Secretary of State Jon Husted and other
Republicans say Electoral College changes not in store for Ohio
By Henry J. Gomez, Plain Dealer Politics Writer
on January 29, 2013 at 1:53 PM, updated January 29, 2013 at 5:46 PM
on January 29, 2013 at 1:53 PM, updated January 29, 2013 at 5:46 PM
COLUMBUS, Ohio --
Count Ohio's Republican leaders out of a GOP-backed effort to end the Electoral
College's winner-take-all format in the Buckeye State and other presidential
battlegrounds.
Spokesmen for Gov. John Kasich, State Senate President
Keith Faber and House Speaker William G. Batchelder told The Plain Dealer this
week that they are not pursuing plans to award electoral votes proportionally
by congressional district.
Batchelder went a step further, saying through his
communications director that he "is not supportive of such a move."
And Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, the state's chief elections
administrator, emphasized that he does not favor the plan either, despite
Democratic suspicions based on reported comments that he said were taken out of
context.
ENQUIRER
EXCLUSIVE: Kasich says two-year budget has $1B surplus
Expect fight on whether
to spend or save doubled 'rainy day fund'
Jan 29, 2013 |
Written by
Paul E. Kostyu
COLUMBUS — When the governor
publicly releases his proposed two-year operating budget on Monday, it will
show a $1 billion surplus, he says.
But until then, no one
will know just how Gov. John R. Kasich and his staff arrived at that figure.
That’s because they’re not telling anyone about the two-year budget proposal –
including legislators and their leaders in either party.
It means the surplus –
called the rainy day fund – will double from its current $500 million. When he
took office two years ago, the surplus was 89 cents, he said.
House Speaker William G.
Batchelder, R-Medina, suggested future local government funding could be tied to
performance measures, although Kasich said he was not proposing that.
House Insurance Chair Sees Some Work Continuing
From Last Session; Blair Targets Government Efficiencies
Gongwer 1/29/13
House Insurance Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Hackett (R-London) said a priority
bill for his committee will be a bipartisan captive insurance measure he began
working on last session with Rep. John Carney (D-Columbus).
"A lot of states allow it and we
don't," he said after the panel's organizational meeting on Tuesday.
"It's almost like setting up a special subsidiary that operates on a
little different rules, and what happens is the major corporations and
insurance companies want it. For example, Kentucky has one domiciled insurance
company of 100 captives already set up in the state...and so that's business
that Ohio loses.
"But we want to set it up that we don't
want to compete strongly...against our existing insurance industry. We just
want to bring the alternative for people to set up captives. They're going to
do it anyway and not really be in the regular marketplace."
Mr. Hackett said he and Rep. Carney held
interested party meetings last session. Department of Insurance Director and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor is behind the
bill, and the industry is "about 95% on board."
Rep. Hackett said he is going to discuss with Speaker Bill Batchelder (R-Medina)
legislation to overhaul the state workers' compensation system. Bills (HB516, HB517, HB518, 129th General Assembly) on the
matter were dropped last year when labor unions and Democrats criticized the
proposal as an "attack" on the middle class.
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