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Joe
Uecker
State
Representative
05/21/07
Celebrations and Budgets:
This past Saturday our nation celebrated Armed Forces
Day. I has been 57 years since President Harry Truman
signed the bill that joined separate days celebrating
those in the Air Force, Army, and Navy. I for one
believe it is a holiday woefully under-celebrated. Then
President Truman praised the work of the military and
said “it is vital to the security of the nation and to
the establishment of a desirable peace”. Armed Forces
Day was the first showing of a unified “team” of defense
consisting of the various military branches. The first
celebration in 1950 held in Washington D.C. was a
spectacular extravaganza. Over 10,000 troops of all the
branches of the military paraded pass the President. In
New York, over 33,000 participants with a fly by of over
250 military aircraft were involved. This is truly a
day to acknowledge and honor the men and women of the
United States Armed Forces. If you didn’t remember it
this year, mark it on your calendar for next year. I
have a son and a daughter who are both Captains in the
U.S. Air Force. They both got phone calls from Dad.
Speaking of phone calls, I have received a number of
calls regarding the progress of the state budget. Many
of you are either involved with the many aspects that at
$52 billion budget touches, or are just concerned on
what you may have heard your tax dollars are planned to
be spent on.
Over the past few months, members of the
Finance and Appropriations Committee, as well as other
members of the Legislature listened to testimony and
examined proposals related to House Bill 119, the
proposed budget for the next two years. The House
version of the budget contains $52.1 billion in spending
on education, state agencies and departments and
services such as Medicaid.
My colleagues and I worked to ensure
that money was properly distributed to meet the needs of
our state while at the same time limiting the growth of
our budget to save taxpayers from wasteful government
spending. In doing so, we were able to cut more than
$775 million in spending from the Governor’s proposed
legislation while still maintaining our commitment to
schools, universities, colleges and health care.
Details on several of the budget
initiatives can be found in my newsletter on my website.
As your state representative, one of my goals is to keep
you informed about what is happening here in Columbus,
and my newsletter and website are two ways for me to do
just that. I hope you find it useful.
As we approach the Memorial Day weekend
with its many picnics and celebrations, I did want to
mention a program being run in Clermont County, the
“Safe Communities” program. Funded by the Ohio
Department of Public Safety, its goal is to work with
community groups and law enforcement to reduce traffic
fatalities in Clermont County. Under the general
direction of the County Department of Health and
coordinated by Martha Enriquez, they have identified
several common causes of traffic fatalities. Not
surprising, the first being speed. Over 40% of
fatalities were caused by excessive speed. The second
most common cause of auto fatalities, driving off the
road, mostly due to driving inattention. The third most
common cause for fatalities, failing to leave a proper
amount a space between you and the car in front. I was
at a meeting recently where Martha and OSP Post
Commander Lt. McElfresh made a presentation of their
program. If you get a chance, check them out at the
Board of Health website at
“www.clermonthealthdistrict.org” under “Programs” and
“Safe Communities”.
As always, if there are any additional comments you
would like to make, or questions to ask, please feel
free to contact me.
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.
Columbus Phone:
614-466-8134
Local Phone:
513-532-0912
Email:
Joe@JoeUecker.com
Website:
http://JoeUecker.com |
