Columbus on the Record

As a reporter covering State of the Union/ State / City addresses over the years I always waited for the line “THE STATE OF THE ________ IS STRONG AND GETTING STRONGER!  (Lawmakers wild applause!).

We have not heard that line a few years.

As Governor Strickland and President Obama give their annual addresses this week we’ll hear the somberly optimistic rhetoric that comes with a recession, two wars and threats of terrorism.

For Ted Strickland, he has some explaining to do.  Ten months before his re-election he will try to explain why Ohio has lost 340,000 jobs since he took office and how he plans to reverse that trend.  Likely he will claim Wall Street and the worldwide recession are to blame for Ohio’s job woes.  He could also claim that despite this economic calamity he balanced the state budget without a tax increase ( Remember, it was an income tax cut delay.) while maintaining funding for education.

President Obama’s State of the Union address is a little tougher to predict.  Will he give up on healthcare reform or challenge Congress to finish the job?  Will he eat humble pie or say, Massachusetts voters be damned - we’re still in charge!?  We could get a combination of the two.

For Ohioans, the address is very important.   President Obama certainly will lay out his plans to stimulate the economy and create jobs.  Not a moment too soon for Ohio which has an unemployment rate tickling 11%.

With the Democrats super-majority gone in the US Senate, healthcare reform is on life support.  Some Democrats suggest the House should just approve the Senate healthcare plan.  If the president surprises us and suggests that course of action, it could put  Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy in a bind.  She voted for the House plan but opposes parts of the Senate plan.  A tight re-election fight in a slightly right leaning district could cause her to abandon a ‘better-than-nothing” healthcare reform package.

Climate change legislation is a huge issue for Ohio.   Coal production and coal based electricity generation is a very large part of Ohio’s economy.   Many pundits say cap-and-trade legislation is dead for now because of the loss of the super-majority in the Senate.  Listen to what the President says about the issue - it will have a direct impact on your utility bill and possibly your job if you work in a factory that relies on coal-generated electricity.

Whether it’s strong and getting stronger or weak and getting weaker, the state of our union and state is one thing - interesting.

You can listen to the State of the State address Tuesday at noon on WOSU 820 am and wosu.org, and watch it on WOSU Ohio.

You can listen to the State of the Union addresss Wednesday at 9pm on WOSU TV, WOSU 820 and wosu.org.

We’re developing our list of topics for this Wednesday’s Friday’s (3/20) Columbus on the Record. One topic will be a proposal (or trial balloon) to charge insurance companies for police and fire responses to traffic accidents. Under the plan first reported in The Columbus Dispatch, the insurance company of the at-fault driver would get a bill. Our panel will discuss whether the “crash fee” is a fair charge or something that our tax dollars already cover.

We’ll also look at the latest Quinnipiac University Poll that shows declining Ohio support for President Obama, Governor Strickland. The poll also shows support for passenger rail linking Cincy, Columbus, and Cleveland. And the survey shows Ohio Democrats are still unsure about he candidates for US Senate - Lee Fisher and Jennifer Brunner.

And then there is spending nearly $2 Billion on two Central Ohio transportation projects - $1.7 Billion for the reconstruction of the I-70/71 Split and $200 Million for a second runway and expansion of Port Columbus. Recent WOSU News stories on the split reconstruction and airport expansion showed both projects are moving forward even though fewer drivers and passengers are using them.

I wonder what environmental activist Harvey Wasserman will have to say about that????

Update: the video file for this episode is here:
http://www.wosu.org/cotr/?date=03/20/2009&id=0

This week’s Columbus on the Record included a discussion about the state of the state’s budget crisis.   Governor Strickland who has projected a $7.3 billion deficit for the next 2-year budget cycle presented a “worst case scenario” in which all state government departments would cut their budgets by 25%.  That would result in the closure of 6 prisons,  $2,000 college tuition increases, drastic cuts in per-pupil public school funding and more.    The concensus of this week’s panel is that times are tough but perhaps not quite that tough, yet.  There is little doubt we are heading deeper into an economic slump, the question is how deep will it get and what will federal, state and local governments do to cope with rapidly declining tax revenues.  Nothing is off the table - drastic cuts in services, tax increases, trash fees, or a combination of them all.  Check back next summer to see if the governor is hyping the crisis or preparing us for a harsh reality.

- Mike Thompson

The next governor’s election is nearly two years away but a new poll shows governor Strickland’s two potential challengers have some work to do to build name recognition.

A Quinnipiac university poll shows three-quarters of Ohioans don’t know two of Strickland’s potential 2010 challengers, former congressmen John Kasich and Rob Portman.

The poll shows 54% of Ohio voters have a favorable opinion of Governor Strickland and 45% think he should be re-elected.

We’ll likely discuss this on this week’s COTR.