So Much Political Power, So Little Policy Progress

Nibbling on the Margins Best Describes the Latest Ohio Budget

Despite having a Republican supermajority in both chambers of the Ohio General Assembly and a Republican Governor, the best that can be said about the just-ended legislative session is that they managed to use that great power to nibble on the margins on a few issues while greatly increasing spending and democratic agenda items such as paid child care and more carve outs for Big Labor. Specifically, on the slightly positive side, Republicans did expand school choice a bit and lowered the state income tax slightly. Ohio, however, remains far from universal school choice in which 100% of state K-12 funds follow the student to that student's educational choice whether it be public, private, parochial, or home schooling (note: Ohio must stop discriminating against homeschoolers—they should get as much funds per pupil as parochial, private, or charter schoolers). The EdChoice scholarships are a start, but Ohio can do much better. Ohio also isn’t close to becoming the tenth state to eliminate the state income tax. Given the sheer power they possess, these meager outcomes simply aren’t much to cheer about no matter what politicians or interest groups claim.

In contrast, Mike DeWine and Jon Husted pushed hard to expand Medicaid and other programs to cover child care. Their argument — not entirely without its merits — is that helping parents cover child care expenses should increase the labor force participation rate as those parents can then work while someone else is paid to watch their children. Now, the comprehensive research is fairly unequivocal that whatever educational benefits are derived from outside-of-the-home child care dissipate by 3rd grade, but the more aggressive behavior that comes with such child care doesn’t go away. Thus, I’m not sure the benefit of more workers is worth the costs our kids will pay for being pushed out of the home by government. I’m certain it isn’t worth creating MORE dependency on government.

If the endgame is more workers, what is the next government program the DeWine-Husted Administration and Republican legislators will push for: buying cars or covering bus fares for Ohioans? After all, the data is pretty strong that many workers lack reliable transportation to and from work, so giving people cars or paying for their transportation costs also should increase the labor force participation rate. Is that where we are headed in Ohio under alleged conservative Republicans? What exactly is the limiting principle to this government largess, or how exactly is it any different than what left-wing progressives like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez have been pushing?

Ohio’s just passed two-year budget came in just over $86 billion. It represents a 10% increase from the last two-year budget. From the 2012-2013 state budget in which Ohio spent $27.9 billion to the 2024-2025 state budget in which Ohio is budgeted to spend $44.7 billion, state spending will have skyrocketed by 60% in twelve years, or roughly 5% per year, at a time in which population growth and inflation were very low (except for inflation the last two years under Joe Biden). Oho’s population only increased by 2% over the last decade IN THE AGGREGATE…an infinitesimal 0.2% per year average. Keep this fact in mind: in your job, a 5% annual raise is likely considered a top pay increase, with 2-3% more the norm. In Ohio, our elected officials (again, alleged conservative Republicans) have essentially giving state government a top pay increase EVERY YEAR FOR TWELVE STRAIGHT YEARS!!!

The simply fact is had Ohio’s supermajority Republican legislature and Republican governors limited spending increases to 2% per year, Ohio could have eliminated the state income tax entirely and that is without assuming ANY economic jolt from becoming America’s 10th income tax free state or in keeping the $7 billion in net lost adjusted gross income from Ohioans who leave for lower/no income tax states. No serious economist believes elimination of the state income tax wouldn’t spur an economic jolt.  

This spending bonanza is precisely why my bold colors agenda comes with the following core policy reforms:

• Freezing state spending for four-years;

• Repealing Medicaid expansion under Obamacare that John Kasich unwisely jammed through; and

• Eliminating Ohio’s state income tax.

While I take some solace that the pressure my bold colors agenda created this legislative session along with my aggressive calling out of the legislature and the DeWine-Husted Administration in speeches, on radio, and over social media resulted in proposed legislation getting farther than past sessions, too many key conservative policies lacked a true statewide leader in Columbus to stop the profligate spending and to get good policies enacted. The $750 million “shovel ready” program is clearly aimed at minimizing my critique of the DeWine-Husted Administration and JobsOhio for neglecting the other 78 counties in favor of the Greater Columbus and Cincinnati areas. Our leaders would be better off focused on broad economic actions like enacting right-to-work, eliminating the state income tax, instituting true regulatory reform, streamlining the burden of 3,700 local taxing entities, and restricting Medicaid to just the core population pre-Obamacare expansion.

Here are other conservative policies that didn’t get done that other states managed to enact:

• Protecting girls in bathrooms, locker rooms, and on the sports pitch;

• Eradicating woke ideology from K-16 classrooms and empowering parents;

• Ensuring minors aren’t fed puberty blockers or subjected to body-altering surgeries.

At the end of the day, my exploratory campaign for governor hinges upon whether the politicians in power today get many of the items on my bold colors agenda done over the next two years, or whether they continue to nibble on the margins with the pale pastels agenda we’ve seen for more than two decades in Ohio, which hasn’t moved Ohio from the back of the pack to the front on the key economic and educational measures. Based on the strong reaction to my speeches across Ohio, Ohioans are yearning for the bold color ideas I’ve been pushing, including these key political reforms:

• Put all legislators, the governor, and the lieutenant governor on pay for performance plans that cuts their pay by 50% and makes them eligible for 100% bonus if Ohio hits the top ten in net percentage job growth (and closing the Husted Loophole that allows statewide elected officials to earn private sector pay while serving);

• Replace term-limits that career politicians have figured out how to evade with a hard 20-year time limit for all legislators and statewide elected officials so that they are barred from remaining in Columbus once their 20-year clock strikes midnight;

• Decentralizing state government outside of Columbus so more of Ohio shares in the wealth of state government and so it becomes staffed by workers more representative of Ohio versus the liberal-progressive enclave of Franklin County; and

• Eliminating JobsOhio and using its funds to build a world-class airport and invest in key infrastructure in other core places across Ohio.

The choice is really quite simple: do you want more of the pale pastel status quo that manages Ohio’s decline, or do you want the bold colors agenda that reinvigorates Ohio and drives it to the top? If you want the former, Jon Husted and Dave Yost will certainly take your vote, as they won’t touch most of the items on my agenda. If, however, you crave the latter, then I respectfully suggest to you that I am your man. 

ICYMI: My latest spin on the Bruce Hooley Show where we talk tracking down the cokehead in the White House and Ohio's blowout record 2-year budget that does too little given how much power Republicans hold in Columbus: https://omny.fm/shows/thebrucehooleyshow/tbhs-07-06-23-seg-3-guest-matt-mayer

See the pictures below for upcoming speeches across Ohio. To get your county scheduled, email Lizzie at MAYER4GOVERNORADMIN@proton.me.