Featured Article
Suing Our Way to Prosperity
By Sam Staley, Ph.D.
Few events show the poverty of Ohio's approach to economic development policy than the state's official response to DHL's decision to phase out its airborne freight operations in Ohio. The short term stakes are big - 6,000 jobs in the central Ohio town of Wilmington alone. The long term stakes, however, may be even bigger and cost us even more jobs down the line.Buckeye Voices
In
this week's BuckeyeVoices,
State Rep. Josh Mandel (R-Lyndhurst) joins Buckeye Institute President
David Hansen to discuss his support for special needs vouchers, his
opposition to Gov. Strickland's misguided so-called stimulus bill, and
his support for Rep. John Adam's State Income Tax elimination bill. A
Marine Corps officer who has served two tours of duty in Iraq, Rep.
Mandel also gives his perspective on the progress of the war.
A first term legislator, Rep. Mandel is quickly becoming a steadfast
voice for conservative principles in the Ohio House of Representatives.
The Debt Trap Myth
The
Columbus Dispatch reports,
"Ohio's payday lenders, numbering more than 1,600, have argued that the
new interest rate would drive most of them out of business. Supporters
say lenders trap people in a cycle of debt, where borrowers repeatedly
need new loans to pay off old ones."
In
A Payday Post-Mortem,
Buckeye Institute analyst Marc Kilmer writes, "The idea that payday
lending is the cause of the financial troubles of even a small fraction
of Ohioans is contradicted by a variety of scholarly studies. The real
source of many Ohio workers' economic problems is the state's onerous
tax and regulatory structure. But payday lending has a bad reputation,
so it was easier for [legislators] to legislate based on appearance,
not on substance."
Equity in Education Funding
"Tuesday night, more than 50 people - parents, teachers, activists and elected officials, including State Board of Education member John Bender - squeezed into a Berea High School classroom and had a freewheeling discussion that ranged from testing to taxes. The common theme: Ohio needs a fair and equitable way to pay for public education," according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
In Facts About School Finance in Ohio, Buckeye Institute Education Policy Director Matt Carr writes, "Equity, the ideal of providing more resources for disadvantaged students, is high and continues to increase. School districts with more than half of their student population labeled as disadvantaged spent, on average, roughly $1,500 more per pupil than districts with lower levels of disadvantaged students. In fact, of the 10 highest spending districts, not counting the islands, two are high poverty, inner city school systems -- Dayton and Youngstown. The average spending per pupil in the big eight city school systems is close to $12,000 per pupil, significantly higher than the state average of $8,750."
Getting the Lead (Lawsuit) Out
The Columbus Dispatch reports, "The Rhode Island Supreme Court might have put an end to a Columbus lawsuit intended to hold paint manufacturers financially responsible for cleaning up thousands of homes contaminated with lead paint."
In
Lead Paint Lawsuit is a
Bad Idea, Buckeye Institute Fellow David Owsiany
writes, "At a time when Ohio is struggling to maintain its
manufacturing base, deliberately misusing legal theories like the
public nuisance doctrine in order to impose liability on manufacturers
is the wrong prescription for improved economic growth. Instead of
litigation, Columbus should follow the lead of other cities and states
that engage in aggressive public education campaigns regarding lead
paint and provide incentives and enforcement to get landlords and
owners to properly maintain their buildings."
