Experts: Union law fight will influence ’11, ’12 races

Apr. 3, 2011, Chillicothe Gazette

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

Senate Bill 5 could be more than a powerful piece of policy. It could turn into a jackhammer that might shake up Ohio’s entire political landscape come the 2012 presidential election, experts said.

Gov. John Kasich signed legislation on Thursday that dramatically curtails collective bargaining rights for public employees.

The bill passed the Legislature amid a crowd of jeering union supporters, and the political battle that already had heated up reached a boiling point. Opponents vowed to take their protests to a referendum campaign. Supporters vowed to fight them.

Official: Federal budget cuts would gut Ohio poison control centers

Apr. 1, 2011, Newark Advocate

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

The Central Ohio Poison Control Center — frequently a lifeline for those poisoned by opiates and addictive prescription drugs — stands to lose almost one-third of its funding under the proposed federal budget.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the first version of the budget in February. Among the cuts were $27.3 million — 90 percent of funding — to poison control centers nationwide, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

As poison control awareness week concluded last week, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, called for a full restoration of funding to the centers. He has an unusual ally — Attorney General Mike DeWine, a former Republican senator defeated in 2006 by Brown.

DeWine authored the legislation establishing a national poison control hot line in 2002.

SB 5 revision protects death benefits

Mar. 30, 2011, Marion Star

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

Sara Winfield,whose husband was killed in the line of duty in Marion County, told a legislative committee that Senate Bill 5 might keep her and other survivors of slain police officers from getting their full benefits.

The controversial legislation seeks to curtail collective bargaining rights of public employees. On Tuesday, Republican lawmakers added a clause to protect the benefits of surviving spouses and families of officers and firefighters who die in the line of duty. The legislation goes before the full House for a vote today.

However, one Fraternal Order of Police representative said he is not sure if the complex Senate Bill 5 language would interfere with death benefits, even with the change.

School districts learn how deep state cuts might be

Mar. 30, 2011, Marion Star

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

Local school officials figured they would have less state and federal aid in 2012. Tuesday, they learned what the cuts could be.

Last week, Gov. John Kasich touted more state aid for local districts. However, the slight increases in state foundation aid don’t make up for what school districts stand to lose from the expiration of stimulus funds and an accelerated phase-out of the personal property tax reimbursement.

The Office of Budget and Management unveiled projections of how much less schools would get from the reimbursements under Kasich’s proposed budget.

CHEERY PART OF SCHOOL FUNDING PICTURE RELEASED

Mar. 25, 2011, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

Most school districts could expect increases in basic state aid under Gov. John Kasich’s proposed budget, Ohio executives told school districts Thursday.

But school officials knew not to get excited, because these numbers only reveal the cheerier half of an otherwise grim picture. School districts will lose funds in other places, most likely resulting in a net loss, school and union officials say. Districts don’t know how those losses will be divided.

Barbara Shaner, associate executive director of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials, said the group cautioned its members as the numbers came out: The big picture could look a lot different.

These projections make for strange bedfellows: The Ohio Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the state, echoed the business officials association in calling the figures misleading. Union spokeswoman Michele Prater referred to the calculations as “sleight of hand” that seeks to disguise an overall drop in state funding for schools.

House backs Teach for America plan

Mar. 24, 2011, Zanesville Times Recorder

By JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

Ohio lawmakers are on their way to approving a new source of teachers for troubled Ohio schools, but not without opposition.

The Ohio House approved a bill Tuesday to allow Teach for America participants to be certified in Ohio. If it passes in the Senate, it already has the support of Gov. John Kasich.

Teach for America is a national organization of recent college graduates willing to teach in low income and under-performing schools. The graduates must have a college degree, though not necessarily in education, and undergo a screening process. They also attend an intensive five-week training course and must commit to their school for at least two years.

More than a budget: Kasich aims to shake up Ohio governments

Mar. 20, 2011, Mansfield News Journal

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

With an $8 billion budget hole and a pledge not to raise taxes, Gov. John Kasich had no choice to issue cut after cut in his first budget proposal.

But he also went a few steps further, by suggesting changes that could mean a radical departure from the way Ohio government does business.

“Years of neglect, switching programs into the next fiscal year, smoke and mirrors, refusing to address the basic fundamental structural problems of our budget. That’s what it is, a structural imbalance in our budget because we didn’t take care of the foundation,” Kasich said in his State of the State address. “… We’re trying to give everybody flexibility from state rules and regulations. Let’s have common sense.”

Kasich plans to get rid of what he considers to be costly regulations that come via collective bargaining and prevailing wage agreements.

Then there’s the hammer. Kasich is asking that, by 2013, state aid to local governments be cut in half. To deal with these cuts, he’s asking governments to share services, personnel, and to buy in bulk. He also seeks to remove obstacles to privatization and is promising to get rid of other costly mandates and regulations.