Saturday, July 14, 2007 (ePluribusMeda OhioNews Bureau)
Orders Ignored To Secure Social Security Numbers
Information gleaned from a published report in Saturday’s Columbus Dispatch reveals inner layers to the continuing story of a massive loss of sensitive state data in early June by Gov. Ted Strickland's administration.
The report, based on records released through a public-records request, show that had orders from a high-ranking system administrator to remove social security numbers immediately from computer files been followed in April, more than 1 million people or business would not have had their security compromised in June and Ohio would not have to spend the $2.2 million it has been forced to pay so to protect them.
Ohio Lobbyist Reported To Attorney General For Prosecution
Ohio was one of eight states in 2004 whose spending by lobbyists increased by over 30 percent. For anyone who has spent any time in the Ohio Statehouse, lobbyists, on any given day of session, way outnumber citizens. But lobbyists, paid salesmen representing all manner of special interests who want lawmakers to make laws favoring them or defeat bills favoring their opponents, must register and comply with Ohio lobbying laws.
The Joint Legislative Ethics Committee, established to monitor compliance with
Ohio's Ethics Law as it applies to the Legislative Branch and responsible for administering Ohio's Lobbying Laws by exercising its powers and duties pertaining to Legislative Agents, Executive Agency Lobbyists, and their employers, reported 11 lobbyists who ignored state rules to Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann for prosecution.
Ohio Lobbying Association President Mike Toman said that while it's understandable that some paperwork could slip through the cracks, no lobbyist has an excuse for ignoring two certified letters.
Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a government-watchdog group, applauded the crackdown but expressed surprise that some lobbyists continue to thumb their noses at the state.
"It is appalling to me that you have to take lobbyists to the attorney general for prosecution to get them to provide the disclosure that Ohioans deserve," she said.
Pension Reform’s Pay-To-Play Culture Sliced, Diced And Dissected
Ohio, like other states, has had its share of crafty characters who have worked long and hard to fatten their bank accounts at the expense of state agencies and institutions that, like pension funds, can have scores of billions of dollars in their coffers.
One recent scandal grown, fed and nurtured in the Buckeye State that is still playing itself out, is the so-called culture of corruption that has matured over the last half-dozen years between private money managers, political gatekeepers and pension fund officials and board members who collectively control assets valued at over $149 billion dollars.
The tale of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation scandal over injured workers' funds lost to rare-coin dealers and fund management investors that exploded on the scene in 2005 and claimed 20 victims so far, several of whom are now serving jail time, keeps rolling on.
Recently, George L. Forbes, a lawyer, a former Cleveland city councilman and mayor and African-American leader from the old school of power politics who was as comfortable with Republicans as he was with members and supporters of his own political party, the Democrats, was found guilty of minor misdemeanor charges related to accepting plane rides, dinners and other favors and not reporting them on state disclosure forms.
While his violations may seem trivial or non-consequential to most Ohioans who don’t understand what happens behind the scenes when deal makers make their deals, Progress Ohio, a left of center political blog, has sliced and diced the Forbes story and tracks it back through the years of Republican control of all the gears of Ohio government including the BWC debacle and the influence it has had on how pension retirements funds have operated. The well-researched piece reveals the inside-baseball of the scandal for those who take the time to read it.
OSU RAISES TUITION AT FIRST CHANCE
One of the deals struck between state leaders and university officials in this biennium’s budget is that Ohio would contribute more money to higher-education institutions in exchange for them not raising undergraduate tuition until the fall of 2009.
The day after E. Gordon Gee returned to The Ohio State University to accept its offer of href=" million to become its president again, the OSU trustees, as part of its agenda that included approving an operating budget of nearly $4 billion for the next year, voted to increase tuition for graduate, professional or out-of-state students. A published report shows that Ohio residents will have their tabs raised by 5.7 percent while nonresident undergraduates and graduate-school students will pay 6 percent more. For professional schools, tuition will vary by program.
The state budget boosts basic funding for universities by 5.7 percent in 2008 and 9.8 percent in 2009 -- a total increase of more than $340 million. From 2001 and 2007, state higher-education funding fell 2.5 percent.
The ever rising cost of college has forced Ohioans to go to other states where tuition is more affordable.
BONUS STORY: DEM LEADER WHO HIRED STRIPPERS RESIGNS
After making the bonehead decision to hire female strippers to serve drinks at his annual county Democratic golf fundraiser, John Irish, the county leader who first thought he could buy his way out of the jam by offering the proceeds from the golf outing to the local YWCA for training courses in empowering women, resigned in the wake of a turmoil that gave Republicans ammunition to batter Democrats and Democrats an opportunity to show why they should change their ways.