Fix the pensions
Lawmakers should end delay and adopt reforms
to strengthen the funds
Sunday May 20, 2012 7:00 AM
Columbus Dispatch
Ohio’s public pension
plans have been ready for two years to make reforms that will help ensure their
long-term financial viability, benefiting their members and taxpayers alike.
The Ohio legislature should end the delays and help them along.
The Senate made the
right move last week by clearing measures that would finally allow four of the
state’s five pension funds — the Ohio Employees Retirement System, the Ohio
Police & Fire Pension Fund, the State Teachers Retirement System and the
School Employees Retirement System — to make adjustments to future
contributions and benefits. The Highway Patrol Retirement System is expected to
follow this week.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2012/05/20/fix-the-pensions.html
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2012/05/20/fix-the-pensions.html
Lawmakers
trample sense in rush to leave: Thomas Suddes
Published: Saturday,
May 19, 2012, 11:07 AM Updated: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 11:07 AM
These are perilous
days at Ohio's Statehouse for taxpayers. The General Assembly's 132 members
want to be home for the summer by next weekend. That means bills that should
never pass, will, and bills that should have passed, won't.
Senate-House conference committees will braid
House and Senate versions of the same bill like pretzels to please the lobbying
army besieging Capitol Square. Got an amendment? Find a pal -- and a conference
committee.
If you really want to know "how a
bill becomes law," ignore those flimsy fliers that claim to explain
everything. Instead, go to the Statehouse. You may laugh while you're there;
you may leave weeping.
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/05/lawmakers_trample_sense_in_rus.html
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/05/lawmakers_trample_sense_in_rus.html
Cleveland
school reformers must guard against a hijacking: editorial
Published: Saturday,
May 19, 2012, 5:00 PM Updated: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 8:33 PM
The battle to get school reform legislation critical
to the future of Cleveland's children through the General Assembly is entering its final stages. Supporters need
to be absolutely resolute against attempts to weaken the reform package -- or
derail it through parliamentary shenanigans. They also need to keep an eye on
the clock as legislators rush to decamp from Columbus for the summer.
Lawmakers must not allow selfish special
interests to hijack the bill.
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/05/cleveland_school_reformers_mus.html
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/05/cleveland_school_reformers_mus.html
Highway
names bring tears, thanks
7:56 PM, May. 19, 2012 |
Written by
Paul E. Kostyu
You don’t expect a war-tested Marine
officer to cry in public. But there he was, Col. Danny Bubp doing his best to
control his emotions on the floor of the Ohio House.
The state representative from West Union in
Adams County was one of many lawmakers to stand to speak about House Bill 325 –
a measure to name highways.
It’s not unusual for the Legislature to
name highways after a war veteran or other notable Ohioan. Those bills often
get lost among other legislative activity. But Wednesday, the House gathered 31
names into one bill, most of them young men who lost their lives in Iraq or
Afghanistan.
State Rep. Al Landis, R-Dover, began
recognizing Ohio’s fallen. Once Landis finished, House Speaker William G.
Batchelder, R-Medina and himself a veteran, asked the House to “please rise in
memory of this patriot.” Guests also stood. Journalists stopped pecking at
their laptop computers. After a moment of silence, he tapped his speaker’s
gavel and lawmakers sat.
Legislature Prepares For
Sprint To Finish Of Spring Session; Numerous Bills Eyed For Passage Next Week
Hundreds
of statutory changes contained in some two-dozen measures are under
consideration for passage next week in the legislature, where Republican
leaders - for now at least - are sticking with a plan to exit Columbus before
the Memorial Day weekend.
Leading
the pack, especially in terms of Gov. John Kasich's priorities, is a series
of legislation that contains components of his broadly targeted mid-biennium
review budget package, which the House divvied up into several measures.
The
"main MBR" bill, which contains all the line item changes, health and
human services provisions and other general government statutory updates
spanning several state agencies (HB 487
) is teed up for
conference committee deliberations Tuesday, as is an omnibus gambling law
update (HB 386
).
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