What the Ohio GOP State Legislature Got Right

I've been picking on the Ohio GOP in general and the state legislature specifically a lot lately and I wanted to take a moment to highlight a positive item or two that I have discovered along the way. Take this interview from Speaker of The Ohio House Jon Husted and OHpols.com for instance:

OHpols: Obviously, Ohio just passed the budget. Is there anything in particular that stands out about this year versus previous years?

HUSTED: "Well, the finances of the state were better than we've had in previous years. At least in the four budgets I've been involved in. We've had hard economic times. I believe we're better off than we were in any of hose four years, so the budget was a little easier than I think it has been in the past. We accomplished, at least for me, something that was very important...we reformed our tax code, cutting income taxes by 21 percent across the board and reforming our business tax code to give businesses an incentive to invest in Ohio. Keeping that intact was first and foremost important for me in this budget and we were able to do that. The next thing we need to do in Ohio is to elevate the educational attainment of our citizens. We also turned back the governor's efforts to eliminate school choice for children that are trapped in failing schools. We were successful from that point of view."

This is the first I've heard of a 21% income tax cut across the board. And none of the press I've seen mentioned the reformation of the business tax code, which is obviously vital to Ohio's economy as we try to dig ourselves out of the pit we put ourselves in with the business climate.

I still think education was something of a mixed bag. I have an email in to Speaker Husted on one of the programs that survived (I'm hoping to be able to have that for you as soon as I hear back from him or his staff), but even he realizes that one of the failures of this budget was Gov. Strickland's veto of the special needs voucher program.

Still, pictures speak louder than words and there certainly is very little that can be said of the pictures of Strickland embracing Husted after the budget was passed. If there are talking points on the budget, I'd love to see them; because the media sure isn't highlighting much for Republicans to be happy about in this budget and that gives the appearance that Republicans were rolled for a huge Strickland win on the budget and I don't think that is what really happened.

That interview also has some fascinating commentary from Speaker Husted on election fatigue and the importance of Ohio on the national stage. Read the whole thing here.