Some comments after Gov. John Kasich's State of the State speech on Tuesday:
Rep. John Patrick Carney, D-Columbus: “We’re going to invest in logistics. Oh wait, we’re not spending any money on ODOT and those projects to invest in logistics. We’re going to do all these things for education. Oh no, we’re cutting the legs out from under public education. It’s great to say things, but your policy has to actually be supportive of those things. I think it’s disingenuous to make those statements given the fact that his budget and policies had totally torpedoed what he talked about in many respects.”
Rep. W. Carlton Weddington, D-Columbus: “Some of the ideas in terms of technology, agriculture and education, those are good ideas. But he didn’t give credit where credit was due. That is based on policies that started under the Strickland Administration"… “The overall speech was very safe. If courage is truly contagious, the courage would have been to go to a low-performing school and give the speech about how he’s going to improve education. Not go to the best school, that’s easy.”
Rep. Mike Stinziano, D-Columbus: “I appreciated his support for continuing bipartisan endeavors, and I stand ready to work on those with him. I was happy to hear the focus on training our out-of-work employees.”
Sen. Charleta B. Tavares, D-Columbus: While there was bipartisan support for patient choice, “but there are 1.4 million uninsured people in Ohio. We have not worked toward developing a health care exchange. We are going to be far behind other states and not have the resources to ensure people have health care. The olive branch has not been extended to those on the other side of the aisle."
Rep. Nancy Garland, D-New Albany: “I certainly agree workforce development should be prioritized and better coordination between industry, community colleges and the state is needed. Having served on the Workforce Development Task Force, this is something we heard over and over, but I did not hear any specifics... Likewise, I applaud the Governor for his dedication to a more energy independent Ohio, his call for embracing renewable energy and his demand that fracking not degrade the environment. Again, he mentioned no plan he is working on or regulations he would support to protect the environment."
Senate President Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond: “While it may have been a bit of a logistical trouble getting here, it was great to get out of the Statehouse.”...“I appreciated the governor’s message about jobs, and the fact that the importance of jobs was woven through the fabric of the entire presentation.”...Top priority for lawmakers from the speech is workforce development, “collecting this myriad of programs into one cohesive program that addresses the needs of specific communities. You want to take the best parts of each one and scale them up to be available throughout the state.”
Senate Minority Leader Eric Kearney, D-Cincinnati: “They say that where there’s no vision, the people perish. I would say Gov. Kasich’s speech today lacked vision. He said if there’s a problem, he will present a solution. I have yet to hear a solution for foreclosure. I’ve yet to hear a solution for child poverty. I’ve yet to hear a solution for infant mortality. He also said we’re out of the ditch. How are we out of a ditch when there are more food pantries than there have ever been in our state, when the foreclosure epidemic…still occurs?”
Rep. Alicia Reece, D-Cincinnati: “I think today we had a great pep rally. The only thing missing was the cheerleaders and the band…What startles me with the speech today was there was a lot of rhetoric without any substance. Some ideas were good, but there was no plan for me to follow those ideas and take it back to my district and say, this is the direction…There was talk about the graduation rate at 14 percent, certainly startling as it relates to college education. The reality is, the higher education budget was cut.”
Speaker William G. Batchelder, R-Medina: “It was a first-rate address. It touched a lot of things that are serious issues for us in Ohio.”...“The discussion of the budget was right on. I’m still personally a little mystified about what the heck we did to get rid of the hole that was there. It was monumental.”
Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-Canfield: “He said he wants to work together with everyone. I’ve attempted multiple times to work with his office. We tried to get unemployment compensation extended for people in need. Everyone said to come to his office. We couldn’t get in the door.”
Sen. Tom Sawyer, D-Akron: “Much of what I heard in today’s speech, I agree with on a sustentative basis. But if we’re not prepared to put our money where our mouth is, it just isn’t going to do any good.”
Sen. Capri S. Cafaro, D-Hubbard: “While very exciting in his delivery, it was more a retrospective than a prospective speech. We’ve come to judge these kind of addresses as an opportunity to not only showcase what has been accomplished, but what has been the plan for the future. I did not get a lot of that.”
Tom Stewart, executive director of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association: "Despite calls by the oil-and-gas opposition to place restrictions or a moratorium on oil and gas development, we believe, like the governor, that we shouldn’t let our fears outweigh our potential. We’re confident that the state is ready to embrace an energy-based economy, which will benefit all Ohioans from the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs, low energy prices and an increase in tax revenue."
Sen. Lou Gentile, D-Steubenville: “We have been pleased and honored to host so many dignitaries in our community. We heard the governor talk about how he closed an $8 billion gap, and he did it without raising taxes. What he didn’t tell you is what my school districts locally have gone through, and that’s having to go back to the people and pass additional levies. Right here in this school, more than $300,000 was cut.”
Rep. Matt Lundy, D-Elyria: “I know what it’s like when the governor says that we’ll get knocked down but never get knocked out. My message to the governor is to quit punching the middle class in the gut,” he said, noting Senate Bill 5, cuts to local governments and efforts to expand privatization of education."
House Minority Leader Armond Budish, D-Beachwood: “The governor is in Fantasyland. He took credit for everything under the sun, and given a few more minutes, he would have taken credit for the sun…He proposed a budget that was balanced on the backs of working people and the middle class…He talked about the drop in unemployment. Yet he failed to mention that most of the drop happened before his policies went into play, and much of the drop, maybe most of the drop, is attributable to the fact that people left the employment rolls."
