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Wednesday, 24 June 2009 |
By MIKE BURKHOLDER
Managing Editor
ST. MARYS — A pair of area legislators Tuesday chastised Gov. Strickland’s proposal to balance the state budget — which would strip 50 percent of funding for libraries — and say the measure is full of gimmicks.
“The governor has been working in secret and has not been forthcoming on this idea,” State Sen. Keith Faber, a Republican, told The Evening Leader. “I am convinced there are other things to do instead of doing a 50 percent cut in library funds. Certainly libraries, who share in tax receipts, would get less but the question is should they be cut 50 percent — that’s a difficult question.”
Faber criticized Strickland for springing the proposed cut to libraries days before the July 1 deadline for a balanced budget agreement. Faber claimed Strickland was “working in secret” with Democrats on the proposal. The Celina native said the process should erode Strickland’s credibility.
“What he was doing was working in secret and running across the state having press conferences and fundraisers and now tells us he wants to cut libraries and not make state contributions to retirement while he’s increasing funding for pet projects,” Faber said. “I don’t think the governor came to the table with any credibility.”
With the deadline a week away, Faber said he is unsure if a deal can be struck that is palatable to both sides. If a deal cannot be reached, legislators would be forced to work under an interim appropriations bill.
“There are still a great number of areas of disagreement,” Faber said. “The real question is how we solve the budget problems. I am a firm believer of living within our means.”
Recently Strickland proposed expanding gaming in Ohio to include slot machines at race tracks — a move the governor said could generate $933 million during the next two years. Faber questioned the figure as well as the studies Strickland used to arrive at the number.
“We haven’t seen any details and believe them to be rather speculative,” Faber said. “I don’t know if he is inflating them, but he sprang this on us less than a week before we were supposed to have a balanced budget in place. It’s problematic to use gaming revenue to balance a state budget and historically they don’t bring in the amount of money planned.”
State Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney, also said there are other areas to cut besides funding for libraries. In fact, Adams said, there are dozens of areas in the budget that could be cut that would have saved the state millions of dollars.
“They never acknowledged there was a problem until it was too late,” Adams said of Strickland and Democrats. “They never wanted to acknowledge the problem.”
Despite the budget crisis, Adams said good could arise from the issue.
“It is going to be devastating to a lot of libraries in the state,” Adams said. “I still believe that when crisis arrives, good things can come from bad because you re-prioritize what is important at every level.”
Adams also questioned dipping into the gaming pool to satisfy Ohio’s budget deficit.
“We saw what happened with Keno,” Adams said of Strickland’s previous attempt to expand the lottery in an attempt to increase revenue. “It brought in half of what it was supposed to. It’s not the answer.” |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 15 July 2009 )
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