Prisons donate to food pantries

By Laura Bischoff | Monday, November 23, 2009, 12:39 PM

Inmates harvested 106,734 pounds of winter wheat, corn and other crops this fall from state prison farms and donated it to the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks, according to prison officials.

The offenders harvested the food between August and October at four of Ohio’s prisons. And 100 acres of winter wheat had been planted specifically for the food bank donation.

The food was valued at roughly $23,500.

“By growing and harvesting crops for the Second Harvest Food Bank, offenders are given an opportunity not only to give back to their community, but by working on the farms they are learning a valuable skill that can assist them upon their release,” Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Director Terry Collins said. “We look forward to continuing and expanding this partnership in the years to come.”

Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, Second Harvest’s director, called it a first of its kind effort.

The food banks reported a 21 percent increase in demand for emergency food assistance and a new report said 13.3 percent of Ohioans are “food insecure,” meaning they don’t have consistent access to adequate, nutritious food, according to Hamler-Fugitt.

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Gov. Strickland: Senate GOP budget plan “ridiculous, pathetic”

By William Hershey | Monday, November 23, 2009, 12:31 PM

Gov. Ted Strickland on Monday, Nov. 23, intensified his war of words with Senate Republicans over their proposal to fill an $851 million budget hole.

“What they have put forth is ridiculous, pathetic and they need to get serious about the needs of Ohio,” Strickland said after participating in a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the $145 million I-70, I-75 interchange north of Dayton.

Maggie Ostrowski, spokeswoman for Senate Republicans, said there aren’t votes in the Senate to pass Strickland’s plan. Republicans control the Senate, 21-12.

“So the only way to get through this impasse and make sure (funds for) Ohio schools aren’t cut is if the governor and the leadership in the Senate can sit down and work out a compromise,” said Ostrowski.

Strickland’s plan calls for postponing for two years a 4.2 percent personal income tax cut. The Senate GOP plan would accept two-thirds of the tax cut freeze but adds provisions such as drilling for oil and gas at Salt Fork State Park and taking money from the Ohio Housing Trust Fund. It also projects savings from sentencing reforms at Ohio prisons.

Strickland said the Senate GOP plan is based on “phantom revenue” and that Republicans couldn’t even get “three or four” Republicans members to go along with it.

Ostrowski said the Senate GOP plan would require “bipartisan” support but declined to say how many Republicans would vote for it. If all 12 of Strickland’s fellow Democrats in the Senate supported a plan, it would take at least five Republican votes for passage.

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Jay Goyal gets White House invite

By Laura Bischoff | Monday, November 23, 2009, 10:39 AM

State Rep. Jay Goyal, D-Mansfield, scored an invitation to the first official state dinner held by the Obama administration.

Goyal, who has served in the Ohio House since 2006, will attend the dinner at the White House on Tuesday, Nov. 24, when President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcome the prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur.

Goyal, 28, will take his mom as his guest.

Goyal said, “The work ethic and patriotism my parents displayed throughout my life was crucial in my decision to enter public service and is a continuing example to me today.”

Goyal’s parents immigrated to the United States from India and started Goyal Industries.

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Chief Justice Moyer, allies promise campaign to change selection of Supreme Court justices

By William Hershey | Friday, November 20, 2009, 04:24 PM

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer, the Ohio State Bar Association and the Ohio League of Women Voters want to change the way state Supreme Court justices are selected.

On Friday, Nov. 20, they announced that they will work to build a coalition to support a constitutional amendment to replace statewide elections of the justices with a new system where justices are appointed and stand for a retention election.

“Early next year we will propose a specific plan that we will take back to the partner organizations for formal consideration,” Moyer said in a press release.

The announcement came at the end of a two-day conference in Columbus, “A Forum on Judicial Selection: A Time for Action.”

“What we have learned these two days is that we can do better in Ohio,” Moyer said.

Moyer has said the current system needs to be replaced to remove the perception that campaign contributions influence judicial decisions.

For more information, click here.

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Ohio AFL-CIO president blasts Senate GOP budget plan; threatens legal action

By William Hershey | Friday, November 20, 2009, 03:10 PM

Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rugola said on Friday, Nov. 20, that the labor federation will take legal action if Senate Republicans succeed in substituting $200 million in casino licensing fees for money the state already is spending on regional economic development and job creation plans.

“We simply will not tolerate the Ohio Senate or anyone else diverting money from job creation at a time when working families so clearly need all the help they can get,” Rugola said in a press release.

“We are prepared to litigate this issue on behalf of our 700,000 members and workers in our state.”

Tim Burga, Ohio AFl-CIO chief of staff, said the $200 million in the ballot issue approved by voters on Nov. 3 is supposed to be used for new regional job creation efforts, not to replace money for jobs programs already underway.

The ballot issue calls for casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.

Rugola said that the Ohio AFL-CIO supports the plan passed by the Democratic-controlled House to fill an $851 million budget hole by delaying for two years a 4.2 percent state income tax cut.

Using the $200 million to help fill the hole is part of a Senate GOP plan unveiled this week.

Senate Finance Chairman John Carey, R-Wellston, said that the AFL-CIO has the right to litigate anything it wants to, but added:

“We don’t legislate by threat of lawsuit.”

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Ohio pensions sue ratings agencies

By Laura Bischoff | Friday, November 20, 2009, 09:50 AM

Ohio’s public pension systems are suing Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch - companies that provide credit ratings for investments.

The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Richard Cordray in U.S. District Court, alleges that the three credit rating agencies wreak havoc on U.S. financial markets by providing unjustified and inflated ratings for mortgage-backed securities in exchange for lucrative fees.

“The rating agencies were central players in causing the worst economic crisis in Ohio since the Great Depression. The rating agencies assured our employee pension funds that many of these mortgage-backed securities had the highest credit ratings and the lowest risk,” Cordray said in a written statement. “But they sold their professional objectivity and integrity to the highest bidder. The rating agencies’ total disregard for the life’s work of ordinary Ohioans caused the collapse of our housing and credit markets and is at the heart of what’s wrong with Wall Street today.”

The agencies gave triple A ratings and assured the pension funds and others that the investments were extremely safe, the lawsuit alleges. But the misleading ratings cost Ohio’s pension funds more than $457 million, the suit said.

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., which owns Standard & Poor’s, said, “We believe the claim has no legal or factual merit and we intend to defend ourselves vigorously against it. A recent SEC examination of our business practices found no evidence that decisions about ratings methodologies or models were based on attracting or losing market share.”

The pension systems collectively hold $186 billion in investment portfolios and represent 1.7 million workers, retirees and beneficiaries.

The lawsuit says that the rating agencies knowingly gave favorable reviews to the mortgage-backed securities in part because they received big fees from the same groups that they were supposed to be objectively evaluating.

Cordray said the lawsuit is an attempt toward holding Wall Street accountable for its wrongs.

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Ethics laws apply to stimulus money

By Laura Bischoff | Thursday, November 19, 2009, 03:42 PM

As $8 billion in federal stimulus money flows into the state, the Ohio Ethics Commission has a message for public officials and contractors: all that dough is subject to the Ohio ethics laws.

That means public officials cannot profit from contracts using stimulus money or participate when family or business friends might benefit from them.

“The ethics law restricts public officials from securing a financial stake in, or participating in any fashion in the award of public contracts or oversight of public funds where their families and business associates could have a direct benefit, whether funded by stimulus or any other public money,” Ethics Commission Executive Director David Freel said.

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