And here we go...

...back to the budget.

John Carey (R-94th district): We are going to have to make cuts, but we need to decide what sacrifices are the least painful. As a result of this election we have a mandate to cut - Schools need to prepare for a 10-15% cut...

J. Pary Sabety (Director Ohio Office of Budget Management): We are on a sound fiscal course - to end the suspense, let me tell you where we are today: over the biennium we are absolutely on track and our economy is making progress. There are no secrets. When we began this administration (Strickland and two years ago) we had a mix of bad (red) yellow (caution) and green (good). Now we are all green with one yellow... our revenue is on track. We have been doing well since September 2010, solid. We are moving out of the recession which we were in 2008-2009... started to improve in January 2010. We are turning over an economy and tax system that is starting to perform well. Pink slips aren't flying the way they were. Ohio unemployment down 6 mos. in a row, one of only 8 states that can say that.
In January of 2011 jobs should start to pick up. This will, however, be at a slow pace. Traffic growth on turnpike has been 5.6%... meaning more trucks are on the road. Moody bond rating said that After months of recession, Ohio is back on path to recovery. This administration is handing over a stronger economy to this new administration.
Vernon Sykes (D-44th district): Chair House Finance and Appropriations Committee
I am proud of what we did ~ we only wanted to prop up the budget for a short term with one-time money to make sure that all had access to the services they need. And I am glad to say this is working. We are above expected revenues and below expected expenses. It is unfortunate, though, that this was not fast enough for the election. I teach at Kent State University - usually an election is a report card on how we are doing - but I am proud of our accomplishments. I am hopeful that before the end of this month we can make some recommendations to the new general assembly. Now you know, people trust us to govern - but we shouldn't misuse that trust by keeping them out of the process. I sponsored the open meeting legislation - but now we are going back to closed meetings. We need transparency. I am hopeful that in this coming session we will have media advocacy to open up the finance committee. Some of my colleagues feel it is impossible to make some decisions with public scrutiny, and it is difficult, but I am hoping that we can have that transparency.