Ohio Governor John Kasich made national news with an Associated Press interview concerning Obamacare and Medicaid expansion: “The opposition to it was really either political or ideological,” Kasich told the AP of Medicaid expansion. “I don’t think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people’s lives.”
The latest Ohio By the Numbers report shows that Ohio’s private sector economy saw modest improvement in September, picking up 3,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the government sector also added 3,000 jobs. However, local governments lost 3,400 jobs in September, partially offsetting the large unadjusted gains seen in August. Year over year, local government employment is up by 1,000 jobs since September 2013.
Does $787,637 sound like a reasonable salary for the public executive in a city of 38,000 people? In 2010 a major scandal erupted when the Los Angeles Times revealed via a public records request that the Chief Administrative Officer of tiny Bell, California made over twice as much money as the Chief Executive of Los Angeles County.
The Buckeye Institute announces the release of a new report, Revenue Sharing Reform: On the Road to Ohio’s Recovery. The report shows that reductions in state spending on local government revenue sharing plans have not endangered the balance sheets of counties and local governments.
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“Evidence has been elicited in this trial of the specific effect of grossly ineffective teachers on students. The evidence is compelling. Indeed, it shocks the conscience.” So said California state judge Rolf Treu in deciding Vergara v. California.
Ohioans owe Auditor of State Dave Yost and his staff a round of applause for a new online innovation. The Auditor of State (AOS) staff is going to implement an innovative web-based system to facilitate the sharing of equipment, personnel and facilities among local governments.
After flirting with the idea for decades and having recently arranged to share services, two Ohio school districts—Bettsville and Old Fort—have finally decided to tie the knot and consolidate.
The May 2014 Ohio By the Numbers report continues to show private sector job gains as well as a continuing drop in the unemployment rate. Ohio’s unemployment rate of 5.5 percent is the lowest since April of 2007, before the beginning of the Great Recession. Ohio added 3,000 private sector jobs while dropping 100 government jobs in May.
If 80 percent of success is showing up, public school teachers in Cleveland and Columbus are not making the grade. Embedded in a report released by the National Council of Teacher Quality (NCTQ) is a startling statistic: Cleveland and Columbus have two of the highest average number of teacher absences in the nation.
Given the recent news regarding the new U.S. EPA rules on reducing carbon emissions 30 percent from 2005 levels nationally, it only makes sense to examine the likely impact on Ohio given that around 70 percent of its energy is produced by coal, the rules’ major target.
