Every Friday, Eye on the Statehouse will announce its “Fiscal Pistol.” It’s our way of recognizing an individual who, during the course of the week, demonstrated prudence in spending the people’s money.
This week’s dual pistols are Reps. Jay Hottinger (R-Newark) and Ross McGregor (R-Springfield). They were the lone voices for lower spending during [...]

Each Friday, Eye on the Statehouse will announce its “Porker of the Week.” It’s our way of calling attention to a particularly big or wasteful spender. This week’s porker is the Ohio Business Development Coalition.
The OBDC was originally founded and funded in 2004 via a $8.1 million SBC fine. It has turned into [...]

At a recent House Finance and Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education meeting, the executive director of the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) attempted to justify the spending increase the OAC is receiving under the Strickland budget.
The director argued the arts are an economic boon to Ohio and over 16,000 businesses and 83,000 workers are employed [...]

Wednesday’s House Economic Development Committee featured testimony from Edward M. Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition (OBDC).
The OBDC was created in 2004 with the help of an $8.1 million fine paid by Ameritech. It was one-time money. Future money was supposed to come from private funding. However, the OBDC [...]

At today’s House Finance and Appropriations Committee meeting, Budget Director Pari Sabety continued her advocacy of Governor Ted Strickland’s budget.
The two-hour session began with a series of questions and answers. Some legislators were concerned with the amount of money being spent and others, well, were not. And then tempers flared.
Here’s what happened.
Rep. Jay [...]

Governor Ted Strickland is asking for $4.6 million to keep international trade offices open in places like Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and South Africa, just to name a few. Is this really necessary?
While attracting international commerce to Ohio is certainly important, it is hardly government’s job. This work should be left [...]

In theory, the Controlling Board is a useful tool for the legislature to make sure that the state’s bureaucrats are efficient and wise with our taxpayer money. In reality, the board often acts like a gigantic rubber stamp for increased spending.
Take today’s meeting for example. In a matter of only 45 minutes, [...]

Each Friday, Eye on the Statehouse will announce its “Porker of the Week.” It’s our way of calling attention to a particularly big spender.
This week’s Porker is the proposed state budget. There is no better example of big government than in this 2,031 page whopper. If you were to read [...]

Every Friday, Eye on the Statehouse will announce its “Fiscal Pistol.” It’s our way of recognizing an individual who, during the course of the week, demonstrated prudence in spending the people’s money.
This week’s pistol is Rep. Armond Budish (D-Beachwood). At a recent House Finance subcommittee on Agriculture & Development, Rep. Budish questioned the Ohio [...]

If today’s House Finance and Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Development was an indication of the entire budget project, don’t expect to see any decrease in spending.
The Board of Dietetics, the Ohio Respiratory Care Board and the Ohio Veterinary Licensing Board all testified that they should receive more state funding because they “protect Ohioans.” [...]