Published: September 25, 2009 02:52 pm      

Shirking duties — 09/27/09

Ohio legislators try to shift budget cuts to the governor

Republican leaders of the Ohio Senate are taking a page from their colleagues in the Kentucky Senate. They are trying to shift responsibility for making the spending cuts needed to erase a projected $933 million deficit in Ohio’s budget for the current fiscal year to the state’s Democrat governor, Ted Strickland.

The strategy is just as wrong in Columbus as it was in Frankfort. As a body responsible for approving the state’s budget — the primary task of state legislatures in all 50 states — it is the responsibility of the legislature to approve the necessary cuts when revenue falls short of what is needed to balance the approved budget.

In a 6-1 decision Monday, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Governor Strickland’s plan to establish video slot machines at Ohio’s seven race tracks is subject to approval by voters in a statewide referendum. Because the Ohio legislature had used projected revenue from the slot machines to balance the state’s budget, the court ruling could throw the current Ohio budget out of balance by some $933 million.

However, Ohio Senate President Bill Harris says it is up to Strickland to determine what to do about the nearly $1 billion for schools in jeopardy because of the court decision over slot machines.

Such shirking of legislative responsibility should sound mighty familiar to those of us in Kentucky. With Kentucky facing a shortfall of nearly $1 billion in its budget for the current fiscal year, Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, earlier this year insisted it was the responsibility of Gov. Steve Beshear to make the necessary spending cuts to balance the budget. The Kentucky General Assembly need do nothing, Williams insisted.

The reluctance of Republican legislators in both Ohio and Kentucky to do their jobs is understandable. If Ohio has to cut funding for Ohio schools by almost a billion dollars, it is going to strain the budget of every school district in the state and result in the elimination of some popular programs. By shirking their elected duties, Ohio Republican legislators are attempting to shift responsibility for the unpopular cuts to the Democrat in the governor’s office.

That was the same strategy Williams was attempting to use in Kentucky. He wanted Beshear to take the bulk of the blame for unpopular spending cuts, but Beshear was not buying it. He called the General Assembly into special session and forced legislators from both parties to approve cuts in spending to balance the budget. That’s exactly what he should have done.

Of course, this is not the first time the legislature in Ohio has shirked its duties in regards to the state’s budget. Instead of approving a bill to allow video slot machines at race tracks, legislators in Columbus allowed Strickland to issue an executive order establishing the slots at tracks while at the same time legislators approved a budget that included funds from the slots.

By doing nothing to stop it, the Ohio legislature gave its indirect approval to slot machines at tracks. With the court decision threatening a budget that includes funding from slots, it is the responsibility of legislators to work with the governor on a plan to balance the budget. Attempting to shift that responsibility to the governor is cowardly and irresponsible.