For those of you who haven't heard, last week was very, very busy at the Statehouse.  In fact, session adjourned at 4 AM on Friday after starting at 11 AM on Thursday.  Lots of bills were passed by the House, some were passed by the House and Senate and there were also conference committees to take care of differences between the houses on legislation.

In this economy, every dollar matters to employers.   That is why the Workers' Compensation Council needs to have it's funding stripped before more money is wasted.  Either the General Assembly needs to more clearly define how it should operate or, if there's no need for it, abolish it altogether.  Regardless, until changes are made, employers shouldn't foot the bill.

Read more at http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2010/04/ohio_lawmakers_wants_to_pull_f.html

During this session of the General Assembly, there has been a great deal of discussion regarding government waste and cumbersome regulations. Each house of the General Assembly passed bills to focus on regulatory reform and the elimination of bureaucratic hurdles in order to do business in our state but because neither bill has been passed by both houses, the status quo remains. Another example of a regulation or rule that does little to help our communities is the focus of a bill I introduced that passed the House Agriculture and Natural Resources by a 20-1 vote and will now hopefully proceed to the floor of the House for a full vote.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture historically monitored the audits performed of county agricultural fair boards. After a Supreme Court decision that had nothing to do with audits, then-State Auditor Jim Petro decided county agricultural societies were public entities and, as a result, must be audited by the Auditor of State biennially even though many county fairs accept no taxpayer dollars for the operation of their fairs. A list of "Frequently Asked Questions" stated that the average cost of these audits would be around $1,500.

Fast forward a decade and while the audits continue, problems run rampant. Last year, nine county fairs paid audit costs in excess of $9,000, six times the initial estimate for the average cost, and the vast majority of fairs paid more than $3,000 in audit costs, again for money that is not taxpayer dollars. Many county fairs report problems with auditors taking boxes and boxes of records out of their offices and back to Columbus or other offices for months at a time, not to be seen for months until the records are accompanied by an audit report and a hefty bill that cannot be challenged easily, if at all. All of this means that while county agricultural societies continually try to do more with less, they are constantly paying more money for audits and then have less to spend on improving their fairs.

House Bill 402 will simplify the audit process. County agricultural societies will have to carefully track how any public or tax money received is spent and the public money will continue to be subject to a state audit. The State Auditor will not be able to charge more than $3,000 for the audit, which is twice the cost estimated ten years ago. County agricultural societies will be required to post public reports annually from each fair's treasurer on how much money was taken in and spent by the fair board,

As someone who frequently attends county fairs in the district I represent, I can attest that the livestock auctions and 4-H exhibits and judging bring a great deal of happiness to children and parents alike. I believe money that fair boards have to invest is much better spent on enhancing and expanding the opportunities to enjoy county fairs than it is on paying for unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles.

I've added some updates to the website including newer pictures of Ceci and Frannie as well as recent news articles regarding the Workers Compensation Council, a subject of a future blog post. 

In recent weeks, I was appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee, which is currently hearing testimony on HB 400, the destructive income tax proposal supported by John Kasich and the House GOP.  The hearings have been illustrative of how damaging such a proposal could be.  In a related story, there is a question on our Legislative Survey regarding support for such a proposal.  Based on those I've seen in my office, at least 8 out of 10 respondents have opposed such an idea

Finally, follow me on Twitter under @repdandodd.

After the House Finance Committee's ranking minority member made some outrageous remarks regarding business groups and their support of Governor Strickland's tax freeze, I asked him to apologize.  A link to an article on the Dispatch blog shows you how far I got.  At least I hope we can get back to the issue at hand instead of making up criminal scenarios.

http://blog.dispatch.com/dailybriefing/2009/10/amstutz_asked_to_apologize_for.shtml#more

The September town hall meetings are as follows:

I'll be holding two town hall meetings this month to meet with constituents.  They will be held on:

August 17: Logan, City Hall, 6 PM

August 27: Hebron, Hebron Municipal Building, 6PM

So stop on by and let me know what is going on!

Stephanie, Ceci and I just returned from our vacation and we had a wonderful time.  This was the first trip to the beach that Steph and I have had since 2007 and Ceci's first trip ever!  She enjoyed the beach, the ocean and the pool, and we were even able to keep the sand eating to a minimum.  We normally don't take vacations in election years, so it might be a while before Ceci gets to go back, but at least we know she enjoys it.

Now that we are in our summer recess, I'm hoping to get out in the district a lot more to talk about what's going on in Columbus.  I plan to schedule town hall meetings throughout the district to tell people what's been going on in Columbus and hear what people are thinking about and talking about in the district.  I plan on scheduling a couple of month, so check back at doddforohio.com to find out the latest locations and dates for upcoming meetings.  Hope to see you there!  

The Columbus Dispatch is running an interesting article on its blog (http://blog.dispatch.com/dailybriefing/2009/07/harris_proposes_opening_up_slo.shtml#more) regarding the proposal that the Senate is bringing forward regarding video lottery terminals.  Nevermind the fact that their proposal would apparently allow gambling anywhere and the fact that the money won't come nearly in time.  What I'm wondering is how they think this is an alternative to the current budget situation.  Whether they want to admit it or not, they have two choices: either accept the Governor's framework (with some minor changes, perhaps) or introduce their own substantive alternative.  Coming out with a variation of one part of the plan that is contingent on voter approval and therefore unreliable doesn't cut it.

As I have said before and I will say again, I completely understand if the Senate or others do not agree with the Governor's framework.  I don't agree with every single aspect of it.  However, it is the basic responsibility of the Senate to build consensus for an alternative, not to tear down the plans of another. 

People throughout the district are asking "why isn't this getting done?"  It's simple: Budget negotiations are just that: negotiations.  No one negotiates by having one person sitting at the table offering suggestions and having the person on the opposite side saying "No" with no alternatives.  Yet that is exactly what we have in Columbus.

Jon Husted and his friends might not like it but it's true: The so-called "Upper House" is dragging our state lower and lower every day.

First, I am pleased that Senate Bill 73 has passed.  I was the sponsor of the House version of this legislation that reconfigures how coal mine operators pay their severance tax and the effect it has on the state's reclamation fund.  By passing this legislation, we are bringing Ohio into compliance with federal guidelines, we prevent the federal government from taking over the monitoring of our state's mines, and new coal mining operations can begin, including in Perry and Athens counties.  The bill had an emergency clause attached and Gov. Strickland has already signed this legislation, which means the bill is now law.

Second, issues with the budget are heating up, and I'm not talking about the state's biennial budget!  House Bill 15 was amended by the Senate to include some controversial positions and I would expect the House to reject these amendments and go to conference committee.  I hope to have a role with the committee and will work to make sure we have the best budget possible for the Bureau of Workers Compensation.