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Crain’s
Cleveland Business
Heck
with the naysayers: Kasich stumps in
Cleveland for his 'transformative' budget
By Jay Miller
April 3, 2013
Gov.
John Kasich came to Cleveland today for a
speech at the City Club of Cleveland. His goal: Push the “bold” and
“transformative” two-year budget he has proposed that is struggling
before the
state Legislature, even though the Ohio House and Senate both are
controlled by
fellow Republicans.
The
governor and a panel of his staffers spoke
for 50 minutes to sell the different aspects of his budget, which
statehouse
media and political observers doubt will pass as currently constructed.
Gov.
Kasich has proposed reducing the income tax, increasing the severance
tax on
the suddenly booming business in extracting oil and gas, and broadening
the
base of the sales tax to include most services.
Only
the cut in income taxes — especially the
reduction in taxes on small business owners — is finding favor with
legislators. But Gov. Kasich emphasized the importance of enacting the
entire
package,
“The
changes we have seen are sweeping,” he
said, reviewing the success the state has had in job creation since he
took
office in 2011. Gov. Kasich said the budget he has proposed will help
the state
continue to build on its economic momentum.
“It
is always necessary to push to create, to
innovate,” the governor said, though he suggested he was willing to be
flexible
with some of the budget details.
“You
can't fall so much in love with them that
you're not in a position to take the tweaks and the changes” that
others may
make, Gov. Kasich said.
The
Legislature did concur with Gov. Kasich on
the separate transportation budget, including the plan to add to the
debt of
the Ohio Turnpike to increase spending on other roadwork. The governor
signed
the $7.6 billion budget bill on Monday, April 1. That budget includes
authorization for the Ohio Turnpike Commission — now the Ohio Turnpike
and
Infrastructure Commission — to issue $1.5 billion in bonds to help
boost the
state's spending on roads and bridges.
At
the end, Gov. Kasich called for finding
common ground.
“It
can all be fixed fairly easily if we lay
down our arms,” he said. “Now is not the time to get weak and go
backwards and
be afraid of something, be afraid of change.”
Read
this and other articles at Crain’s
Cleveland Business
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