YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Members of the tri-county region’s legislative delegation to Columbus this morning took pre-emptive aim at the State of the State Address Gov. John Kasich will deliver in Medina this evening.
During a news conference held at the Mahoning County Justice Center, state Sen. Joe Schiavoni and state Reps. Bob Hagan, Ron Gerberry, Nick Barborak and Tom Letson, all Democrats, criticized the Republican governor on issues ranging from jobs and taxes to voting rights.
Kasich “continues to talk about the Ohio Miracle. It’s a nightmare for so many people when we are one of four states that have not expanded our economy in the United States,” remarked Hagan, D-58 Youngstown. He further criticized the various job creation promises associated with tax cuts over the years.
“Now we have a governor who wants to cut more taxes, cut more local government funding, increase the amount of property taxes to fund our schools and he’s saying it will create more jobs. That’s just a bald-faced lie,” he added. “When the city of Youngstown goes from 9% unemployment to 10% unemployment, we know something isn’t working.” The policies of the Kasich administration “to cut taxes for the wealthiest are doing nothing for the middle class,” Hagan said.
“We just want [Kasich] to be real with Ohioans, be real with his constituents, be real with people from the Mahoning Valley about what’s going on with our state,” Schiavoni, D-33 Boardman.
“People are still struggling in every facet of our economy, including fewer people working, more people struggling with addiction, and local governments and public schools hurting. If the governor is going to get up tonight and give a flowery speech about how all of these things are improving under his watch, the stats and the statistics show that that’s just not the case," Schiavoni said.
While jobs aren’t improving in Ohio, JobsOhio, the quasi-public economic development agency Kasich and the Republican-led state legislature created, is “really thriving,” said Gerberry, D-59 Austintown. “This governor and this Republican administration has balanced the budget on the backs of our schools and on the backs of our communities,” he remarked. “We’re going to hear how good things are but the reality is things are not as good a Gov. John Kasich is going to tell us they are.”
Barborak, D-5 Lisbon, pointed out that Ohio last year ranked 47th in job creation and the statewide unemployment rate is “stuck at a rate” above the national average. He criticized tax cuts that he characterized as a “tax shift” that been fitted the wealthy while benefitting the middle class relatively little, at the same time middle-class taxes increased.
“What I want to hear the governor talk about tonight is an acknowledgement that his top-down economic policies have failed and that he’s going to get serious about investing in our communities and our schools, especially when it comes to the proposal with respect to the severance tax on oil and natural gas drilling. “We want to make sure that he’s committed to making sure that northeastern Ohio is protected in that proposal.”
While Kasich talks about creating a business-friendly environment, Letson, D-64 Warren, said the governor has ignored the small businesses called families. “Every family I know runs itself as a business and this governor is just devastating those businesses,” he said. “He has over-promised and under-delivered in his ability to jumpstart those businesses. …He has fattened what we call a rainy-day fund by stripping out local government funds and school monies.”
Gerberry also blasted Kasich and statehouse Republicans for legislation to restrict voting opportunities. “It is truly shameful,” he said.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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