State
www.the-review.com • Wednesday, March 18, 2009 • Page B5
Republican lawmakers seek action Rep. Bob Hagan to preserve Ohio’s abortion laws to voice disgust at
By MARC KOVAC
Review Capital Bureau
COLUMBUS — Two Republican state lawmakers are making a preemptive strike against expected federal legislation they say will invalidate state abortion laws. Sens. Tim Grendell, from Chesterland, and Steve Buehrer, from Delta, introduced a concurrent resolution in opposition to the Freedom of Choice Act, which has been discussed but not yet introduced in Congress. The act “is a tremendous threat to the rights of everyday Americans, to women and to the unborn,”
Grendell testified before an Ohio Senate committee Tuesday. “Once implemented, it could result in the invalidation of state and federal laws that protect the rights, health and safety of women and their unborn children. This act could also endanger the constitutional rights of health-care providers, religious organizations and employers.” The resolution is a symbolic gesture, expressing the state’s dissatisfaction with the proposed legislation. It would have to pass the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democraticcontrolled House in order to be forwarded to Wash-
ington. Grendell and Buehrer said the act would create the right to an abortion and prevent states from regulating abortion procedures. The act “could wipe away every restriction on abortion nationwide, which would eradicate state and federal laws that the majority of Americans support,” Grendell said, adding, “Conversely, (the act) protects and promotes the abortion industry and takes away the ability of the American people ... to engage in meaningful public debate over abortion.” In addition to moral and ethical concerns that come with the abortion debate,
the federal act would take power away from states, he said. “Throughout history, the states have fought for a clear separation of powers between the state and federal government,” Buehrer testified. “Federalism has played a key role in our democracy and in the type of legislation we are able to enact in the state of Ohio, and with each passing mandate, the federal government continues to take away our right, as legislators ... to regulate in the area of abortion.”
executive bonuses
By MARC KOVAC
Review Capital Bureau
Marc Kovac is the Dix Capital Bureau chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com.
GOP lawmakers propose constitutional amendment on state redistricting board
By MARC KOVAC
Review Capital Bureau
COLUMBUS — The state panel that meets every decade to redraw Ohio’s legislative districts would be expanded under a constitutional amendment proposed by two Republican lawmakers. Sens. Kevin C o u g h COUGHLIN lin, from Cuyahoga Falls, and Gary Cates, from southwestern Ohio, formally introduced their joint resolution Tuesday, saying the setup would add fairness to the process. A state board meets every
10 years to redraw legislative districts, based on new U.S. Census statistics. The state constitution sets the membership of that board to include the governor, state auditor, secretary of state, and single majority and minority members of the Ohio House and Senate. Coughlin and Cates propose asking Ohio voters to amend the constitution to expand the five-member board to seven. It would still include the three statewide office-holders but would add the majority and minority leaders of both the House and Senate. Redistricting decisions would have to be approved by five members. Coughlin told reporters Tuesday that past court
decisions have already helped to establish safeguards against gerrymandering in the redistricting process. “It’s not just a matter of a bunch of politicians sitting around a table and saying, ‘I want this house, I want this block, I want this neighborhood or that neighborhood ... or draw me in,’” he said. “Those are really stories from a bygone era. It’s a lot more scientific today.” But expanding the board is a practical step, Coughlin and Cates said, for eliminating some political maneuvering from the process. “I think we ought to be electing people into those positions (governor, secretary of state and auditor) who will be able to do those
jobs (and not just sitting) at the table drawing lines,” Cates said. And if Ohio voters choose one party over the other for all statewide elected offices, then their decision would carry over into the redistricting process, Coughlin added. “It requires a vote of five to approve the legislative districts,” he said. “Which means that if one party wins all three constitutional offices, you’re not looking at much of a change in the process. Winner takes all. But if the voters split those constitutional offices between the parties, then it forces a compromise solution — a bipartisan solution — to districts, which we believe would be more fair.”
COLUMBUS — Outrage over big-money bonuses paid to executives of companies bailed out with tax dollars has spilled over into the Ohio Statehouse, with one lawmaker planning to introduce a resolution voicing his HAGAN disgust. “I am upset with what they’ve done and how they’ve abused the taxpayers on this whole issue,” said Rep. Bob Hagan, a Democrat from Youngstown. “Someone has to stand up ... and say this is wrong. They should give their bonuses back. And they should accept the fact that they ruined this company and ruined it to the point that now the taxpayers own 80 percent of it.” Hagan announced plans Tuesday to offer a resolution condemning the American International Group, known by the acronym AIG, which received
about $170 billion in federal bailout funding, then paid its executives $165 million in bonuses. The situation has prompted outcries from President Barack Obama and members of the U.S. Congress, who moved quickly this week to determine whether there were legal means to force the executives to return the bonus payments. Hagan, whose district has a median household income of about $21,000, said he wants to send a clear message to Washington that sending public funds to companies that are, in turn, providing bigmoney bonuses to their executives will not be tolerated. That includes Ohio firms that have secured federal bailout dollars. “I think that there’s a possibility that there are Ohio people involved,” Hagan said. “And I just think that we have to send a clear indication and warning ... Hopefully, my resolution will send that clear warning that we will be looking, we will be watching and they better not abuse the taxpayers.”
Gov. Strickland still popular although his ratings have dipped
By MARC KOVAC
Review Capital Bureau
Ohio Legislature goes after bedbugs and landlords
By MARC KOVAC
Review Capital Bureau
COLUMBUS — Landlords of larger apartment buildings would be required to eliminate bedbug infestations, under legislation introduced in the Ohio Senate. Sen. Eric Kearney, a Democrat from southwestern Ohio, offered Senate Bill 45 after receiving calls from senior cit-
izens in his district who have been forced to throw out furniture because of infestations. The legislation would add bedbugs to the state’s definition of “vermin,” which already includes lice, cockroaches, mice and rats. “Bedbugs are not always considered vermin by local health authorities, and this sets efforts to combat this
pest at a severe disadvantage,” Kearney testified before a Senate committee Tuesday. The legislation would require landlords of apartment buildings with more than 30 units to eradicate bedbug infestations. Complaints for failing to do so would be filed with the state health department, and property owners who violate the
Ohio passenger rail support growing
COLUMBUS (AP) — Five professional sports teams have joined a growing coalition pushing for passenger rail linking Ohio’s major cities, but Republican lawmakers remained skeptical Tuesday that the benefits would outweigh the costs. The state’s two-year transportation bill would allow the state to pursue $250 million in federal stimulus money to build passenger rail between Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. A study on ridership and whether passenger service would interfere with freight traffic would be needed before any construction could begin. Republicans who control the Senate on Tuesday were expected to amend the rail plan in committee to require it to get the Legislature’s approval to proceed, assuming federal funds are secured and the study results are favorable. The version passed by the House only required approval from the state Controlling Board, a panel controlled by Democrats. The Senate plan is scheduled to go to the floor Wednesday, after which differences with the House would need to be reconciled. Republicans are concerned about the rail plan’s estimated $10 million yearly operating cost. They also question whether enough Ohioans will use it. Three professional sports teams from Columbus — the Blue Jackets hockey team, the Crew soccer team and the Clippers minor-league baseball team — as well as the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Cavaliers, support the rail plan. “At a time when Ohioans are cutting back their expenses, why are we looking for things to spend more money on?” state Sen. Tom Niehaus, a Republican from New Richmond, said Tuesday. “We can’t pay for the things we have today.”
law would face fines of $500 or more. Kearney said the state has seen a “sharp increase” in infestations of the small wingless insects, which “feed on the blood of humans and other mammals.” “Bedbug infestations cannot be blamed on poor hygiene habits,” Kearney said. “If one apartment of a multi-unit building becomes infested, the bedbugs can easily spread to all the other units, regardless of how diligent other tenants may be in their cleaning. In my home district of Cincinnati, local fire departments and public schools have reported infestations despite the high hygienic standards they keep.”
COLUMBUS — Gov. Ted Strickland remains popular among Ohioans, though his approval ratings have dipped in the past month. A n d more Ohioans now disapprove of the way the state’s top Dem- STRICKLAND ocratic officeholder is handling the economy, according to the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. Among the findings: ■ Fifty-six percent of Ohioans approve of the way Strickland is handling his job as governor, versus 30 percent who do not. That compares to February results of 63 percent-25 percent.
But only 39 percent approve of how the governor is handling the economy, versus 45 percent who do not. That compares to February results of 44 percent who approved and 37 percent who disapproved. “These numbers are the first indication that Ohio voters are beginning to blame Gov. Strickland for the bad economy ...” Brown said. “His support is weakest among those with lower incomes, less education and younger voters, who made up the Democratic coalition that elected him governor and Barack Obama president.” ■ Strickland remained well ahead of potential Republican opponents in the 2010 election, outpacing former U.S. Rep. John Kasich (51 percent31 percent) and former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine (50 percent-34 percent).
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