Coughlin on State of the State
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3/14/2007
Charlie Solley (614) 466-4823
Strickland Speech: More Questions Than Answers
Columbus, Ohio -
Like a kid who is chronically late with his homework Governor Ted Strickland got
an incomplete grade from State Senator Kevin Coughlin today following the State
of the State Address.
Text of the
speech was not made public until after it was delivered. The governors budget,
required by law to be revealed tomorrow will apparently not be released in full
detail until next week. The following is a statement released by Senator
Coughlin:
At the outset of
todays State of the State Address, Governor Ted Strickland declared that his
budget will lay out an ambitious vision for transformational change. While the
details of the governors budget are still to be revealed, his speech today was
neither ambitious nor transformational. Often, Strickland seemed content to
follow along the path set by the legislature previous
governors.
I appreciate the
governors endorsement of the expansion of health care to poor children, begun
by Republicans and opposed by Democrats in the last General
Assembly.
I welcome his
endorsement of the Medicaid Buy-In program for the working poor pursued by
Senate Republicans.
Surprisingly
welcomed is Ted Stricklands endorsement of our approach to funding Ohios
public schools. The governor proposed no alterations to the funding formula. In
contrast to the tough talk from his campaign on school funding, todays speech
proposed very little deviation from the path the legislature has taken to
respond to the DeRolph case. I would point out that the investment made thus far
in schools was opposed by Statehouse Democrats. I welcome their conversion to
our approach.
Clearly, we disagree
with the governor on two key issues. I look forward to the debate on empowering
parents and children to escape from failing schools and find the school that
best fits their needs. I also look forward to a vigorous defense of our historic
tax reform. While the governor largely endorsed this reform by not proposing
major changes, I am eager to see the impact of his proposed elimination of tax
incentives.
Ohioans who elected
Ted Strickland hoping he change Ohio on impact will have to wait. Having spent
so many years as an obscure and ineffective congressman in Washington, Ted
Strickland does not seem to fully appreciate his potential to be a force for
innovation and change as governor. With the exception of laying out a few sharp
policy differences with the legislature, the governor appears to be content to
tinker around the edges. One is tempted to call his budget Taft
Light.
Like a lot of
Washington politicians, Ted Strickland cleverly used smoke and mirrors today to
sell his budget. The coming days will reveal whether his proposals have been
responsibly costed out or whether he was just playing to the
gallery.
An
Effective Leader.� A Vision for
Ohio.
Paid for by Team Coughlin,
Robert J. Kollar, Treasurer. 2324 Iota Avenue, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
44223.
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