The New Digs for the Ohio Casino Control Commission

Yes, it certainly is.  You can begin with the $60,000 annual salary each commission member makes for attending a mandatory one meeting per month, although as they ramp up they are having a whopping two meetings per month.  But even at two meetings per month, each commissioner will make $2,500 per meeting.  Not bad work in this day and age.

According to the April 6th meeting minutes, the commissioners took on the most pressing issue of the month, the need for plush downtown office space.  Apparently, state government is absolutely out of office space in the Central Ohio area because the commissioners were forced to sign a lease for 10,000 square feet of office space at the Class A  One Columbus Center for just under $12,000 per month.  They were excited because with this lease came the option to take over the entire floor and easily expand to 17,000 feet.

The enabling language also requires that each commissioner be reimbursed for their expenses.  What luck.  Ohio taxpayers can pick up the commissioners' monthly parking in the attached Leveque Tower garage,  their membership in the building's 24 hour fitness club on the floor below, and their nightly stay at the Double Tree Suites across the street.

While the bureaucratic excess rolls along, the Ohio General Assembly is preparing to raise taxes on casinos that are not even close to being built.  The operators say such a tax hike will lead to litigation, lost jobs, and smaller casinos.  And just today, Gongwer reports that the new casino commission chair stated that there are no guarantees that the commission will issue licenses to the casino developers anyway.

Ohio Governor John Kasich signs SB 73, a bill to exempt sales taxes on alcohol that is purchased wholesale to be used in food products.  Makes sense to me.

Video courtesy of Ohio Capital Blog.

Plunderbund has a great story this morning about Governor Kasich's latest corporate bailout of a company loaded with cash.  I guess this is what John Kasich meant by moving at the speed of business.  Its definitely worth a read:

Diebold’s international HQ’s is presently located in Green, Ohio near Canton—a region where the company started some one-hundred and fifty-two years ago.  It’s been at its present location since 1972.  While Kasich dithers on making any decision on the casinos, thus delaying billions in construction and new jobs, he’s rushing to declare victory over keeping Diebold in Ohio.

Today the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Governor Kasich and Diebold will announce that the State is giving $55 million (what budget deficit?) in tax incentives to essentially finance Diebold’s planned new $100 million world headquarters (the company wants to build a corporate campus as opposed to their current arrangement.)

Read the rest of the story here.

From my email inbox:

Seattle University – a Catholic institution – offers students the option of interning for Planned Parenthood on its web site.

Sign your peaceful protest now

This unimaginable scandal must be opposed.

And it gets worse. The women studies department at Seattle University also encourages students to "get involved" with pro-abortion groups. Web links to the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority and Legal Momentum are featured on their web site.

Important note: You can effectively help me counter the culture of death at Seattle University by sending this urgent alert to your pro-life friends.

There's only so much I can do alone, so please spread the word by email, facebook, blogs and so forth.

Everyone – both young and old – can sign this protest.

Sign your peaceful protest now

Thank you so much for opposing the sin of abortion.

http://campaigns.americaneedsfatima.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=206

 

From the PPP poll:

Voters in the state are having significant buyers remorse about the results of last fall's election. In a rematch 55% say they would now vote for Ted Strickland to just 40% who would vote for Kasich. Because this is a sample of all registered voters in the state and not just those who voted in last fall's Republican heavy electorate the self identified 2010 vote of this sample is 49% for Strickland and 46% for Kasich but that still suggests a 12 point movement toward Strickland among those surveyed over the last four months.

Read the rest of the story here.

Reporters have been told they will not be allowed to broadcast sound and images from the Tuesday release of Ohio Gov. John Kasich's budget plan.  Read the rest of the story here.

Is budgeting one of your strengths? Consider online accounting degree programs.

From their presser:

Cincinnati, OH--The latest Ohio Poll finds more Ohioans disapprove than approve of Governor John Kasich’s performance as governor. The latest Poll also asked Ohioans their opinions on Ohio’s budget situation.

These findings are based on the latest Ohio Poll, conducted by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati between March 1 and March 9, 2011.

KASICH’S FIRST OHIO POLL APPROVAL RATING AT 40 PERCENT

The latest Ohio Poll finds 40 percent of Ohio adults approve of John Kasich’s performance as governor, 47 percent disapprove and 13 percent neither approve nor disapprove. 

Kasich’s approval rating is lower than the initial gubernatorial approval rating recorded by the Ohio Poll for former Governors Strickland (68%), Taft (49%) and Voinoich (61%). Kasich’s rating is higher than the initial approval rating of former Governor Richard Celeste (32%).

As is often the case, Ohioans are sharply split along partisan lines when it comes to ratings of their governor. While far more Democrats disapprove (63%) than approve of Kasich’s performance (25%), far more Republicans approve (65%) than disapprove (26%). More independents disapprove (52%) than approve (30%) of Kasich’s performance at the present time.

Kasich’s approval rating for handling the economy (38%) is similar to his overall approval rating.

OHIOANS WEIGH IN ON STATE BUDGET

Ohio adults were asked their opinions about how Governor Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly should balance Ohio's budget. Fifty-three percent of Ohio adults say they would like to see Ohio's budget balanced through “a combination of tax increases and state spending reductions,” 35 percent would like to see the budget balanced through “reductions in state spending on programs and services,” six percent would like to see “state tax increases” and six percent “don’t know.”

Those Ohioans who would like to see the state budget balanced through reductions in state spending on programs and services (either alone or in combination with tax increases), were next presented with a series of areas of the Ohio budget and asked in which of those areas they would like to see spending reduced.

These survey respondents most frequently identified “funding for local government” (33%) as the area they would most like to see spending reduced. An additional 15 percent say they would like to see spending reduced for “prisons and public safety,” 13 percent say “colleges and universities” and eight percent say “health care for the elderly/those with lower incomes.”

*We ask users to properly attribute this copyrighted information to the “Ohio Poll,” sponsored by the University of Cincinnati. The name, “Ohio Poll,” is registered with the Ohio Secretary of State.

Passion for politics? Discover great degrees at online masters degrees

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It's a doozy.  And you can read it here.

Ohio Town Hall Meeting
with Governor John Kasich
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
6pm

Click here to sign up for a chance at a ticket.

I signed up.  If I get in I'll live tweet it.  It will also be webcast and televised.

2011 State of the State Address
March 8, 2011
Ohio Statehouse
Columbus, Ohio 43215
SPEAKER BATCHELDER: It is my privilege today to introduce to this group someone who needs no introduction, the President of the Ohio Senate.
(Applause)
PRESIDENT NIEHAUS: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for inviting us to your House. The members of the House and Senate will now assemble and take their seats. Is there a quorum of the Senate present? The Chair recognizes the leader of the Senate, ... << MORE >>

And here are the D's

The contemporary American workplace is susceptible to numerous federal, state, and local laws and regulations that impose strict obligations on businesses (e.g., wage and hour legislation, nondiscrimination laws and regulations, etc.). Most companies, especially smaller corporations, don't know the scope of those obligations and, therefore, frequently (albeit inadvertently) violate legislation. These violations can cause costly lawsuits, in addition to civil and criminal penalties. In my experience as being a defense attorney in addition to being a plaintiff's lawyer, the commonest employment law mistakes done by companies are the next (in no particular order):

  - Misclassifying staff members as independent contractors. Normally, only workers who operate their very own separate companies are "independent contractors." Few workers meet this test; actually, most personnel are considered "employees" for the law, which suggests these are eligible to the entire variety of workplace protections.

  - Misclassifying non-exempt personnel as exempt. Generally, all workers are eligible to minimum wage and overtime pay, unless they're "exempt" under state and federal law. The exemption rules (e.g., for executive, administrative, and professional staff members) only apply in limited circumstances, however; therefore, many staff members that are claimed by businesses to become "exempt" actually have entitlement to minimum wage and/or overtime pay.

 - Not complying with state wage payment legal guidelines. i.e. New York imposes several specific rules regarding how businesses be forced to pay their personnel. These rules include providing new staff members with written notice of these rate of pay and regular pay date; prohibiting deductions from wages unless to the employee's benefit and authorized in writing; requiring written contracts for commissioned salespersons; and providing terminated personnel with written notice of the last day's work, their last day's benefits, and their right to make an application for unemployment benefits.

- Not owning a laborer handbook. A personnel handbook is a tool for effective employer-employee relations. It notifies workers of the company's values, policies, and procedures; promotes compliance with labor and employment laws; so helps create an orderly, efficient, and transparent workplace.

- Not documenting employee job performance. A well-managed organization clearly communicates its employees' duties and responsibilities (e.g., through written position descriptions), trains and supervises staff members to be sure they are meeting these requirements, and offers regular, objective, consistent feedback (e.g., through written evaluations and, where necessary, disciplinary actions). A deficiency of accurate, complete, contemporaneous documentation can result in liability in the eventuality of a case by a worker.

- Not training supervisors regarding EEO law regulations. Federal, state, and local equal employment opportunity (EEO) law regulations prohibit businesses from taking adverse actions against personnel (e.g., demotion, termination) for reasons not linked to an employee's job performance, including those depending on an employee's race, color, sex, age, disability, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and marital status ( to mention the most typical "protected characteristics"), along with retaliation for an employee's good faith complaints of discrimination. It is imperative that supervisors learn the way to manage personnel without violating (or appearing to violate) these laws.

- Not providing reasonable accommodations for disabled employees. Most EEO laws and regulations prohibit businesses from taking adverse actions against workers according to certain protected characteristics, but disability discrimination legal guidelines also impose an affirmative obligation on businesses to "reasonably accommodate" disabled staff members in order to make them perform the main functions of these jobs. Such accommodations can include restructuring job duties, modifying work schedules, or providing assistive devices. Businesses have to supply a disabled employee with needed accommodations unless this would cause an "undue hardship" for the corporation (e.g., very costly, too disruptive).

- Not obtaining releases from terminated workers. When terminating a worker, businesses need to get a release that waives the employee's potential legal claims against the corporation. The easiest way to get a release is in exchange for an offer of severance (where appropriate). Generally speaking, businesses are not essential to pay for severance to staff members (unless necessary for an employment contract or even a collective bargaining agreement). If they opt to do this (e.g., in association with layoffs), they must require employees to sign a release in return for the payment.

- Not protecting confidential company information. Every organization is dependent upon certain vital, often confidential, details about its organization operations, including trade secrets, marketing and advertising practices, and customer and client lists. Access to this information ought to be limited by personnel with a "need to know" and may be protected by appropriate non-disclosure, non-compete, and/or non-solicitation agreements (depending on the nature of the information and also the employee's position).

- Not consulting an experienced employment law attorney. Perhaps the one most critical point to take away from this discussion is the fact that businesses should consult a certified employment lawyer to ensure they are in compliance with all the increasingly numerous and complex laws that carpet work just like a minefield. Large companies will often have attorneys and recruiting professionals working to help them in this field. Small- and medium-size organizations often usually do not. Their biggest mistake is attempting to navigate this minefield independently.

So you? Precisely what are your top mistakes made in employment law?

About the Author: S. W. Abner writes for employment law training courses , her personal blog where she writes about her experience as defense attorney to aid workers and corporations take care of the areas of employment law.

HT Ohio Budget Watch

Changes proposed by departments as part of the state budget process call for selling five prisons to private vendors, trimming money for children’s hospitals, food banks, drug courts and child care subsidies, and closing a youth prison, according to proposals obtained by the Dayton Daily News.

Read the rest of the story here.

Charlie Sheen finally got smart and put his latest episode up on Youtube.  It clocked in at a more reasonable thirteen minutes and twenty three seconds.

From the presser:

CINCINNATI – Today Gov. John R. Kasich announced that Harvey Reed will serve as director of the Department of Youth Services (DYS), the juvenile corrections system for the state of Ohio.

Kasich made his announcement at the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Detention Center where Reed has served as superintendent for eight years.  Under his leadership, the detention center has reduced its operational costs while preserving the safety and security of staff and residents.  Reed has over 32 years of experience working in Ohio’s juvenile corrections system including his service as a detention center youth leader, a probation officer, and the assistant director and director in the Work Detail Community Service Program. 

In 2002, Reed was recognized for his outstanding service through the employee of the year award from Hamilton County Commissioners. In his spare time, he continues his service by volunteering for youth sports and the Young Scholars Leadership Program at Sycamore High School in Cincinnati.

###

From the news release:

COLUMBUS – Today Gov. John R. Kasich announced appointments to the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, the Development Financing Advisory Council and the Edison State Community College Board of Trustees.  All appointments are effective immediately. 

 

Development Financing Advisory Council

Mike Jacoby of Zanesville (Muskingum Co.) will serve as a member of the Development Financing Advisory Council for a term beginning February 25, 2011 and ending December 31, 2011.

 

Edison State Community College Board of Trustees

Thomas P. Milligan of Sidney (Shelby Co.) will serve as a member of the Edison State Community College Board of Trustees for a term beginning February 25, 2011 and ending January 17, 2017.

 

Tax Credit Authority

Rodney A. Crider of Wooster (Wayne Co.) will serve as a member of the Tax Credit Authority for a term beginning February 25, 2011 and ending January 12, 2015.

 

Emmett M. Kelly of Upper Arlington (Franklin Co.) will serve as a member of the Tax Credit Authority for a term beginning February 25, 2011 and ending January 12, 2015. 

 

###

Live video chat by Ustream

Here's about the only non SB 5 state government news happening this week.  From the presser:

Husted "Ready 2012 and Beyond" proposals designed to modernize and improve overall operation of Ohio elections and build voter confidence in the results

COLUMBUS, Ohio – At a Statehouse press conference today, Secretary of State Jon Husted outlined his priorities for improving the overall administration of Ohio elections. With the 2012 Presidential Election on the horizon, Husted will work closely with legislative leaders and the Governor to see these changes passed into law and implemented as soon as possible.

"The 2012 Presidential Election will have a tremendous impact on our state and nation. My goal is to ensure that the focus is on candidates, not on the process for electing them," Secretary Husted said. "For the vast majority of Ohioans, our elections system works very well, but there are changes we can make to improve overall access and accuracy and thereby, build more confidence in the results."

On-line Voter Registration and Change of Address
Secretary Husted is calling for on-line voter registration and for giving registered voters the opportunity to change their address electronically. This convenience to voters would also assist boards of elections and potentially reduce errors by cutting back on data entry. To protect against fraudulent registrations, the on-line system would require a valid Ohio driver's license or state identification card to participate. Husted noted that according to an informal survey of the 88 county boards of elections, nearly half of voters were required to cast provisional ballots in the last general election because they moved or changed their name and did not notify their board of elections prior to Election Day. This on-line system would make it easier for Ohioans to keep their information up-to-date so they can vote a regular ballot on Election Day.

Improving Casting and Counting of Provisional Ballots
Provisional ballots are required under federal law and are an important safeguard for verifying the validity of ballots cast. Provisional ballots commonly are given to those who have not updated their voting information, failed to provide identification at the polls or to those who may have already voted absentee or in another precinct. It is important to note that in the 2010 election, of the 105,000 provisional ballots cast, 90 percent were counted. Nearly half of the remaining 10 percent were not counted because these individuals were not eligible Ohio voters – just what the system is designed to catch. It's the remaining small but important five percent that have caused confusion and controversy. While recognizing that there will always be a need for provisional ballots and that in high-turnout elections, the provisional ballot count will inevitably increase, Secretary Husted is proposing changes for now and in the future to reduce errors on the front-end and help ensure more valid provisional ballots are counted.

Ohio law provides that ballots cast in the wrong precinct are not eligible to be counted. Husted wants to deploy new technology that could help get voters to the correct precinct. In addition to making it easier for voters to keep their information up-to-date through on-line registration, Secretary Husted also wants the authority to certify electronic poll books, technology which would allow poll workers access to county-wide voter information rather than relying up on the printed, precinct-based paper poll books and maps. This additional information would assist them in helping voters on Election Day, including directing them to the correct precinct and ensuring they use the appropriate ballot style.

On the counting front, Secretary Husted would require absentee voters and those voting provisionally to provide all nine digits of their Social Security numbers rather than the last four under existing law (or an Ohio drivers' license or state identification number). The complete number provides boards of elections a much better chance of verifying the validity of the ballot.

More Accurate Statewide Voter Database
Secretary Husted is also looking for authority to enhance and develop a more centralized Statewide Voter Database to easily cross check voter information files against the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Ohio Department of Health, Social Security death files, Ohio Department of Job & Family Services and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Corrections. This enhanced infrastructure would also allow Secretary Husted to pursue agreements for data sharing with other states to better track voters who move from one state to the other, preserving the one person - one vote principle. A number of other states are already sharing data as a way to better ensure the integrity of their voter rolls. Secretary Husted would like Ohio to be part of that effort.

Uniform Statewide Early Voting Standards
No-fault absentee voting by mail and in-person (early voting) has made it easier than ever for Ohioans to exercise their right to vote; however, different counties have different standards and varying resources for administering early voting. Secretary Husted is proposing statewide standards to govern this process.

Husted's proposal would set the window for absentee voting at 21 days by mail and 16 days in-person prior to Election Day. All boards of elections would be required to be open for a few hours on the two Saturdays within the in-person voting period and to be closed on Sundays. In order to give boards of elections time to update their poll books and voter rolls prior to Election Day, all in-person absentee voting would end the Friday before the election. Because the deadline for voter registration would remain at 30 days before the election, these new timeframes for absentee voting would effectively eliminate the so-called "golden week," an unintended consequence of Ohio law, where voters have been able to register and vote on the same day, bypassing important safeguards in the system. Husted's proposal would not change the voting period for military voters, which is, and would remain 45 days. Additionally, county boards of elections would no longer be able to solicit absentee ballot participation by mailing applications to all voters and from paying the return postage on applications or voted ballots.

"A well-run system of elections requires the right balance between voter access and accuracy, and I believe the changes I am proposing will go a long way to help achieve that balance," Secretary Husted said. "However, no law change can ever replace the most important factor in making elections run smoothly -- the responsibility of the voters to do their part."

This includes: 1) Registering to vote 30 days prior to the election and keeping their information current; 2) Knowing their polling place and correct precinct, and 3) Remembering to bring identification with them to the polls."

Secretary Husted will work with legislators in coming weeks to draft his proposals into bill form for consideration by the full General Assembly.

Click here to read the Ready 2012 Fact Sheet (PDF)