Columbus, Ohio – Governor Ted Strickland today issued the following statement:
I have always believed that government is at its best when all sides work together to find common sense solutions to the challenges we face.
I also believe that legitimate public policy disagreements are essential to the health of our democratic process, as they fuel the marketplace of ideas and require leaders to find middle ground. That’s what makes the deafening silence from Ohio’s Republican Senate leadership these past few weeks so troubling. The marketplace of ideas, and our very democratic process, breaks down when those elected to lead – to make hard choices and live with the consequences – simply refuse to do so.
Ohio businesses are struggling to get by and Ohioans continue to lose jobs because of the national recession. Ohio’s leadership needs to be doing all that it can do to help our businesses and workers through the recession – and to make sure that when the economy does recover, the state is positioned for job growth.
That’s why, seventeen days ago, I proposed a plan to preserve our safety net to the greatest extent possible while protecting Ohio businesses and workers from the tax increases that they simply cannot afford at this time.
Some say a tax increase during a recession would help kick start the economy. I believe that tax increases during this recession would only kick Ohioans when they are down, undermining the economic recovery that we need.
And, let’s not forget, the federal government is not only holding the line on taxes in this recession, they are actually cutting taxes for most middle-class American families as part of the Recovery Act.
It is also important to recognize that Ohio’s 3.2 billion dollar budget gap, while deep and painful, would be much worse if not for the leadership of President Obama and the members of Ohio’s congressional delegation who supported the stimulus.
To address our challenges, my plan reduces the size of state government, cutting spending by more than 2.4 billion dollars. These are difficult cuts, but they are necessary to meet the constitutional requirement to balance the budget.
Our plan would add 933 million dollars in new revenue with legislation permitting video lottery terminals at Ohio’s racetracks. And, because the quality of our classrooms will determine the quality of future Ohio jobs, our plan directs the state’s limited resources to support our schools – even as most states are slashing support for education.
The legislative conference committee has now been underway for twenty-five days. To date, the Republican Senate leaders have disregarded their constitutional responsibility to send me a balanced budget, refusing to put forward even one proposal this entire time.
When someone not only refuses your proposals, but also refuses to put forward any solutions of their own, it’s not a negotiation. It’s game playing.
It saddens me to say that, while I have tried to advance a forward-looking budget agenda, Senate Republican leaders have retreated to partisan game playing.
I am increasingly concerned that the Senate majority caucus has been hijacked by a few highly-political Senators who are holding the state hostage to achieve political advantage.
Some might say that’s not fair. But one of their operatives was so gleeful about their strategy that he couldn’t help boasting about it out loud. There was no mistaking it when they actually said, “the longer this goes, the more it hurts [Ted Strickland].”
What this statement indicates is that they just don’t get it. The issue is not whether or not I am being politically hurt. The issue is the fact that the people of Ohio, the people, are being hurt.
It is disgusting to me that they would play games with Ohio’s future when Ohioans desperately need real leadership.
The truth is, the longer this goes on, the more it hurts the people and the state of Ohio.
Despite all this, I am still willing to work with Senate Republicans. I hope they will stop being political and reengage in a good faith effort to resolve the one outstanding issue – how to balance the budget.
Regrettably, I have reached the conclusion that, as it stands, the current debate is no longer primarily about public policy, but partisan political advantage and, now it appears, political gimmicks.
You may have heard, as I have heard, that the Senate majority is considering the placement of a video lottery terminal initiative on the ballot and abandoning our schools to a speculative, one-year temporary budget. That means education funding for the second year would depend entirely on the passage of the initiative or some other unidentified, unknown source of funds.
That is not a real budget proposal. That is a blatant political gimmick. It is utterly and totally unacceptable.
Such a proposal would withdraw Ohio’s commitment to our children for no other reason than an unwillingness to make hard choices now. It would make education our last priority, when it should be our first. And it would rely on the uncertain outcome of a ballot initiative to determine the future of education.
I will not allow Senate Republicans to play politics with our schools. I will not sign a budget that orphans education funding to the uncertain outcome of a future ballot initiative or, in the event it fails, no plan at all. I will only sign a comprehensive, two-year balanced budget.
Last week, I signed a seven-day interim budget that expires tomorrow. Because of the Senate majority’s delays, the legislature will almost certainly fail to meet that deadline.
This is alarming because each day that goes by without a budget puts the state into a deeper fiscal hole.
Temporary budgets delay or reduce subsidy payments to county government agencies that provide local support services to the elderly, people with developmental disabilities and those in need of mental health care. The longer this goes on, the more it affects their ability to provide quality services, make payroll and draw down federal matching funds.
The budget uncertainty is impacting Ohio’s 614 school districts. They are unable to plan for the next school year even though classes will resume next month.
Temporary budgeting also means that we are continuing to pay for programs and services that, under our budget proposal, will be cut or suspended over the next two years.
We are losing millions of dollars each week by spending on programs that will be cut and diverting those limited resources away from other critical programs and services. That is simply not responsible.
While I will reluctantly sign a second temporary budget tomorrow if necessary, I have serious concerns about signing a third.
I again call on members of the legislature to work around the clock until they agree on a budget. Members of the legislature are getting a paycheck, when a lot of Ohioans are not. They receive health care, when too many Ohioans do not. There is no justification for any unwillingness to stay here and work continuously until this budget issue is resolved.
I am doing my job in presenting a balanced budget proposal to the legislature. The Ohio House is doing its job by reworking my proposal and developing compromises. It is time for Senate Republican leaders to do their job.
Our budget proposal reflects hard choices and real compromise. It is time for Senate Republican leaders to put an end to the partisan political maneuvering, to set aside the gamesmanship and the gimmicks, and either agree to our plan to balance the budget without a tax increase or present their own comprehensive, two-year balanced budget plan.