Dayton Daily News…
Ohio public pay called too generous
By Josh Sweigart 

State employees in Ohio receive $9.89 per hour more in wages and benefits than their private-sector counterparts, according to a report released Thursday by a conservative watchdog group. 

This disparity is larger than in 44 other states, according to the report from Washington D.C.-based Citizens Against Government Waste. It gives Ohio the grade of “F” compared to other states. 

A major driver of this difference, according to report authors, is generous public sector pensions: “Taxpayers in every state are struggling to grasp the sheer magnitude that state and local government unfunded pension liabilities are having on programs and services,” it states. 

In Ohio, the conditions the report illustrates have long been the focus of attention. On Wednesday Gov. John Kasich signed a major overhaul of Ohio’s five public sector pension systems that will cost workers billions, require them to work longer, reduce cost-of-living adjustments and make the programs solvent. 

“We’ve seen these reports before in the past,” said Dennis Willard, spokesman for the group We Are Ohio, a group which fought back a challenge to public sector unions last year. “These reports we believe are often done with a goal in mind rather than trying to reach some sort of scientific and logical finding.” 

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