The Heartache of it All

The Heartache of it All

New Ohio Budget May Bring Faster Meltdown

by John Michael Spinelli

July 15, 2009

COLUMBUS, OHIO: Down by nearly $20 million in uncollected state revenue after ten days of political fighting between Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and Senate Republicans, the new $50.5 billion two-year state budget seems likely to create an economic debris field in its wake if tens of thousands of jobs are cut and service reductions for those least able to fend for themselves become reality as some have said will happen. The state of the State of Ohio is a sad one indeed.

The state that once thought itself the "Heart of it All" seems better described as the "Heartache of it All," if revenues continue to decline and one-time dollars from Washington evaporate and projected revenues from slot machines don't materialize as advocates said they would. For those in the business of sewing together and supporting the social safety-net more people will need to weather the so-called Great Recession, the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the good news is that they will only have to cut off their hand in stead of their arm, as they figure out how to make due with less. Doing more with less was the management mantra of former Republican Governor George V. Voinovich, now Ohio's Sr. Senator. Sayings like this may sound good in MBA classes or business school, but actually doing more with less for those who actually need more is harder to do than say.

With the spiraling of Ohio's economy downward, a situation long in the making that has accelerated and exacerbated in direct response to the sour economy afflicting virtually every state, the projected loss of possibly another 3,000 state jobs and upwards of 40,000 non-government jobs due to serious reductions in state aid to areas like libraries, food banks, early childhood learning initiatives, elderly in-home assistance, mental health and drug and alcohol addiction services and libraries, is news only the most unsympathetic and selfish would see as the kind of tough-love medicine needed to make Lazarus rise from the dead, find a job and get back to work.

Strickland can boast that his public school funding reform plan remained in the budget, an effort that if continued by future legislatures for the next decade is supposed to make Ohio's school funding plan constitutional again.

The Methodist minister who was against the sinful revenue that can only begot by slot machines before he reluctantly endorsed them as a revenue escape hatch for an economy worsening by the day due to shortfalls in revenue, is now just another gambler, hoping it hit it big. But his wager, that winnings from loosing players, many of whom will be from Ohio, will come close to the projected $933 million slots, is expected, not guaranteed. Of course, before the first dollar is lost, critics of the slot machine gambit vow to file lawsuits claiming the Governor is acting in contravention to the state constitution.

But gambling advocates who have long waited for this day to come say the approximately 17,500 slots that will be distributed to Ohio's seven horse racing tracks will fill a partial revenue hole in the $3.2 budget shortfall Strickland and lawmakers had to work out this cycle.

Ohio's take from allowing these digital bandits to set up shop like never before, made possible by the deal worked out between Strickland and Harris to legally immunize them from lossing lawsuits opponents said they will file to challenge the their constitutionality, may also disappoint as did Keno revenues. This shortfall would force Strickland to add insult to injury by reducing government workers by thousands more.

Republicans are hoping Strickland will take political flack from voters who are less forgiving about how he has handled the already declining finances and economy of the state, and more willing to pin the tail of this Democratic donkey. To help this happen, the budget hammered out between the House and Senate and sent to Strickland was opposed by 59 or the 65 Republicans in the General Assembly.

It would be a dark game to play of how bad things could be if Strickland had taken the advice of Republicans, who said he was making things worse by accepting about $7 billion in non-repeating federal stimulus dollars Ohio took from President Barack Obama and a Congress now controlled by Democrats. Budget-hole hunters found funds elsewhere, too, like the state's rainy day fund, its tobacco settlement monies and by a loan from a state program that helps local school districts finance buildings. But Republicans, nationally and locally, have come to see spending as bad, when they didn't see it as bad when the purpose of the funding was for the War in Iraq or Afghanistan or for subsidizing already well endowed stakeholders in the American system of health care, among other party goals.

And while Ohio's budget is balanced on paper, loosing lawsuits and not bringing in as much money from various sources as had been projected, all eyes on gambling specifically, are situations Strickland and Harris should not bet against but be prepared to fix when they blow a gasket.

The heartache of it all is that Ohio is undergoing a giant meltdown with very little it can do to turn the tide anytime soon. The human toll this budget has wrought has yet to be tallied. But as yet more jobs are lost even though macro statistics may show things are getting better by being less worse, a brighter future for Ohio will only arrive when we start having a heart for all.

John Michael Spinelli is a Certified Economic Development Financing Professional, business and travel writer and former credentialed Ohio Statehouse political reporter. He is registered to lobby in Ohio and is the Director of Ohio Operations for Tubular Rail Inc. Spinelli on Assignment is syndicated by Newstex.com, can be followed on Twitter @OhioNewsBureau and available for subscription to Kindle owners. To send a news tip or make comment, email ohionewsbureau@gmail.com