Armond Budish

Strickland signed dozens of bills yesterday and vetoed three passed by the Republican-controlled lame-duck legislature late last year.

Among the bills he approved was one designed to keep state employees from snooping in confidential databases and increase the consequences for those who do so improperly. It grew out of the search of records of Toledo-area resident Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher, or "Joe the Plumber," who had questioned Barack Obama at a presidential campaign stop. The background check resulted in the state job and family services director losing her job.

The others Strickland vetoed would have awarded bonuses to recent military veterans and given income-tax credits to the movie industry.

It marked the first time Strickland used his veto power on bills passed by the Republican-controlled 127th General Assembly, which served from January 2007 through December 2008.

Inauguration day for President-Elect Barack Obama is still two weeks away, but in both Washington DC and Columbus, our new legislators are going to work.

In Columbus, the 128th General Assembly has convened. For the first time in 14 years, a Democrat will be sitting in the speaker's chair in the Ohio House of Representatives. State Rep. Armond Budish of Beachwood is probably reaching for the Tylenol right now, as he grapples with the reality of writing a budget with a potential $7 Billion hole in it. The first speaker from the Cleveland area in almost 70 years also will be called upon to guide Gov.

I received releases on quite a few members of the Ohio House and Senate that were sworn in today. Rather than list all of them since some of them are not from Northwestern Ohio, I’m going to share the two releases that relate to our area, one from Representative Matt Szollosi and one from Senator Mark Wagoner, they are listed in the order in which they were received in today via email:

State Rep. Matt Szollosi Sworn In as New House Speaker Pro Tempore

Toledo Lawmaker Ready to Take on Leadership Responsibilities

COLUMBUS – State Representative Matt Szollosi (D-Toledo) today took the oath of office as House Speaker Pro Tempore – the second-highest ranking position in the Ohio House of Representatives – for the 128th General Assembly.

COLUMBUS -- Ohio's big cities could see special treatment from the state with income tax breaks on new jobs, more money for school construction and free broadband services for urban businesses under a plan unveiled Monday by new Democratic House Speaker Armond Budish.

However, those potential freebies wouldn't come without a price -- Ohio's urban areas would have to participate in state purchasing cooperatives and abide by the results of a study focusing on whether regionalizing services such as fire and trash pickup would save public dollars. Cities also would have to match the income tax break on newly created jobs with their own municipal tax breaks.

It appears there is some agreement from those in both parties when you read the full article, Even in bad times, Ohioans to get tax cut.

Democrats had argued that the across-the-board income tax cut would disproportionately benefit the wealthy, but they haven’t said much on the subject since Mr. Strickland’s election. In fact, a letter from Tax Commissioner Richard Levin included on the 2008 tax forms states that Mr. Strickland “supports” the reforms. Essentially, Republicans set the tax-reform train in motion and then handed the engineer’s cap to Mr. Strickland.

“That’s an accurate way to describe it,” Mr. Strickland told The Blade last week.

"I've been asked, 'Why are you pushing forward with that education initiative when the economy is so bad?' " Strickland said. "Because it's really important, and we can always find a reason to not move forward on this. Some will like it, some will dislike it, some will say it's not enough, and some will say we can't afford it."

Strickland's fullest comments to date on his school-funding plan came this week during a year-end interview with The Plain Dealer in his august Statehouse office.

Seated at the round table he uses during weekly meetings with legislative leaders, Strickland previewed the coming budget battle, defended his record with an eye toward the 2010 election and talked about his budding relationship with House Speaker-elect Armond Budish, a Beachwood Democrat.

Ohio Democratic leaders reacted to news of budget shortfalls and economic turmoil by calling for bipartisanship and innovative solutions as Ohioans deal with the anticipated instability.

Gov. Ted Strickland said Monday that the 2009 Ohio budget faces a $640 million shortfall due to the national recession. He also said the next

biennial budget covering 2010 and 2011 will have a deficit between $4 and $7 billion. 

Ohio House Democratic Leader Joyce Beatty (D-Columbus) said that the math does not appear to add up well for Ohio.

"The national recession has affected Ohio's economy in historic ways," Beatty said. "However, I still have a lot of confidence and faith in Governor Strickland and our legislative leadership, and I am pleased the Governor is asking for federal assistance."

Ohio House of Representatives Speaker-elect Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) Friday named A.J. Stokes as majority chief of staff for the 128th General Assembly. It is Budish's first staffing decision for the caucus.

Stokes, 30, served as political director of the Ohio House Democratic Caucus. The House Democrats' announcement of the hire said Stokes was responsible for steering the campaign that won the first Democratic House majority in 14 years.

"I am very excited to begin my new responsibilities in the Ohio House of Representatives," Stokes said. "This is a challenging time in our state's history, but I am confident we can craft bipartisan solutions to the issues we face. I'm honored and humbled by the opportunity to work with the next Speaker of the House and his team to improve the lives of all Ohioans."

The newly elected Ohio House Democratic leadership for the 128th General Assembly gathered in the Statehouse Wednesday to discuss some legislative priorities for the next session. Ohio Speaker of the House-elect Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) said that his top priority was economic development and jobs, but also floated some ideas on urban revitalization.

"In 2006, the people of Ohio elected a new governor in Ted Strickland to turn Ohio around," Budish said. "It's difficult for a governor to do that by himself. He needs cooperation from the Ohio House and Senate."

Budish said he plans to work closely with Strickland, Senate President Bill Harris (R-Ashland) and Minority Leader-elect Bill Batchelder (R-Mediana) to move Ohio forward over the next two years.

"We will do our best to work with Republicans across the aisle," Budish said. "And I believe Bill Batchelder wants to do the same."

Statehouse Photo

Speaker of the House-elect Armond Budish

The Ohio House Democratic caucus held an evening session Tuesday night to select its leadership for the upcoming 128th General Assembly. Ohio House Democratic Minority Leader Joyce Beatty (D-Columbus) announced Tuesday evening that caucus members had unanimously elected state Rep. Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) as the next speaker of the house.

"I am proud and humbled to lead our Caucus into the next General Assembly as we continue the work to turn around Ohio," Budish said. "We partnered with Governor Strickland over the past two years to lay the groundwork for positive change. I look forward to working with him, President Harris, Minority Leader Batchelder, and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to continue building the foundation for long-term prosperity and success in Ohio."

Budish's fundraising prowess and campaign efforts had helped the caucus gain at least five seats on Election Day, securing a Democratic House majority for the first time in 14 years.

Joining Budish in leadership will be state Rep. Matt Szollosi (D-Toledo) as speaker pro tempore, state Rep. Jennifer Garrison (D-Marietta) as majority floor leader, state Rep. Tracy Maxwell Heard (D-Columbus) as assistant majority floor leader, state Rep. Jay Goyal (D-Mansfield) as majority whip and state Rep. Allan Sayre (D-Dover) as assistant majority whip.