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Cincinnati
Enquirer...
What do
you
want to hear from Kasich?
February 2, 2012
For the
first time in state history, an Ohio governor will make his State of
the State
speech in a location other than the statehouse in Columbus. On Feb. 7,
Gov.
John Kasich will deliver his second such speech at a successful
elementary
school about 150 miles away in Steubenville.
The speech
at Wells Academy, which the governor’s office says is the highest
ranking
public elementary school in the state based on test results, is
expected to
focus on improving education.
In his
first State of the State address on March 8, 2011, the newly-elected
governor
laid out a broad plan of what he wanted to get done. That plan
included:
stopping Ohio’s population loss, controlling government costs, reforming state government, lowering
or eliminating
taxes, reducing spending, restructuring the state budget and reforming
sentencing.
Kasich also
wanted to allow people to stay in their homes instead of going to
nursing
homes, and he wanted to reform mental health care, Medicaid, prenatal
care.
On the
education front, Kasich wanted to link education to business
opportunities,
bring Teach for America to Ohio and repeal unfunded mandates. He also
had plans
for shared services, job creation, tax incentives, fighting drug
addiction and
developing Lake Erie. And he wanted to do it all with bipartisan
support.
Kasich
didn’t get all that he wanted, though by most accounts Kasich had a
pretty busy
first year in office. But his second year may have a different look
simply
because it’s a presidential election year. All the seats in the Ohio
House and
half those in the Ohio Senate are up for election. That means lawmakers
will be
taking off earlyin February for the March 6 primary and they will want
to leave
as early as possible in May to campaign for November ballots.
What do you
want to hear from Kasich in his second State of the State speech? What
should
he focus on getting accomplished? Let me know at pkostyu@enquirer.com.
Be as
specific as possible.
Read this
and other articles at the Cincinnati Enquirer
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