Current Ohio Governor John Kasich promised the people of Ohio a “new day” when running for his current position despite inheriting an $8 billion shortfall and an economy losing 350,000 jobs.
Kasich’s agenda, combining fiscal prudence and an emphasis on measurable outcomes, however, has delivered on his promise. Without raising taxes, Kasich turned the $8 billion deficit into a surplus while adding a $1.5 billion budget reserve and improving the state’s credit outlook.
In addition to $3 billion in tax cuts and a regulatory overhaul, Kasich helped in the creation of a pro-growth climate that has added 160,000 new private sector jobs and reduced unemployment from 9 percent to just over 7 percent.
Kasich has also led efforts to restructure the Medicaid program through the utilization of more coordinated and community-based care, as well as education reforms, including special efforts for Cleveland and Columbus advanced in partnership with the Democratic mayors of those cities, and a call for higher education to spend money more intelligently and respond more quickly to job-training needs.
Additionally, Kasich has leveraged profits from Ohio’s turnpikes to close a $1.6 billion highway budget deficit and add dozens of new road projects that will pay dividends for the state’s infrastructure.
“Based on a friendship of nearly three decades, none of these achievements come as a surprise to me,” Tim penny, the president and CEO of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation and a Democratic congressman representing the 1st District of Minnesota from 1983 to 1995, said in a recent Ripon Forum editorial. “I have always known John Kasich to be focused on getting things done. Most politicians are content to tinker around the edges or offer symbolic solutions – and often flee at the first sign of opposition. John is impatient with the status quo, however, and willing to take on the tough issues – and that sets him apart. John’s style may seem at times intense or even brash, but I came to learn – as Ohioans are now learning – that his intensity stems from a passion to do the right thing and help solve tough problems.
“Here is something else I have always known about John. Though a highly successful Republican leader, John is not afraid to reach across the aisle to get things done. He is more than willing to partner with Democrats when common ground can be found. While in Congress, I observed and admired John as he tag-teamed with liberal California Congressman Ron Dellums to limit the B-2 bomber. Then…he partnered with me on the Penny-Kasich budget. More significantly, when chairing the U.S. House Budget Committee, he partnered with President Clinton to produce the first balanced budgets in three decades.”
Kasich’s bipartisanship has allowed him, as governor, to enlist support for school reforms, expand efforts to combat drug and alcohol addiction, and ease the ability of felons to re-enter the workforce. He has also won praise from Democrats by support the expansion of Medicaid to cover more low income families.
“President Reagan found common ground with Democrats on a range of issues – saving Social Security, simplifying the tax code, enacting immigration reform – while still adhering to principle. Similarly, John is not afraid to partner with other people of goodwill whenever possible and when it makes sense,” Penny said. “His ambition and passion is to get things done that need doing. It all adds up to leadership that is making a positive difference for the people of Ohio and an example from which Washington could learn a thing or two.”