Ohio's State of the State 2008

Samantha Torrence for Digital Journal - Thursday marked the day when Ohio Governor Ted Strickland outlined in the State of the State Address a $1.7 billion economic stimulus package meant to be a catalyst for job growth and security for Ohioans. The stimulus package labeled Building Ohio Jobs is projected to provide 80,000 jobs to Ohio, investments in renewable and clean energy, greater education opportunities, and improved infrastructure.

Through issuing bonds, the plan will invest:

• $250 million in the advanced and renewable energy economy, including solar, wind and clean coal.

• $150 million in our state’s infrastructure to help create a seamless network of roads, rails, and ports to support our logistics and distribution industry.

• $100 million in bioproducts that use renewable sources instead of petroleum to create plastics and other products.

• $200 million in the biomedical industry, saving lives by fueling Ohio’s leadership in new medical products.

• $200 million establishing the Ohio Main Streets Renewal Initiative to spur redevelopment in downtown neighborhoods in our cities and towns.

• $400 million in the Clean Ohio fund, to advance our efforts to reclaim brownfields and other damaged lands and preserve farm land and open spaces.

• $400 million in the Ohio Public Works Commission to help our local partners with road, bridge, water and sewer projects. These are projects that spur growth in our cities and towns and Ohio as a whole.

Apollo Alliance is in favor of bringing jobs and clean energy to Ohio. In their Flickr photo stream they have maps highlighting the prime area's for this type of development. Also in the plan the Chancellor of Education, Eric D. Fingerhut was also called forth to put forward a 10 year plan to stimulate higher education opportunities for Ohioans. In his response to the State of the State Address, Fingerhut expressed motivation to have all aspects of the Governor's plan by March 31, 2008. These plans include:

•Seniors to Sophomores Initiative, (which) directs the Chancellor to give every twelfth grader who meets the academic requirements a choice of spending their senior year in their home high school, or spending it on a University System of Ohio campus. Tuition would be free.

•Bachelor’s Degree Offered within 30 Miles of Every Ohioan that will make available Bachelors degrees in high demand fields to all applicable Ohioans.

The main education goal is to make sure if any Ohioan desires higher education that they can afford it. Ohio's economy has suffered slowly since the backbone of the economy, factory jobs, have pulled out of the state and relocated to other states and countries. A slight influx of jobs in telemarketing has kept Ohio's recession from reaching an all out depression, but without some sort of stimulus the death throws of the state can be seen in the future. In the State of the State, Gov. Strickland, proudly announced a myriad of new jobs becoming available to the state through tax initiatives and grants. Avon plans on moving a distribution center to Zanesville which will bring in 500 jobs. Cleveland’s Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center is projected to create hundreds of more jobs. Gov. Strickland also outlined the successes of Ohio's education system. The state ranked 7th out of 50 on Education Week's report card. The National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that Ohio ranked in the top 10 in all four of its measures. However, Ohio does have room for improvement when it comes to affordability of its Bachelors degree programs, it ranked in the top 10 most expensive in the United States. The Building Ohio's Jobs plan is not without its critics. House Speaker Jon Husted and Senate President Bill Harris raised concerns about borrowing $1.7 billion and that may the state cannot prosper in debt. They also question the number of jobs proposed can actually be met. While the Ohio Congress does plan on an economic stimulus package, it may not be similar to Gov. Strickland's.