Voinovich will not seek Re-election

Today, Ohio Senator George Voinovich announced that he will not seek a third term for his seat in the United States Senate.  Voinovich, who is 74 years old, will have served 44 years in public office, having been elected to more public offices than any other person in Ohio history.  He previously served as Governor, Lt. Governor, state legislator and Mayor of the City of Cleveland.  Announcing his retirement Voinovich stated: “I still have the fire in my belly to do the work of our nation, but after serving the next two years, it will be time to step back and spend the rest of our time with our children and grandchildren, siblings and extended family and friends.” 

News reports mention former Congressman Rob Portman of Cincinnati as the leading Republican to seek the seat in 2010.  Portman served as a U.S. Trade Representative and Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush.  Other Republicans who might be interested in the seat are former Senator Mike DeWine and State Auditor Mary Taylor.

SCHIP Scheduled For Vote This Week

It is anticipated that later this week the U.S. Congress will seek to reauthorize SCHIP which is the Medicaid waiver program that provides health insurance for children.  The reauthorization may be shorter than five years since a $.61 per pack tax on cigarettes may not cover the full cost of the program.

Minority Leader Batchelder calls for Reinstatement of LBO

Republican Minority Leader Bill Batchelder (R-Medina), in a joint appearance at the City Club of Cleveland with new House Speaker Armond Budish (D- Beachwood), called for reinstatement of the Legislative Budget Office (LBO) to give the Legislature a better handle on income and expenditures on an on-going basis.  Representative Batchelder mentioned that had LBO been around during deliberations during the last biennial budget, some costly provisions might not have been enacted.  “For example, we passed legislation taking one-time monies – mostly from the tobacco fund unfortunately, which I think was a mistake – and subsidizing a new senior homestead exemption, without any regard to income.” 

Senator Grendell Proposes Privatizing BWC

State Senator Tim Grendell (R-Chesterland) said the state could save at least $1billion annually under a pair of proposals he will offer to privatize Workers’ Compensation and restructure executive agencies.  Grendell said his legislation would privatize the operation of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and establish nine administrative agencies within the Governor’s cabinet, including a privatized Department of Economic Development.  Grendell said Ohio is one of the few states left with a government-run workers’ compensation system.  He stated that he is looking at the experience of West Virginia converting to a private operation in drafting legislation. 

With respect to streamlining of state government, Grendell’s other proposal would reduce the number of cabinet agencies from 23 to nine. The nine departments would be the Departments of Education, Public Safety, Public Health, Transportation & Infrastructure, Finance & Operations, Human Resource Development, Community & Institutional Rehabilitation, Business Coordination, and Resource Protection.  About 11,500 current positions would be eliminated, including 467 jobs due to privatization of the Ohio Department of Development.

 

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