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Faber: It’s all about
jobs!!
By Bob Robinson
06-19-11
“The day after he was elected, Gov. Kasich drove to Cleveland to talk
to a business that was planning to leave Ohio. That was the day after
he was elected… he wasn’t even in office yet.”
They didn’t leave.
“It’s all about jobs,” said State Sen. Keith Faber, noting that every
time he sees him, Gov. John Kasich asks: “What have you done to create
jobs?”
Faber was the guest speaker at the Darke County Republican Men’s Club
Saturday morning. He told the “full house” that this governor is the
third one under which he has served. First was Bob Taft, then Ted
Strickland.
“I can’t tell you what a difference it makes serving under a
conservative governor,” he said.
“The dynamics are changing,” he said. “The governor gets it. Ohio is
going to balance the budget without raising taxes, and businesses and
entrepreneurs see that.”
When Strickland was in office, they were hearing $6 billion budget hole
coming up, then $7 billion… $8 billion… now $5.6 billion…
“What difference does it make? That’s a lot of money!!” Faber said that
$8 billion is 17 percent of the budget… and “We closed it.” No taxes
were raised and Ohioans got the $800 million tax cut that Strickland
postponed in the previous budget.
Ohio is spending $6 billion less in the coming budget than it did in
the previous one.
Faber said that Medicaid and K-12 funding consume 70 to 80 percent of
the budget. If left unchecked, Medicaid alone will consume 100 percent
of the budget in 2020… with nothing left for anything else.
Faber said Medicaid, despite changes being implemented, is still the
only program that will be increased in the next budget. Ohio has
tightened its belt more than ever before and local governments are
being asked to do the same.
Faber said that, despite comments to the contrary in Dayton Daily News,
state lawmakers are not making huge sums of money at taxpayer expense
for working 59 days a year.
“I work 365 days a year. We are in session 59 days a year, but that’s
the minor part of our jobs. I’m in meetings, sometimes from 7 a.m. to
11 p.m… that isn’t the exception, it’s the rule.”
He said the base salary of a legislator is $60,000 a year. In actuality
it’s probably closer to $20-25,000. He said legislators get mileage
once from their homes to Columbus and again from Columbus back home
after a legislative session. Period.
Expenses are not paid for staying in Columbus during session or driving
back and forth. They aren’t paid for the miles driven to different
parts of their districts to meet with constituents… nor are they paid
for meals or other miscellaneous expenses.
“I’m not complaining, I’d do it for free,” he said, but he wanted to
correct an inaccuracy. He added that, regardless, he still asked for
that 5 percent pay reduction for all legislators.
“Despite popular opinion, state legislators don’t get rich on the
taxpayers.”
Senate Bill 5
“We’ve asked local governments to tighten their belts like we’ve done
at the state level. Senate Bill 5 saves the state very little money,
but it gives local entities the tools to get their expenses under
control.”
Faber said it was going to be a fight. Unions have the unique ability
to get money from their members – simply by mandating it – to fight the
reform. And they lie.
“My sister-in-law is a teacher. Her union told her SB5 was going to cut
her salary from $60,000 a year to $17,000. She wouldn’t speak to me for
weeks…
“That didn’t work, so the union told her she was going to be fired and
replaced by some kid out of college. Not true! She has… what do they
call it… a continuing contract, tenure… Senate Bill 5 doesn’t touch
teachers with a continuing contract.”
He noted that some of the “zero raises” that unions talk about aren’t
true, either. Most union contracts include “step increases”… automatic
increases that kick in every year. They don’t consider those to be
raises. They are rewards for spending a year on the job.
“How many of you get a raise simply for keeping your seat warm for a
year?”
Faber said that all the bill does is level the playing field. For
instance, it prohibits pickups…
“What’s a pickup? It’s where a percentage of benefits to be paid by the
employee are negotiated, then the local government agrees to pay the
share of one or more of those employees. Senate Bill 5 stops that.”
It gets public employee benefits more in line with their private sector
counterparts. The average contribution for benefits in the private
sector is 31 percent. SB 5 requires state workers to pay at least 15
percent for their benefits.
“This not draconian,” Faber said.
Senate Bill 5 requires that teacher evaluations cannot be evaluated
simply on length of service. He emphasized that longevity can still be
part of the evaluation, just not the sole criteria for it.
“My son has a teacher who deserves to be paid a million dollars a year.
She’s great! But taxpayers can’t afford that. She gets paid based upon
her length of service, the same as any other teacher.”
Faber talked about Teacher A, the teacher who has spent 20 years
relating to kids… she motivates them, gets them to think… they learn.
They are the teachers about whom you might say “I want my kid in her
class.”
Then there’s Teacher B, also with 20 years on the job. The kids don’t
learn anything, more often than not they don’t like or respect her.
It’s the same lesson plan over and over year after year… and you “don’t
want your kid in her class.”
“Under union rules, they get the same pay. Think there’s something
wrong with that? We do.”
Faber said that all Senate Bill 5 does is expand the areas in which
evaluations are done to include more than just longevity.
A retired teacher asked Faber what the criteria would be for the
evaluations.
“You decide that,” Faber said. “You don’t want us doing it… we don’t
know the profession like you do. All we’re saying is it can’t only be
on longevity.”
Faber said that the reforms in Senate Bill 5 are modest, not extreme.
They give local entities more of a say in how local taxpayer dollars
are spent.
“They send a signal to the nation and world that Ohioans are ready to
compete for jobs by making our government more efficient so we can keep
taxes on people and job creators low.”
During his presentation, Faber handed out five “fact sheets” regarding
what Senate Bill 5 does, why it is needed, how it reforms the education
system and more. County News Online has requested electronic files of
the sheets and will publish them as soon as they are available.
Both State Rep. Jim Buchy and Faber said a referendum to repeal the
law, which went into effect March 31, will probably be on the ballot in
November.
Buchy said he believes it will fail. Faber said “that’s for you to
decide… one of the great things about our system – you decide what you
want for your future.”
The Darke County Republican Men’s Club meets the third Saturday of
every month at 8 a.m. in the Employee Dining Room of Brethren
Retirement Community. The club welcomes new members, and the public is
invited to all meetings. The next meeting will be July 16.
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