Rep Shannon Jones Floor Speech on Ohio Budget

Floor Speech (as prepared):

Thank you Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I thought hard about whether or not to stand and give this speech today. Not just because the hour is late and the debate has been long, but because after over 2 years of service, I am still intimidated to speak on this floor.

As you know, I am not a great orator and I don’t tell jokes. And I am not nearly the story teller of our good friend and colleague Representative Hite. I am just a mother and a wife who cares deeply about her community and this state and am humbled to serve the citizens of the 67th house district.

Fortunately for me, my constituents don’t expect great oratory, they expect me – and I expect from myself – to plainly tell the truth.

And I think you all know that I tell it like it is so I am going to do that now.

Ladies and gentlemen – what will happen here later today is unprecedented in Ohio budget history. A budget will be passed on this House floor that contains so much one-time money that it guarantees that the next two-year budget will be a train wreck.

I suppose if you’re only worried about the next election or trying to pretend that you have done something good, you will vote for this budget. But in two years most of you are going to have to answer for your vote.

You see, term limits were supposed to give the General Assembly the courage to make difficult decisions because after all we weren’t going to be career legislators. Nothing could illustrate less courage than the Democrat budget we are voting on today.

The Governor and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would have you believe that this budget is fiscally responsible and that it is – and I quote – a “balanced and responsible budget during a time of economic crisis.”

The simple fact of the matter is that this budget is neither firmly balanced nor is it fiscally responsible.

The Governor and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, who are in the majority, are now asking what would the Republicans do? That’s a disingenuous question asked in the 11th hour designed to deflect attention away from the real questions at hand. But I will not be deterred in saying the emperor has no clothes.

We weren’t asked by the Governor to help craft his budget nor were we asked by the House Democrats to help craft their budget. And as you saw in house finance and again on the floor today our amendments have been rejected. So do me a favor and please stop pretending that you want to know what we would have done --- after you have already decided for us.

But let me be clear on what I would have done and what I would NOT have done.

I would NOT have increased the Governor’s budget by $1.6 BILLION dollars. But that’s what the House Democrats have done.

I would have REJECTED all of the federal stimulus money that is being used for ongoing expenses and made the tough choices that needed to be made as politically painful as that might have been in the short term.

I would NOT have put into state law a school spending plan that is unsustainable and assert that I had solved school funding and smugly protest that this is not residual budgeting.
I would tell the school districts in this state the truth. That without the $845 million dollars in federal stimulus money that is still being used in the school funding formula, every school district in the state would have their funding cut below FY 09 levels. 558 of the 612 school districts would have received a cut of 10% or more.

In the next two year budget our traditional public schools will need an infusion of $832 million state dollars just to get back to even. They need to know the truth so they can plan accordingly. So if we don’t have the courage to plan for tomorrow, we ought to have the decency to allow those who ARE responsible to do their jobs!

Indeed I would not have crafted an education budget that treats over 80,000 kids that go to community schools and e-schools as second-class citizens by cutting their funding to levels that will force them to leave the schools that their parents have chosen. I certainly would not have done that and then profess on this floor that I care about every child in this state.

And I would not have participated in putting together an Ohio budget the way they have been putting together the budget in Washington for decades. Just like Congress has done, this budget spends too much, borrows too much and makes promises that can’t possibly be kept. This House used to pride itself on not behaving the way they do in Washington. Sadly, that is no longer the case.

The only way to really solve our budget problems is to start living within our means. When we try to prioritize everything, we prioritize nothing. Yes, as Representative Garrison suggests, we are in a critical time. Some might say the house is on fire. But perhaps we should try to put the fire out first before building a brand new house!

If this state continues to budget as if there is no tomorrow, with no planning or regard for the future, we will never escape this downward fiscal spiral, in which creative accounting, shell games, smoke and mirrors, handouts and bailouts, keep us looking from where the next easy money will come – just to feed the beast of big government.

Mr. Speaker, let’s send this budget to the Senate in hopes they can apply some fiscal discipline to this mess.

I strongly encourage a no vote on the bill.

Fantastic speech! Here is hoping that the Ohio Senate doesn't cave on this thing. If they do, I think there ought to be all kinds of Hell to pay.