Governor Kasich on how to buy the vote, split unions, gain funding and win elections while destroying a democracy.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — State representatives of both parties have criticized Ohio Gov. John Kasich for saddling them with a midterm budget bill loaded with proposals they called unsuited for a non-budget year.
One fellow Republican said Kasich’s practice of proposing voluminous off-year budgets was putting the governor in control of Ohio’s legislative branch of government.
Rep. Terry Boose’s remarks came Wednesday before the House voted 57-33 to pass the measure.
Democrats railed particularly against a last-minute amendment to one of nine bills derived from Kasich’s 1,600-page “midbiennium review” that were up for votes Wednesday. The revision changed campaign finance law to lift a disclosure requirement applied to independent political expenditures and loosen political-giving restrictions on state contractors.
Other bills up to for votes addressed education, job training, veterans and workers’ compensation.

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2014/04/09/Ohio-House-approves-Kasich-s-midterm-budget-bill.html#VzvcSq2fXIlzVouF.99

In February 2011, (click here) Gov. Kasich replaced Ohio’s Department of Development with JobsOhio, a private non-profit exempt from public record laws. Gov. Kasich’s administration resisted efforts by the state auditor to procure JobsOhio’s financial records, leading to a subpoena. JobsOhio ultimately complied, but Gov. Kasich later fast-tracked a bill to strip the state auditor’s authority to examine the records.

Gov. Kasich also sought to institute new restrictions on voting, including the elimination of in-person voting three days before elections. After opponents of the bill gathered enough signatures to hold a referendum, Gov. Kasich signed a repeal of all the new measures, except the elimination of early voting. A federal appeals court reinstated early voting in October 2012.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — State representatives of both parties (click here) have criticized Ohio Gov. John Kasich for saddling them with a midterm budget bill loaded with proposals they called unsuited for a non-budget year.
One fellow Republican said Kasich’s practice of proposing voluminous off-year budgets was putting the governor in control of Ohio’s legislative branch of government.
Rep. Terry Boose’s remarks came Wednesday before the House voted 57-33 to pass the measure.
Democrats railed particularly against a last-minute amendment to one of nine bills derived from Kasich’s 1,600-page “midbiennium review” that were up for votes Wednesday. The revision changed campaign finance law to lift a disclosure requirement applied to independent political expenditures and loosen political-giving restrictions on state contractors.
Other bills up to for votes addressed education, job training, veterans and workers’ compensation....

All corruption, all the time.

COLUMBUS – Companies, (click here) nonprofits and unions wouldn't have to disclose when they pay for an election advertisement, and corporations with state contracts would be allowed to spend money on elections, under a provision that passed the Ohio House Wednesday.
The provision would void a rule implemented by former Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner that governs election spending by corporations, nonprofits and labor unions. The rule requires the groups to disclose when they spend money to advocate for or against the election of a candidate, both through a statement included in the ad and through a form filed with the secretary of state's office.
But Republicans' main issue with the rule, a spokesman said, is its prohibition of election-related spending by corporations with state or federal government contracts within one year of their receiving money from the government. They also wanted to void the part of the rule that prohibits spending in elections by corporations with more than 20 percent ownership by non-U.S. citizens or corporations based outside the U.S....

...Members of building trades unions (click here) —including carpenters, laborers, electricians and iron workers—tend to be more conservative politically than most other union members. They often side with business over environmental groups and find common ground with Republicans on infrastructure projects.

"We're pragmatic with our politics. Jobs are our currency," said Sean McGarvey, president of the Building and Construction Trades Department at the AFL-CIO in Washington....

The decision to increase public works spending (click here) while ignoring $1.5 billion in unemployment compensation debt is — like celebrating tax cuts paid for with tax hikes, and demanding more debt to fund election-year spending – another example of politics as usual from Gov. Kasich, who routinely insists his policies aren’t politically motivated.

Kasich’s capital budget includes numerous outlays whose benefits to taxpayers in other parts of Ohio are difficult to explain.

Fiscal year 2015-2016 capital budget appropriations include:

• $10,000,000 for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton
• $6,000,000 for Lake Erie Island State Park/Middle Bass Island State Park
• $2,198,500 for the Dayton Art Institute
• $1,560,522 for Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron
• $1,000,000 for a boardwalk in Celina
• $1,000,000 for the Cincinnati Zoo
• $825,000 for Victoria Theatre in Dayton
• $750,000 for the Toledo Zoo
• $695,000 for Imagination Station, a Toledo children’s museum
• $600,000 for Wood County Historical Center & Museum Accessibility Project
• $530,261 for Akron Civic Theater
• $500,000 for Hale Farm in Bath
• $500,000 for Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown
• $500,000 for The Historic Sidney Theatre
• $500,000 for Colony Theatre in Marietta