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by Amy Beth Graves

Gov. Bob Taft met privately with Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) board members recently to ask for their support of tax reform, the state budget and his Third Frontier initiative.

Taft met with Farm Bureau board members before releasing his State of the State address Feb. 8.

Also addressing board members on Jan. 26 was Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell and the head of a task force examining ways to reform Ohio’s Medicaid system.

OFBF Executive Vice President Jack Fisher and others said the governor appeared eager to address board members, who asked several questions about state spending, Medicaid and agriculture.

"He was a bit worked up – it was a good sign, that he wanted to do well," Fisher said. "He was pretty committed to having a dialogue with the board and responded well to their questions."

During his speech, Taft praised Farm Bureau for being "one of the strongest and most consistent voices for common sense in state government." Several of the issues that the governor talked about were ones that Farm Bureau has expressed concern about, including state spending, escalating Medicaid costs and Ohio’s tax system.

First and foremost, Taft said Ohio needs to reform its tax system because it has become "a roadblock to economic development." He said that to pay for such an overhaul would require cutting state spending and possibly increasing the sin tax.

"Our goal is to bring down the overall tax burden. The rate of spending has got to come down," he said.

The governor talked at length about reviving his Third Frontier bond issue. In 2003, voters rejected the ballot proposal, which would have authorized the state to issue $500 million in bonds to help attract high-technology industries in Ohio.

OFBF opposed the measure because it felt other steps to strengthen Ohio's business climate should precede further state borrowing for new initiatives. Since then, Ohio has passed a tort reform bill and appears to be ready to tackle its spending and tax system problems, said Rocky Black, OFBF director of legislative affairs.

"I really believe that Third Frontier can help create new uses for Ohio commodities. To survive and thrive, we need to innovate," said Taft, who noted that many of new leaders of the 126^th General Assembly support bringing back the bond issue.

OFBF will look carefully at the latest Third Frontier proposal before deciding its position, Fisher said.

"The status quo is not acceptable," Fisher said.

Reign in Medicaid costs was Taft’s answer to OFBF Treasurer Jeff Zellers’ question on how the governor planned to cut costs. Taft’s goal is to limit the growth rate of Medicaid spending to 4 percent – two-thirds less than what analysts project it will grow by in 2006 if changes aren’t made.

"Over the next six months, we absolutely have to get Medicaid spending under control," said Jennifer Carlson, executive director of the Ohio Commission to Reform Medicaid.

Carlson told board members about the commission’s proposal for transforming Medicaid in Ohio, including measures to reduce Medicaid waste and fraud and control pharmaceutical costs. Carlson noted that Ohio could save millions of dollars by using generic drugs. You can read more about the Medicaid issue in Fisher's column on page 4.

Other changes that the governor said were needed included:

• Limiting state spending, possibly with a constitutional amendment.
• Phasing out equipment taxes.
• Changing the state’s corporate income tax system.
• Continuing to reform workers’ compensation.

Taft closed his remarks by asking the board for its support.

"We really want your input, your advice and we definitely want your support," he said. "We want to continue to work with you to make sure farming and agriculture remain strong."

Later in the day, Blackwell talked to board members about his proposal to have a constitutional amendment that would limit the growth of state spending to inflation plus population growth. If voters passed such a measure, state spending couldn’t be increased unless at least two-thirds of the General Assembly agreed, followed by a majority vote of Ohioans.

Blackwell criticized lawmakers for spending like "drunken sailors" and imposing temporary solutions to keep the budget balanced, such as the 1-cent sales tax that expires in June. He said Ohio is in an "economic death spiral."

"I don’t deal with the constitution lightly," Blackwell said. "We need to force legislators to find new ways of doing business."

Fisher praised Blackwell for being so committed to trying to curb state spending and noted that it will be a "very difficult political fight" to get lawmakers to back the constitutional amendment.

Having Taft and Blackwell talk privately with Farm Bureau members shows they understand "the importance of rural Ohio and the agricultural community to policy debate in Ohio," Black said.

Caption: Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell answers a question by OFBF President Bob Peterson.

Caption: OFBF Executive Vice President Jack Fisher (c) and board member Eric Wolfer (r) listen as Gov. Bob Taft addresses the board.