NEWS
JB Hamlin & Company
The JBH & Co. newsreel will keep you up to date on developments that affect Ohio’s state agencies and your business interests, your place for tweets, posts and our perspectives on the governmental environment in Ohio.
Governor’s leadership makes the Times
The Ohio budget made an appearance in the New York Times today. The article mentioned that Governor Kasich praised the legislature for submitting a budget that doesn’t raise taxes and keeps in place an $800 million cut in the personal income tax. Congrats to our governor and the legislature for clearing the first hurdle in what is shaping up to be a very successful...
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Casino Columbus
After a long, long back and forth, the City of Columbus and Penn National Gaming have finally come to a resolution to their longstanding casino development differences. After amending the constitutional amendment to move the casino location, the city had some issue with Penn’s water and sewage operations, given its new locale. Well, that may all be behind us now. And thank god. According to The Dispatch, “The Columbus City Council approved a settlement with Penn National Gaming last night and set aside $15 million to help develop...
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Results in Ohio
Results-based evaluation is what our governor touted yesterday in reference to our teachers, schools, and it would seem his entire political philosophy. But it wasn’t just cold calculation. Kasich has a clearly thought out plan that considers that not every student performs the same way, so a teacher’s performance is to be evaluated through that lens. Most tough decisions are not easy. This decision falls into the extremely difficult category. The schools system in our state has benefitted from a long lasting status quo. Though on...
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Kasich Means Business
Getting the job done. Or, as our Governor put it on the campaign trail, and in his advertisements, get the jobs done. It’s clear after a little more than 100 days in office that Governor Kasich is not shy about his intentions. He also has the admirable quality – sometimes uncommon in politics – of saying what he means, and meaning what he says. To say that he has followed up on his campaign promises is understatement. As it reports in the below article from the Columbus Dispatch, he’s done more in his first 100 days...
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JobsOhio To Get A Boost
Within the pages of Governor Kasich’s budget proposal exists a section dedicated to the Ohio Department of Commerce, and its role in the regulation of liquor control. We’ve recognized a will to abandon the status quo previously, and our governor’s embrace of innovation, so the proposal to use profits from the privatization of Ohio’s liquor control apparatus to generate jobs shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. What should come as a surprise is the size of the war chest that JobsOhio will have at its disposal,...
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Privatization Creating Ohio Jobs
Governor Kasich’s budget proposal challenges the status quo and continues to be a driving force for innovation. Of the many innovative policy proposals the governor proposed today, the profits derived from privatizing the Division of Liquor Control would go toward the funding of Jobs Ohio. Today in the halls of the Ohio Capitol our governor and legislators are taking a step in the right direction for many reasons. The Division has run the sale of liquor in Ohio in some form for a long time. When prohibition ended, the Federal...
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Embracing Innovative Budget Ideas
Today is the day. Our governor will unveil a budget that is bound to spark national stories and local debate. Given the backdrop of SB5, our fellow struggling Midwestern industrial economy Wisconsin, and a projected $8 billion budget hole, Governor Kasich has called for innovative ideas to reduce spending and proposals to create new revenue in order to compose “one of the most reform-oriented budgets Ohio’s ever seen.” If there is one thing Governor Kasich is not, it would be indirect. Not simply holding a press conference, there will...
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Ohio: embrace reform, forget status quo
In his first state of the state address yesterday, our governor asked us all, legislators and citizens alike, to embrace reform, and forget the status quo. As an economic issue, this is an objective appraisal of the needs of our state, and an absolute necessity if our government is to digest the downward pressure being placed on tax revenues. Governor Kasich is asking that we all get creative, that we embrace this reform, and to quote directly, that we not let “fear clog our minds.” This sounds like an opportunity for those who...
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Privatization Consideration
There is an epigram in the business world that I have always believed in. It goes something like: Do what you are good at. It has broad reaching applications, but it’s thrust is that businesses should focus on their core strengths. If you’re an insurance company, sell insurance. No need for a huge marketing department, you can hire an expert that will do a much better job. And if you’re a state government, you may be able to save some money by not running a turnpike, or marketing the state to businesses. Governor Kasich is...
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Jobs Ohio helps American Greetings stay in Cleveland
Governor Kasich signed House Bill 58, the Jobs Ohio Bill, at American Greetings in Cleveland today. Kudos to a job well done, and a lingering one. A proud northeast Ohio company, they’ve been seeking a solution – help from the state – to stay in Ohio for some time now. And at a time like this, AG was having trouble getting it. Now, just three months into his administration, Gov. Kasich not only scores the Jobs Ohio victory, but also lands 2,000+ retained jobs for Cleveland. From the linked Dispatch article regarding the...
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