would trump any slots legislation approved by the legislature.

Casino issue spokesman Bob Tenenbaum said Harris is wrong because the amendment clearly states the casinos would not interfere with games authorized under the lottery.

Tenenbaum insisted that Penn -- despite owning a racetrack in Ohio and having an option to purchase another -- remained committed to the casino plan, even with the slots proposals.

Meanwhile, Budish invited Harris to testify with him before the bipartisan budget conference committee today to debate the merits of the two slots plans. But the meeting was later canceled.

Vice President Joe Biden to visit Cincinnati on Thursday

http://www.cleveland.com/open/

Vice President Joe Biden will visit Cincinnati on Thursday to highlight economic development projects funded by the stimulus package, the White House announced. Biden will appear at a formerly abandoned factory, the American Can Building, which is being converted to a multi-use economic development project with help from federal money.

His visit comes on the heels of a Quinnipiac University poll that indicated President Obama's popularity rating in Ohio has sunk to 49 percent from 62 percent in May. The poll of 1,250 Ohio voters (with a 2.8 percent margin of error) showed a slim majority of voters dislike how Obama is handling the the economy.

"Until now voters have given President Obama high ratings on the economy, blaming former President George W. Bush for their problems," Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute said in a press release. "They might be taking out their frustration on President Obama, possibly deciding that the change he promised has not come as quickly as they expected."

"These numbers indicate that he may be losing, at least for now, some of those who voted for him in November and should be an indication to the White House that his honeymoon with the voters may be ending," Brown continued.

U.S. Senate candidate Jennifer Brunner openly criticizes fellow Democrat and Lt. Governor Lee Fisher

http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2009/07/us_senate_candidate_jennifer_b.html

U.S. Senate candidate and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner took her first public swipe at her Democratic opponent today in a campaign manifesto posted on her blog.

"If this race for the U.S. Senate is about the trappings of insider politics, then I suspect Lee Fisher will be your man," she writes in a memo titled "Who I am" and one sure to upset some Democratic leaders.

The manifesto acknowledges what she says has been a behind-the-scene effort to get her out of the race in part because she has been unable to raise as much money as Fisher.

She quotes a member of congress who is not named warning her to quit.

"You need to take one for the team, even though I don't think the Lt. Gov. can win in the general election," she repeats in what amounts to another shot at Fisher.

Brunner's post is clearly timed to counter soon-to-be-released campaign finance reports that will show Fisher with a wide financial lead over Brunner. Fisher is expected to have raised close to $900,000 in the second quarter. He raised just over $1 million in the first quarter compared to Brunner's $200,000.

In the meantime, the two Democrats remain deadlocked in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, which shows Fisher with a three percentage point lead over Brunner. But 51 percent of Democrats surveyed said they are still undecided.

Brunner also makes some obvious references to Fisher's status as the establishment candidate (he has the backing of the Gov. Ted Strickland) and at his special effort to court female voters.

"My hope--and my candidacy--are based on my deep-seated belief that leadership is not bound by gender, just as it is not bought with chits and money," she said. "Leadership is earned with courage and principle that go hand in hand to move us forward.

"I will do what Democrats do best--see things for what they are, work to bring the best people together to tackle the problems and seize upon what can be done to bring hope to Ohioans for a better day. I am in this race to stay."

Fisher's campaign did not immediately comment what some might label Brunner's "Jerry Maguire" memo.

Former State Sen. Steve Stivers seeks rematch against Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy

http://www.cleveland.com/open/

A former GOP state senator who narrowly lost a 2008 bid for Congress to Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy has formally announced he's seeking a rematch for the Columbus area seat.

Republican Steve Stivers, who lost to Kilroy by a 2,312 vote margin after a month-long tallying of provisional ballots, says he expects a different 2010 result. Kilroy got 45.94 percent of the 2008 vote, while Stivers got 45.18 percent. Other candidates split the rest.

"We need to put a stop to out-of-control spending, higher taxes and more debt and instead focus on helping Ohio families, encourage job creation and business growth here at home," Stivers said in a Tuesday morning press release.

As Stivers attacked Kilroy for voting to increase the size of government, and backing bailouts "with billions in taxpayer dollars," the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee blasted Stivers as "a former bank lobbyist who is only looking out for Washington special interests."

"This new Steve Stivers of 2010 may be repackaged, but voters will easily see he is still the same Steve Stivers they rejected in 2008," said a statement from DCCC spokeswoman Gabby Adler.

Stivers, who serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Ohio Army National Guard, said he expects attacks against his character, and retorted: "When you've been shot at by real bullets, negative political attacks just don't matter."

Former Cincinnati-area GOP congressman Steve Chabot, who lost to Democrat Steve Driehaus in 2008, is also seeking a rematch. Driehaus won that race with 52.5 percent of the vote to Chabot's 47.5 percent.

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Dayton Daily News (return to top)

Dems give thumbs down to GOP’s gambling plan

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/politics/dems-give-thumbs-down-to-gops-gambling-plan-194620.html

For all the progress made on the state budget Tuesday, Ohio legislative leaders might as well have spent the afternoon watching the Michael Jackson memorial.

Senate Republicans on July 7 pitched a new gambling proposal that calls for putting a constitutional amendment before Ohio voters in November that would allow slot machines at seven unnamed locations. Seven 10-year licenses would be auctioned off to the highest bidders for no less than $65 million apiece.

But neither House Speaker Armond Budish nor Gov. Ted Strickland, who are both Democrats, like the idea, which likely means it won’t go anywhere. Democrats control the House and governor’s office.

“I don’t think it’s an answer to our budget problem,” said Strickland.

“I do not believe that many of my colleagues could support such a plan,” added Budish. “More importantly, I don’t think the citizens of Ohio will support this plan given that this could expand gambling to places where kids and families regularly visit.”

Tuesday’s proposal is the third gambling initiative to bubble up in Ohio this year. Backers of a plan to put casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo are waiting on Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to certify whether they have enough valid signatures to place the issue on the November ballot. Meanwhile, as part of his plan to plug a $3.2 billion budget gap, Strickland suggested $2.4 billion in cuts and a proposal to generate $933 million in new revenue by putting video slot machine terminals at Ohio’s seven racetracks.

The Senate proposal, put forward by Senate President Bill Harris, was in response to a stalemate over Strickland’s plan.

The bottom line: It’s seven days into the new fiscal year, and Ohio is still operating on an interim budget with no agreement on a real budget in sight.

State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said, “The governor said he wants to know what the Senate alternative is. Well, this is the Senate alternative. And now he doesn’t like it.”

Brunner: “I am in this race to stay”

http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/ohiopolitics/entries/2009/07/07/brunner_and_i_am_telling_you_i.html

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, who faces Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, wants the world to know she has no plans to get out of the race.

In a blog post on her website, Brunner writes that she has been frequently prodded to give up her race for the U.S. Senate and instead run for re-election for Secretary of State.

One of the frequent topics is her fundraising - she has lagged far behind Fisher and further behind former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman, R-Terrace Park. Portman has raised more than $1.5 million in the fundraising quarter that ended June 30. Neither Fisher nor Brunner has released their most recent numbers.

But she said she’s in it to stay.

“Public service for me has never been about the money. I know I must raise it. I always have, deliberately, steadily and having enough in the end to get the votes I need to win,” she wrote in a blog post on her site. “Because I grew up here, went to public school and state university here, lived much of this state’s history through my extended family’s stories and heritage, and because I believe in the future of Ohio, I am in this race, and I will not get out.”

Brunner also writes that she “vigorously” opposes “draconian cuts in state or federal funding that deprive the middle class of tools to achievement such as libraries.”

And she works to define herself as the fresh face in the race, describing Fisher as an insider.

“If this race for the U.S. Senate is about the trappings of insider politics, then I suspect Lee Fisher will be your man,” she writes. “But if Ohio’s Democratic faithful are willing to look toward a new way that is really nothing more than the old way of the Golden Rule, then Jennifer Brunner will be the first woman from Ohio to be both nominated and elected to the U.S. Senate.”

UPDATE: Here’s Fisher campaign manager Geri Prado’s take on the blog:

“Lee Fisher believes this campaign isn’t about him - it’s about Ohioans all across the state who are out or work, or worried about losing their job or their health care. If he gets the chance to serve in the Senate, he’ll continue what he’s always done in public life - fight for the hard working families of Ohio who are too often forgotten by politics-as-usual in Washington.”

Obama’s approval rating drops in Ohio

A new poll finds that President Barack Obama’s approval rating has dropped in Ohio to the lowest approval rating he’s had in the state since he was inaugurated.

Obama had a 49-44 percent approval rating in Ohio, down from 62-31 percent in a May 6 survey by Quinnipiac University, which regularly polls Ohio because it is a swing state.

Ohioans also disapproved of the way Obama is handling the economy by a 48 to 46 percent, down from a 57 to 36 percent margin May 6.

Sixty-six percent of Ohioans, meanwhile, are “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the way things are going in the state.

The poll also found Democrats Lee Fisher and Jennifer Brunner are virtually tied for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.

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Akron Beacon Journal (return to top)

Dennis Willard: GOP offer to governor a good deal

http://www.ohio.com/news/50174692.html

COLUMBUS: Gov. Ted Strickland should have embraced the deal — with one caveat — that Senate President Bill Harris handed him today to end the budget stalemate.

Elections board divided on cuts

http://www.ohio.com/news/50199137.html

About the only issues the Summit County Board of Elections can agree on these days are when to start a meeting and when to adjourn.

The board squabbled about several topics Tuesday — most centering on cost-cutting measures — and had five tie votes that will be sent to Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.

This brings the board's tie votes to nine this year — more than the combined total of all of Ohio's other 87 counties, according to Brunner's office.

The Summit board has been at odds for months on how to respond to Republican board member Brian Daley's analysis that showed the board's costs far exceed those of nine other large Ohio counties. The board Tuesday had 2-2 votes on:

• A proposal by the board's Democrats that employees take a one-day-a-month furlough for the rest of the year — the same asked of state employees. Daley and Jack Morrison Jr., the board's other GOP member, said they favored laying off employees they felt weren't needed, rather than forcing necessary employees to take what amounts to a 2.5 percent pay cut for the year.

• Dueling proposals on cuts to district poll worker coordinators — part-time workers who now earn $9,500 a year and get full benefits, but only work on or around election days. The Republican board members proposed cutting their pay to $200 a month with no benefits, while the Democrats wanted to decrease their salary to $4,000 annually with no benefits changes.

• A motion by the board's Democrats to pay the six interns the Democrats hired whose status has been in dispute.

The Republican board members say the interns were hired improperly while Brunner was deciding previous tie votes on cost-cutting proposals. The Democrats say the interns, who perform the same duties as other full- and part-time employees, must be paid.

''You want to pay them? Pay them on your own dime,'' Morrison suggested to the Democrats.

The interns have filed a complaint with the Ohio Department of Commerce, which is investigating.

Brunner can break the tie votes, direct the board to try to work out the issues or take no action.

Pre-checking petitions

Board members also deadlocked Tuesday on a Democratic proposal to no longer pre-check candidates' petitions.

The board now has computers in the lobby where candidates can pre-check petitions themselves. The Democrats argued this is enough and no longer having employees do pre-checks would free up time, save money and keep the board from being blamed for petition problems that aren't detected. Two-thirds of Ohio counties no longer do pre-checks, said Marijean Donofrio, the board's Democratic director.

Republican board members think this service should be continued.

''We should be helping to get people properly on the ballot — not setting traps for people,'' Morrison said.

6 candidates disqualified

The board agreed on disqualifying six candidates from the Sept. 8 primary because of petition problems.

The candidates and the positions they sought are: Angie Young, Lakemore council; Cedric Colvin, Akron Ward 4 council; Jon Died, Akron Ward 9 council; Bob Brown, Cuyahoga Falls at-large council; Bob Lockhart, New Franklin mayor; and Mary Bednar, Stow Ward 4 council.

Bednar, elected to Stow council four years ago, was the only incumbent. She plans to explore running as a write-in. The general election is Nov. 3.

''I care tremendously about this ward and the community,'' she said. ''I want to be there for them.''

Hearing Aug. 18

The board scheduled a hearing for Aug. 18 on a complaint filed by Wayne Kartler against Ernie Tarle, one of his opponents in the Ward 6 Akron council race.

Kartler claims Tarle failed to properly register the committee listed on a campaign pamphlet. Tarle said this week that he did nothing improper.

When a motion was made to adjourn the volatile, two-hour board meeting, Democratic member Tim Gorbach jokingly asked, ''Are we going to tie vote on this?''

Board members agreed to end the meeting.

Gorbach hopes the board will get along better after settling the staffing cuts issues. He said this has caused ''underlying contention.'' ''We needed to move past this,'' he said.

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.

com.

About the only issues the Summit County Board of Elections can agree on these days are when to start a meeting and when to adjourn.

The board squabbled about several topics Tuesday — most centering on cost-cutting measures — and had five tie votes that will be sent to Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.

This brings the board's tie votes to nine this year — more than the combined total of all of Ohio's other 87 counties, according to Brunner's office.

• A motion by the board's Democrats to pay the six interns the Democrats hired whose status has been in dispute.

''You want to pay them? Pay them on your own dime,'' Morrison suggested to the Democrats.

The interns have filed a complaint with the Ohio Department of Commerce, which is investigating.

Brunner can break the tie votes, direct the board to try to work out the issues or take no action.

Pre-checking petitions

Board members also deadlocked Tuesday on a Democratic proposal to no longer pre-check candidates' petitions.

Republican board members think this service should be continued.

''We should be helping to get people properly on the ballot — not setting traps for people,'' Morrison said.

6 candidates disqualified

The board agreed on disqualifying six candidates from the Sept. 8 primary because of petition problems.

Bednar, elected to Stow council four years ago, was the only incumbent. She plans to explore running as a write-in. The general election is Nov. 3.

''I care tremendously about this ward and the community,'' she said. ''I want to be there for them.''

Hearing Aug. 18

The board scheduled a hearing for Aug. 18 on a complaint filed by Wayne Kartler against Ernie Tarle, one of his opponents in the Ward 6 Akron council race.

Kartler claims Tarle failed to properly register the committee listed on a campaign pamphlet. Tarle said this week that he did nothing improper.

When a motion was made to adjourn the volatile, two-hour board meeting, Democratic member Tim Gorbach jokingly asked, ''Are we going to tie vote on this?''

Board members agreed to end the meeting.

Gorbach hopes the board will get along better after settling the staffing cuts issues. He said this has caused ''underlying contention.'' ''We needed to move past this,'' he said.

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Associated Press (return to top)

Ohio Senate favors taking slots to voters

http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=cincinnati&sParam=31119781.story

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Slots and casinos side by side on the November ballot? Don't bet on it.

Almost as soon as the Ohio Senate raised the idea Tuesday of taking Gov. Ted Strickland's divisive racetrack slots proposal to voters this fall, it was just as quickly shot down.

Republican Senate President Bill Harris pitched the idea as a way out of the stalemate that has tied up budget deliberations at the Statehouse since Ohio missed its June 30 budget deadline, signalling his chamber's willingness to authorize a proposed constitutional amendment containing the governor's plan.

Strickland applauded the Senate for coming forth with a specific proposal to end the deadlock, after he had repeatedly criticized the GOP-led Senate for not being willing to negotiate.

But he rejected the plan as not "relevant" to resolving a $3.2 billion budget deficit.

Strickland said operating on temporary budgets is costing Ohio nearly $14 million a week: in fees not being collected, federal resources not acquired, and in money spent on programs the next budget -- which it is approved -- will cut or eliminate.

Douglas Lumpkin, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said the state is losing $1 million a day by not collecting an increased nursing home franchise fee the new budget will authorize. Contract difficulties caused by the budget uncertainty are also delaying the collection of $800,000 a week in unpaid bills, and prompted the shuttering of the state's Medicaid hotline.

Strickland vowed to use his authority to make sure lawmakers stay in Columbus until a deal is reached. He suggested that he could call them into session, and hinted that he had control over their paychecks -- although they have already been paid for July.

The governor's plan calls for the Legislature to include lottery-run video slot machines at seven horse racetracks in the $54 billion, two-year operating budget without sending the issue to voters. Money from slots licenses would begin flowing to the state in September.

But the Senate wants the slots proposal on the ballot for both political and legal reasons. Voters already shot down a 2006 ballot proposal to put slots at racetracks, and a recent poll showed that Ohioans overwhelmingly want the chance to vote on it again themselves.

The Senate also said the $933 million in revenue the governor has forecast his proposal would raise already depends on the outcome of a separate proposal for a constitutional amendment legalizing full-blown casinos in four Ohio cities. That measure is expected to be on the November ballot.

Senators argue that the delay the governor maintains would come from waiting until the November ballot would also impact his plan to authorize slots now.

First, the Senate argued that the language of the casino amendment would prevent the state from expanding gambling elsewhere if it is approved, so the proposal is already contigent on the November ballot. And second, senators maintain -- and some gaming executives have testified -- that the investments for licenses costing $65 million will not be made before the tracks know if they have a monopoly on gambling.

Strickland disagreed. He said the casino amendment has a specific exception for an expansion of the lottery by the state, that track owners have told him they are eager to invest in slots, and that the delay from any legal challenges can be minimized by requiring any legal action to go straight to the Ohio Supreme Court.

"I think it continues to fall short of the Legislature's responsibility and obligation to provide for a balanced budget now," Strickland said. "Any future constitutional amendment is not terribly relevant to our efforts to find the resources necessary to have a balanced budget now."

Harris' letter noted that Strickland, a Democrat, expanded the lottery once before -- adding the bingo-style Keno game -- without legislative approval or the legal authority he now seeks. He also outlined a number of concerns about Strickland's plan, including the fact it would choose some private interests over others and will almost certainly prompt a lawsuit.

But he said the two men, who have been stuck in a high-profile stalemate since June, have many beliefs in common -- including being united against tax increases and placing a priority on funding education.

"I would even venture to say that our views about relying on expanded gambling to help close our budget gap are truly not that far apart," Harris wrote.

Strickland has said the added protections are now necessary because slot machines are not a ticketed game like those allowed under law.

Temporary budgets in Ohio present difficulties

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20090707/UPDATES01/90707013

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The seven-day budget plan currently running Ohio government costs the state millions and threatens services to the poor, elderly and children.

The Ohio Senate approved the state’s second temporary budget Monday as an impasse over Gov. Ted Strickland’s plan to expand gambling holds up the full two-year plan. The first temporary budget funds government through Tuesday, and the second is slated to begin Wednesday.

Strickland has proposed putting slot machines at Ohio’s race tracks to raise an estimated $933 million, but Senate Republicans say the plan has “fatal flaws.”

Strickland and lawmakers are trying to close a $3.2 billion budget gap in a roughly $54 billion plan.

The temporary budgets present administrative and budgeting challenges to state agencies.

A Medicaid hot line for those with questions about the government-funded health care program for the poor has shut down. State payments for at-home and community-based care for Alzheimer’s patients have been suspended, putting that care at risk.

“We have promised to pay them, but we aren’t paying them now,” said Cindy Farson, executive director of the Central Ohio Area Agency of the Aging. “So far, they are staying with us, but the fear is that at some point they will hold up services.”

The state is also delaying payments to county developmental disability agencies and local health clinics.

Payments to schools continue, but districts are unable to plan for the upcoming school year and make hires in some cases.

“It puts everybody in limbo, said Barbara Shaner with the Ohio Association of School Business Officials. “We’ve heard of districts that are putting off hiring and delaying those kind of decisions because they don’t know what their state funding is going to be.”

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction won’t be able to pay its contractors for a range of services, from medical and religious service providers, on time, said spokeswoman Andrea Carson.

Thermostats in two large state office building in downtown Columbus are two degrees higher to save money. The use of air conditioning is being limited.

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Toledo Blade (return to top)

Top Ohio Senate Republican calls for slot ballot vote

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090707/NEWS24/907079940

COLUMBUS — The Republican president of the Ohio Senate on Tuesday urged Gov. Ted Strickland to put the question of whether Ohio should embrace slot machines to voters.

In a letter, Senate President Bill Harris (R., Ashland) called for a Nov. 3 ballot issue to approve a constitutional amendment allowing seven slots parlors in the state, arguing that’s the surest way to avoid litigation.

“We know that litigation is a certainty should your proposal be enacted, subjecting the state to legal wrangling and potentially tying up funding for schools in the courts,’’ he wrote. “A voter-approved constitutional amendment is not subject to such legal challenges.’’

The licenses for those parlors would be competitively bid under Mr. Harris’s proposal, meaning Toledo’s Raceway Park and six other horse-racing tracks would not be guaranteed slot machines as they would under Mr. Strickland’s proposal.

“The current (video lottery terminal) proposal picks winners and losers and creates a gambling monopoly for a handful of predetermined property owners,’’ Mr. Harris wrote.

“We think that’s wrong. A constitutional amendment could be constructed to ensure a fair, open, and competitive process for distributing licenses that would get the best deal for the taxpayers of Ohio.’’

A copy of the letter was sent to House Speaker Armond Budish (D., Beachwoood), with whom Mr. Harris was scheduled to meet later on Tuesday. Budish spokesman Keary McCarthy said the speaker had just received Mr. Harris’s letter and had not made his opinion of the proposal known.

“It is our intent to find common ground and to continue the dialogue (in the meeting),’’ Mr. McCarthy said.

On Monday, Mr. Strickland flatly rejected the idea of putting the question on the ballot and temporarily funding K-12 education by other means until the will of the voters is known.

The governor less than a month ago opposed the idea of using slots to balance the budget, let alone by bypassing a vote of the people. But faced with a gaping $3.2 billion revenue shortfall over the next two years, he has since urged the General Assembly to directly approve such a plan to generate $933 million that could be applied against the budget gap.

The uncertainty of a ballot issue would place that funding at risk and, even if approved, could delay the progress of the plan for four months, he said.

Mr. Strickland’s proposal expects to raise the money from profits on the state-run machines as well as one-time $65 million license fees that would be paid by each track.

The legislature could vote to directly place the question on the ballot with a three-fifths majority vote in each chamber. As a joint resolution, it would bypass the governor’s desk, although the governor and lawmakers would still likely have to deal with the revenue side of the equation in the separate two-year budget.

Any slots question on the ballot would likely compete with a separate proposal being pushed by casino interests to authorize four Las Vegas-style casinos, complete with table games and slot machines, at specific locations in Toledo, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.

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Cincinnati Enquirer (return to top)

Study: Casinos would create 34,000 jobs

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090707/BIZ01/907080313/1055/NEWS/Study%20%20Casinos%20would%20create%2034K%20jobs

A University of Cincinnati study commissioned by gambling proponents estimates the four casinos - including one in Cincinnati - that could be legalized by Ohio voters this fall would pump $11 billion into the state economy and create more than 34,000 jobs over the next five years.

Casino construction in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo would inject almost $2.7 billion into the economy, including $1.7 billion of direct investment by developers as well as $1.5 billion in induced economic activity, the study said.

Once up and running, the four casinos would start generating $1.5 billion a year - a figure that would grow about 4.4 percent a year over time.

The local casino would generate $388.1 million during construction, then $300 million a year once operational. An estimated 2,134 temporary jobs would be created during construction, while 2,754 permanent jobs would be created during the first year of operation.

Jeff Rexhausen, the associate director of research at the university's economics center, said the most surprising result of the study was the potential jobs boon to less educated workers. He noted that workers with just a high school diploma have an unemployment rate almost three times higher than college graduates: 6.1 percent vs. 2.4 percent.

"Many of the jobs we're talking about are for people without college degrees - people most likely to be unemployed," he said, adding that the average annual pay would be $33,000.

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Youngstown Vindicator (return to top)

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Other News (return to top)

Obama’s approval tanks in Ohio

Politico.com

http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/0709/Obamas_approval_tanks_in_Ohio.html

A new Quinnipiac poll shows President Obama’s approval rating has dropped 13 points over the last two months in Ohio, a key battleground state with plenty of critical Congressional contests in 2010.

Obama now only holds a 49 percent approval rating, with 44 percent of voters disapproving. It’s his lowest approval rating in any Quinnipiac statewide poll taken since Obama’s inauguration. In May, Obama held a 62 percent approval rating in the Buckeye state.

Meanwhile, a 48 percent plurality of Ohio voters disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy, with 46 percent approving. Two-thirds of Ohio voters are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the state.

"The economy in Ohio is as bad as anywhere in America. These numbers indicate that for the first time voters have decided that President Barack Obama bears some responsibility for their problems," said Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown.

Those results should be concerning to Democratic Senate candidates Lee Fisher and Jennifer Brunner, both of whom are competing for the party’s nomination – likely against Republican Rob Portman. The poll showed Portman narrowing his deficits against both Democrats to low single-digits.

Fisher leads Portman by four points, 37 to 33 percent. Brunner leads Portman by just one point, 35 to 34 percent. In May, Fisher held a double-digit lead over Portman, and Brunner led Portman by eight points.

And Gov. Ted Strickland, who was one of the country's most popular chief executives, saw his approval rating drop to 46 percent in the Quinnipiac survey. He now barely leads former GOP congressman John Kasich, 43 to 38 percent.

The changed environment in Ohio could have serious implications for Democratic members of Congress, many of whom benefited from Obama’s coattails in 2008. Republican Steve Stivers announced today that he is running in a rematch against Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio), and cited the improved national environment for the GOP as a reason for his decision.

Former GOP congressman Steve Chabot, who lost to Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) last year, is also making a comeback for hid old seat.

Republicans are also actively looking to recruit strong candidates against Reps. John Boccieri and Zack Space, and have attacked them for their votes on the cap-and-trade energy legislation.

Ohio has always been a bellwether state for the national political environment and if Republicans can build momentum here, it could be a cautionary sign for Democrats in Obama’s first mid-term election.

IMHO: Are Ohioans souring on Obama? Polls say so. You?

Mansfield Journal

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20090708/UPDATES01/307080002?FORM=ZZNR

Ohio’s ongoing economic problems have sunk President Obama’s approval rating among Ohio voters at a rate even faster than the decline of Ohio’s Democratic governor, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

The poll released Tuesday morning showed that while more Ohio voters approve of Obama’s performance than disapprove (49 percent to 42 percent), the new president’s job approval rating has declined sharply from the 62 percent to 31 percent margin he had among Ohio voters only two months ago.

In early February, just weeks into the Obama presidency, the Democratic president had a 67 percent approval rating among Ohio voters, according to the Quinnipiac poll.

Last Friday, the university in Connecticut, which conducts polls in key states, released a poll that showed, too, that Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is watching his popularity plummet as the state’s economy continues to struggle and the budget battle rages on in Columbus.

As with Obama, more Ohioans say they approve of Strickland’s performance (46 percent) than say they disapprove (42 percent). But that 46 percent approval rating is 11 percentage points lower than his rating in the May 6 Quinnipiac Poll and a steep decline from the 63 percent in February who said they approved of the job the first-term Democrat is doing.

Strickland’s loss is apparently the Ohio Republican Party’s gain.

According to the poll, the governor, who is up for re-election next year, has only a five percentage lead over announced GOP gubernatorial candidate John Kasich — 43 percent to 38 percent. In May, Strickland held a 19 percentage point lead over Kasich, the former congressman from the Columbus area.

Former U.S. senator Mike DeWine, a well-known Ohio Republican said to be considering a run for governor, does even better in the Quinnipiac Poll — he trails Strickland in a head-to-head match-up by only one percentage point (41 percent to 40 percent).

The poll released Tuesday also has some good news for former Cincinnati congressman Rob Portman, the likely GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate seat up for grabs next year in Ohio.

Two months ago, Democrat Lee Fisher, the lieutenant governor, held an 11 percentage point lead over Portman. Democrat Jennifer Brunner, the Ohio secretary of state who is also running for the senate seat, had an eight percentage point advantage over the Cincinnati Republican.

In the new poll, though, fisher’s lead over Portman shrank to four percentage points, while Brunner led Portman by only one percentage point.

Both polls were conducted by Quinnipiac June 26 through July 1, with 1,259 Ohio voters surveyed. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent.

Strickland: Plan for vote on slots flawed

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/07/06/daily15.html?FORM=ZZNR2

The leader of the Ohio Senate on Tuesday asked for Gov. Ted Strickland’s support to put plans for video slot machines at the state’s racetracks before Ohio voters, a proposal the governor rejected as “not terribly relevant” to a stalemate over the state’s two-year budget.

Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, on Tuesday sent a letter to Strickland that included a draft of a joint resolution to go forward on the video terminals through a voter-approved constitutional amendment. The slots would be installed at up to seven locations in the state to be determined by the highest bidders, not necessarily at Ohio’s seven horse racing tracks as under Strickland’s plan. The letter and resolution come a day after Strickland, amid stalled talks on the two-year budget cycle begun last Wednesday, called a potential ballot initiative “utterly and totally unacceptable” because, he said, Ohio schools’ funding future would be in voters’ hands.

Strickland in a press conference on Tuesday said the plan, while an attempt to resolve the contention over the slots plan, “continues to fall short of the legislature’s responsibility to provide a balanced budget now.”

“We cannot budget a ballot initiative,” Strickland said.

Absent a final budget and under temporary budgets, Strickland estimated that the state’s $3.2 billion deficit is widening by nearly $2 million a day. That’s in part because some programs funded under a one-week temporary budget – in line for another one-week budget beginning Wednesday – will see reduced or eliminated funding under the governor’s proposed framework.

The only point of contention in that framework, offered up nearly three weeks ago, is the slots plan, Strickland and others have said. The slots plan, which the state has said could pull in $933 million over two years to help plug the budget hole, counts on the machines being operational by May 2010. With that window, Harris wrote in Tuesday’s letter, “there is adequate time to seek voter approval without impacting or delaying the revenue upon which your budget framework depends.”

Strickland said that while revenue from the slots themselves won’t hit state coffers until then, the state will see more than $400 million in licensing fees from the seven tracks this fall should the plan be approved.

A key piece of Harris’ letter states that the four-city casino initiative headed to the November ballot would limit all gambling to four locations, “rendering any legislative enactment of (slots) at horse racing tracks moot.”

“In that case, the revenue on which you are counting for Ohio schools would evaporate,” Harris wrote.

Strickland said Tuesday that the proposed amendment for the $1 billion casino plan doesn’t tie his hands on the video slot machine plan – instead, he said it strengthens his argument. A piece of the casino amendment states that the plan will have no effect on activities authorized under the lottery and bingo sections of the Ohio constitution. Legislative approval of the video slots plan would be an expansion of the Ohio Lottery.

State budget woes jeopardize area activity centers

The Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria)

http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2009/07/08/state-budget-woes-jeopardize-area-activity-centers/

ELYRIA — Chante Crenshaw dreams of a better life for herself and her three children.

She’ll start classes next week to become a dental assistant and works part time as a home health aide. She depends on free day care to be able to improve her standing, but after Aug. 22, she might have to quit school and her job to stay home and watch her kids full time.

Gov. Ted Strickland’s new budget proposal would eliminate the Education Learning Initiative (ELI) program that provides the majority of funding to the Horizon Activities Center in the Wilkes Villa public housing complex and the Horizon Activities Center off 14th Street in Central Lorain, as well as preschool programs across the state.

The ELI program prepares low-income 3- to 5-year-olds for kindergarten, utilizing low teacher-to-student ratios and a requirement that teachers have at least an associate’s degree.

If the state legislature approves the cuts to plug a $1 billion hole in the state’s budget, ELI would be eliminated Aug. 22, as would the day care/preschool program at Wilkes Villa and the entire Central Lorain branch, which would shut its doors and lay off about 35 people, the majority of whom would be teachers.

Losing the ELI program also means a loss of $3.5 million to North Olmsted-based Horizon Activities Centers, the umbrella organization that operates six centers in Elyria, Lorain and North Olmsted. The loss is half of the non-profit organization’s $7 million operating budget.

“How can I go to school to better myself if I don’t have child care?” said Crenshaw, 31, whose 3-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter attend the Wilkes Villa Horizon Center. “They want us to be self-sufficient, but how can that be? I don’t have family I can rely on, and I don’t have anyone who I can say, ‘Hey can you watch my children while I go to school or work.’ ”

About 50 children benefit from the ELI program at the Wilkes Villa site. If their parents qualify for subsidized child care through Lorain County Department of Job and Family Services, they will still be able attend the Horizon Activities Center on Dewhurst Road, but they must have full-time jobs or be in a training program and be able to transport the children to the facility, located about 2½ miles from Wilkes Villa.

“These children are in poverty, children without choices. These families don’t have cars,” said Pat Duesenberry, director of the Horizon Activities Center where Crenshaw’s children attend. “These kids at Wilkes Villa have nothing else. They have no ability to have anything else. Some people think, ‘Well if the parents don’t go to work or school, why should they get preschool,’ but this program works.”

Children who benefit from the ELI program tend to score higher on an aptitude test given to those entering kindergarten, called the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment — Literacy test, or KRA-L, according to Dave Smith, executive director of Horizon Activities Centers, the umbrella organization based in North Olmsted that oversees all five centers in Elyria and Lorain.

“Basically when you look at kids out of the ELI programs, they’re scoring about 20 percent higher when compared to the average kid going to an Elyria kindergarten,” Smith said.

Smith said ELI has been so effective because it focuses on the child’s needs and not what their parents should be required to do in order to receive benefits.

“ELI is unique because there isn’t a work requirement,” he said. “One of the problems with what is going to happen is that the governor’s plan is to transition to subsidized child care, but with that program funding is only offered for kids while their parents are at work or training. They won’t be eligible if they work evenings or attend school at night.”

Smith said parents of 83 of the 331 children who benefited from ELI fall under that category and won’t be able to take part in subsidized child care.

In Lorain, parents of children who received funding from ELI will also have to qualify for subsidized child care and find transportation to one of the other centers in east or south Lorain. Since ELI only affects children ages 3 to 5, those ages 18 months to 12 years of age who attended the Central Lorain site will not be transitioned to another site, Smith said.

Wilkes Villa also will continue its afterschool tutoring and Head Start programs for those children and will be partnering with Lorain County Community Action Agency to offer half-day day care four days a week.

Smith said there’s still a chance ELI won’t be cut when Strickland’s budget is finalized, but it doesn’t look good.

“We’re still hoping for a miracle,” he said.

Centrifuge: Loan Guarantee Decision By Early August

Portsmouth Daily Times

http://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Centrifuge-+Loan+Guarantee+-Decision+By+Early+August%20&id=2892956&instance=home_news_lead&FORM=ZZNR2

USEC announced Monday that it expects the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to make a decision on a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee by early August, to allow USEC to continue deployment of its American Centrifuge Plant, currently being built in Piketon.

The company applied for the loan guarantee 10 months ago under a DOE program launched by former President George W. Bush.

“Based on ongoing discussions with DOE, we expect a decision on a conditional commitment by early August,” Philip G. Sewell, senior vice president of American Centrifuge and Russian HEU said. “We believe our project is ideally suited for the loan guarantee program. It will use an innovative technology, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create immediate jobs in the United States.”

Sewell said that, at the direction of the board of directors, they are preparing demobilization plans for the American Centrifuge Plant if it does not receive a conditional commitment by early August. Even if a conditional commitment is provided by early August, demobilization may be initiated if the terms of such conditional commitment are not acceptable, or if subsequent progress toward achieving actual funding later this year under the loan guarantee is not maintained. The delay is adding to the project’s overall cost, which is about $3.5 billion. USEC has already spent about $1.5 billion so far, including the construction of a new facility.

First announced five years ago, the American Centrifuge Plant is supposed to open in 2011 and employ about 400. As America’s only commercial uranium enrichment facility using U.S.-owned and operated centrifuge technology, the American Centrifuge Plant will play an important role in America’s energy security and national security. The Piketon location is also where the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant enriched uranium during the Cold War.

Last month Gov. Ted Strickland and other politicians announced plans by Duke Energy and the French nuclear energy company Areva to build a $10 billion nuclear power plant there over the next 10 years.

Rob Portman, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate and a former congressman from Cincinnati whose district included Piketon, recently wrote to President Barack Obama urging that the loan guarantee be granted quickly. Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland also wrote to Obama in March, saying that “without timely approval of the loan guarantee, the many thousands of new jobs currently being created will be delayed or perhaps lost.”

Obama was supportive when he campaigned in southern Ohio last year.

The American Centrifuge project supports over 5,700 jobs today and over 2,300 more jobs would be created within a year once loan guarantee funding commences.

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