Cleveland Plain Dealer
Gov. John Kasich focuses on Medicaid, job creation, tax reforms in State of the State address
By Robert Higgs
February 19, 2013 

LIMA, Ohio - Gov. John Kasich used his State of the State address Tuesday to tout proposals in his budget plan he says will drive Ohio forward, saying now is not the time to ease up on the gas. 

"Keep your eyes on the mountaintop," the first-term Republican governor implored the audience at the Veterans Memorial Civic & Convention Center. 

The plan, billed as Ohio's Jobs Budget 2.0, includes a bold overhaul of the state's taxing system intended to bolster revenue from the sales tax while trimming income taxes, particularly for small businesses. It would also tap revenue from the Ohio Turnpike to raise money for much-needed road and bridge projects, revamp the state's school funding formula and expand health care coverage for the poor. 

Both Democrats and Kasich's fellow Republicans have found things to like and dislike in his budget, and Kasich used his hourlong speech to push back against the criticism, making an especially impassioned case for the Medicaid expansion, which conservatives have scorned. 

Kasich argued it is the right thing to do, both fiscally and morally. 

It will guarantee that Ohio tax dollars return to Ohio to pay for the program, he said. And it will allow those who are impoverished to have access to health care with a primary doctor, rather than high-cost visits to an emergency room that many use now. And it will expand care to those who have mental illnesses. 

"We need to get them primary care. Basic coverage," Kasich told the joint session of the House and the Senate. 

"My personal faith and the lessons I learned from the Good Book, they're important to me," he said. With that in mind, he said he is unwilling to turn his back on "those who live in the shadows of life ... "those who live with the least among us." 

He addressed the concern among conservative lawmakers directly: "I respect the decision you're all going to make. I know it's controversial. Please examine your conscience." 

And he urged them to put themselves in the shoes of a poor family who can't afford health care or parents dealing with a mentally ill child. 

"Put it in your family," he said. "Put it on your doorstep." 

Afterward, at a news conference with GOP leaders, House Speaker William G. Batchelder of Medina and Senate President Keith Faber of Celina were noncommittal when asked if Kasich's plea for Medicaid expansion had won them over. Both said more study is necessary. 

"No, I don't know that we're any closer to a decision on that," Faber said. 

Democrats applauded Kasich's support of the Medicaid expansion but overall were critical of the governor's remarks. 

House Democratic Leader Armond Budish of Beachwood said many of the poor people who would be helped by the Medicaid expansion "now will pay higher taxes when they go to a movie, get a haircut or go through a divorce." Budish was referring to Kasich's plan to expand the sales tax to a broad array of services, although the 5.5 percent rate would be lowered to 5 percent. 

Democrats also chided Kasich's proposals on the income tax, saying they will not create jobs, as the governor predicts. Meanwhile, local governments and schools are suffering from funding cuts in his last budget, they said. 

Budish, in a news conference after the speech, said Democrats are willing to work with the governor on tax reforms, but that some of the benefits proposed for the wealthy should be rolled back. That revenue, he said, could be used to help communities and schools. 

The tax changes, though, were a key part of the governor's pitch to aid businesses across the state... 

Read the rest of the article at the Cleveland Plain Dealer