Why? ('Cause private is always better, right?) Kasich said the former state agency was "slow and old." What did it do? Not much that anyone could tell. And what does the new JobsOhio do? Not much, but it does it faster and in a modern way.
The "private" JobsOhio was initially funded by $6.5 million in state grants and a $1 million start-up appropriation from the state legislature. It's now funded by "leasing" the profits on Ohio's liquor sales, which is worth about $100 million a year.
There were objections immediately. A lawsuit filed by Democrats claimed it was unconstitutional to fund a private company with public money. A few days ago, State Auditor David Yost (also a Republican) demanded that JobsOhio turnover its records for audit. Kasich and other R's were really pissed at Yost, but after some foot-dragging and whining that he lacked authority, JobsOhio presented the documents to him yesterday, along with a check for $7.5 million.
A JobsOhio spokesperson said this settles the issue -- JobsOhio is now a totally private company and "there will be no more public money in JobsOhio" . . . well, except for that $100 million a year in liquor revenue.
Rep. John Patrick Carney (D-Columbus) had the best line:
"The idea of paying back public money with public money and saying we've made everybody whole is one of the more ridiculous statements I've ever heard."
Amen, bro!
One thing the media hasn't brought up yet is that outside of the $7.5m jobsohio got from the state, no one mentioned that since since 2011 the Third Frontier has awarded $33m under the "Jobsohio Network" to the six JobsOhio regional partners. One of the regional partner’s website is even http://jobsohiowest.com
ReplyDeleteIn case you are not familiar, in 2011, JobsOhio split the state up into 6 different regions. In each region, they either created or partnered with an existing group to act as JobsOhio's regional office under the direction of JobsOhio.
Since then $33m from the Third Frontier funds have been granted to these 6 JobsOhio regional offices and the grants are even listed and being granted to the "JobsOhio" network. Is this not public money either?
My guess is the Kasich response will be that these regional partners do more than just work on JobsOhio. They might be able to argue that but if you read the RFP for these grants, the $33m in 3rd Frontier grants since 2011 to these six groups are to be used strictly for JobsOhio purposes.
Is Mr. Kasich going to claim that the Third Frontier money is not public money either? Since this is an impossible argument, is he also going to have JobsOhio refund this $33m like they did the $7.5m the other day? If not, how can he conceed that JobsOhio is not funded with public $$$?
I imagine he was hoping no one noticed or remembered that $33m from the Third Frontier $$$$ went to this.