Following the near collapse the financial markets in the fall of 2008, Dennis was elected by the voters of the 80th District to a majority in the Ohio House of Representatives.  This has been and continues to be a very difficult time for Ohio government.  The national recession, which started with reckless, greedy practices on Wall Street, had extraordinary impacts on families, businesses, and state and local budgets across the country. 

Despite these challenges, Ohio’s General Assembly passed a balanced budget that reduced the size of government and cuts state spending by over $2 billion.  The budget included a series of job-creation measures and investments in education that will help our students compete in an ever-changing, highly competitive global economy. 

We have also maintained our commitment to tax reform by preserving the previous four years of state income tax cuts, but delayed the fifth tax cut of 4.8 percent. Had we not taken action, school districts around the state could have seen 10 and 15 percent cuts for two years.  The delay allowed us to avoid deep and devastating cuts to Ohio schools.

Despite this difficult choice, Ohioans will still pay 16.8 percent less in income tax than they did 5 years ago. According to The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, Ohio is the 10the best state for business tax climate and the best in the Midwest for its public policy climate for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Ohio’s competitive tax structure was cited as one of the key reasons that Ohio was awarded the Governor’s Cup for the third time in a row, recognizing Ohio as the most attractive state in which to locate a business.

• In 2009, we passed a series measures to spark business growth and attract new businesses to Ohio. These measures include the New Markets Tax Credit, the Technology Investment Tax Credit, an expansion of the Rapid Outreach Grants, the Job Creation and Job Retention Tax Credit, and the Film Tax Credit, just to name a few.

• In 2010, we will continue to focus on job creation and recovery from the national recession.  First, we will expand the Ohio Venture Capital Authority, which help increase private investment in Ohio companies.  Ohio private equity investments have outpaced the national average.  These have produced successful efforts to foster innovation in high-growth industries such as healthcare, advanced energy and information technology.

• Additionally in 2010, we voted to renew and expand the Ohio Third Frontier Program. This successful job-generating program has already create over 40,000 new jobs in Ohio, produced a 10 to 1 return on investment for taxpayers and it is fostering growth in new and emerging industries like biomedical equipment, alternative energy and advanced materials. 

• The House passed legislation currently before the Senate to enact common sense regulatory reforms to state regulation, making certain that those who are impacted receive advanced electronic notice and are given an effective opportunity to comment, and requiring that rules pass a series of “common sense tests” (will the rule really work?  is it necessary or duplicative? how much will it cost? what will be the real benefit? should it include an automatic sunset date?).

• The House is currently working on legislation to make the manufacturing of alternative energy equipment as well as the creation of wind and solar farms more attractive to businesses in these fields with their unique challenges in this still new but increasingly important manufacturing sector.

2. Investing in Education to Strengthen Our Economy for Tomorrow

• Education reform was a top priority in 2009. The efforts we made to improve the school funding formula will ensure that, over time, students will have the tools and resources they need to be successful.  We believe that education reform is critical because our students will need a world class education to compete in a globally-competitive economy. These reforms will help to reduce class sizes and strengthen teach training and accountability, among many other positive improvements.  Make no mistake, however, that continued local support of this shared local/state partnership of funding and control will always include a substantial local funding component.  Furthermore, while we will work to see that the reforms are eventually fully funded, that will depend on both future legislatures and an improved economy. 

• In 2009, we were also able to keep college tuition affordable for Ohio families.  Before Gov. Strickland froze college tuition in 2007, tuition rates had averaged annual increases between 9 and 10 percent.  Even under the stress of limited resources, we were still able to maintain our commitment to affordable college education by limiting increases to just 3.5 percent.  Over the last three years, these combine to be the lowest increases in the nation.

• In 2010, we will look to continue our efforts to make college tuition affordable. We are currently working on legislation to make college textbooks more affordable* and explore ways to make ebooks cost-effective and readily available for college students. Higher education is the key to economic prosperity in the knowledge economy and we must continue to improve the quality and affordability of Ohio’s universities.

• Due to the hard work of teachers, administrators and parents, Ohio schools are now ranked 5th in the country according to Education Week.

• Additionally, inn 2010, the Ohio School Funding Advisory Council will began its work.  My hope is that this organization can provide guidance and constructive support for improving Ohio’s education system and fairly address the funding inequities that remain in some school districts in future, projected budgets.

3. Restoring Fiscal Responsibility and Government Accountability

• In 2009, we passed a balanced budget that reduced state spending.  Over the past three years, the state has cut spending by $4.3 billion. Ohio has also dramatically reduced the size of government by cutting nearly 5,000 state employees.  Through these cuts, we have downsized government to its smallest since the days of the Reagan administration.

• In 2009, we have also developed a Budget Planning Commission to help us prepare for what will most certainly be another difficult budget two years from now.  As mentioned, the national recession has had a dramatic impact on state budgets all across the country.  For example, during the post 9/11 recession in 2002, states across the country faced a $27 billion deficit. Today, states are facing a collective deficit of $143 billion. And we expect this number to climb even higher in years to come.

• In 2010, we will work with the budget planning commission to identify ways to align the state’s expenses and revenues so we can continue to provide a balanced budget. However, we will also look at some very significant reforms to improve the responsiveness of Ohio’s elected leaders, which includes a redistricting proposal and comprehensive changes to Ohio’s elections laws.  We are also working on legislation designed to eliminate actual or perceived corruption by prohibitting those entities that do a signification amount of work with the State of Ohio from spending unreported campaign dollars out of their corporate treasuries.

4. Protecting Middle-Class Ohioans During a Tough Economy

• In 2009, we worked on a variety of measures to protect hard working Ohioans during a tough economy.  We fought for creative ways to address the foreclosure crisis by increasing the use of land banks, protecting renters when their landlord goes into foreclosure and worked to stop the scourge of bank walkway properties which act to pull down our neighborhoods and increase costs on local governments.

• We provided better opportunities for families to gain access to low-cost, affordable healthcare by allowing parents the option to include their children under their health insurance policies and supporting the SCHIP program to see that children of low-income families have access to health care today rather than delaying treatment and increasing the costs. 

• In 2010, we are working on a comprehensive review of Ohio’s Domestic Violence laws; and are taking action to outlaw the very dangerous practice of texting while driving; we will continue our work to make government more accountable by taking a close look at the ballot integrity act and restrict contributions from employees to county officials.