Joe Uecker

State Representative

06/15/05

This week I will write about two distinct yet connected topics. The first, and more exciting, is a follow up to the antics on the Senate floor two weeks ago that Senator Tom Niehaus wrote about.  The second topic will surround the new state budget proposal.

Two weeks ago, Senator Tom Niehaus wrote in his column about some hyjincs on the Senate floor during the budget debates.  No, I wasn’t there, but I was in my office watching the rather disgraceful behavior of some of the Senators.  I watched as the Senate President, Bill Harris, had to gavel several times to try to bring order while Senator Robert Hagan (D. Youngstown) ranted and raved about his perception of the budget bill that they were about to vote on. At one point, President Harris called for the Democrat minority leader, Senator C. J. Prentiss (D. Cleveland) to try to get control of her party then when that didn’t work, he had to threatened to have the Senator removed from the chambers by the Sergeant-at-Arms.  What a circus show, but the best what yet to come!

Later that evening, I watched on my office computer (which by the way, everyone has access to watch any session of the House or the Senate from your home computer by attaching to the internet at http://www.ogtv.org ) as Senator Marc Dann (D. Warren) continued where Senator Hagen left off.  I was absolutely ashamed and embarrassed to see such unprofessional and at times personal attacks on other members of the Senate. Senators had to be admonished by the Senate President for improperly addressing other members of the Senate in inappropriate manners.

It was around 11:30pm when finally President Harris called on the final person wishing to be recognized, Senator C. J. Prentiss (D. Cleveland).  Senator Prentiss began to outline everything that was wrong with the budget bill from her party’s point of view.  It was a long speech often marked with flowery words and ornate gestures.  Senator Prentiss literally paced back and forth preaching and quoting Holy Scripture, most notably, Mathew 23, “Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? Jesus replied, ”I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”  This was in response to the cutbacks the Republican controlled Senate proposed in the budget bill.

It was at this time of the evening, around 11:45pm that I jumped up to throw on my tie to run over to the Senate Chamber. I wanted to thrust a piece of paper into the hands of any nearby Senator with the words from Matthew 22, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.”  My point being that I felt it unbelievably contradictory and with blatant irony that the party that cries loudest for the separation of church and state is the party that was on the Ohio Statehouse Senate Chamber quoting Holy Scripture.  Just as I was grabbing my suit coat, the Senator sat down and President Harris quickly called for the roll call vote.  The three ring circus was over and I had missed my chance at verbal insurrection.

And now, onto my second theme. Many of you may have heard by now of a lot of changes in the State budget that was originally proposed by the Governor. I am happy to find out that it appears the budget geeks in Columbus were able to work with some better revenue numbers that the House had to work with and it looks like the Local Government Fund is being fully funded. This means the cuts that were being proposed to the county, cities, villages, townships and libraries are being removed from the budget. They will all be funded at the 2005 limit. The budget conference committee which is made up of members of the House and the Senate, together with the Governor’s Office, are meeting each week until the differences are ironed out and we can all vote on one unified budget.  I am told this should only take about two to three weeks.  I hope to have more information during this coming week and will share more insights with you all next week.

(Uecker Guest Column June 15_2005)

Joe Uecker

State Representative

Ohio’s 66 District

Representing Batavia, Goshen, Miami and Union Townships as well as the Cities of Loveland and Milford and the Villages of Batavia and Amelia.(614) 466-8134

District Office (513)-248-2565

Website: www.JoeUecker.com

Email: Joe@JoeUecker.com