RSS
Home
Will news of mass layoffs in Ohio soften meetings with Strickland, lawmakers and casino backers?
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
As thousands more Ohio workers lost their jobs over the past three months, will Gov. Ted
Strickland and top legislators work with or oppose casino backers who promised building four
casinos in the state's four biggest cities would produce 34,000 jobs? (Photo/John Michqel
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Maybe the grim news Tuesday that 12,533 Ohioans lost jobs during the 3rd Quarter will cause Gov. Ted Strickland and two of Ohio's top lawmakers to be more helpful in facilitating the creation of 34,000 jobs Issue 3 touted if passed rather than being difficult or even hostile as some lawmakers who opposed the ballot issue said they would do going forward, when casino backers come calling today.
Information released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today said mass job cuts -- defined by 50 or more workers -- jumped more than 20 percent from a year earlier and were up 49 percent in the same period from 2008. For Ohio, today's numbers show that 12,533 Ohio workers no longer have a job, a 23 percent from 10,187 a year earlier.
The Buckeye State posted the nation's 6th highest total loss of jobs for Q3. It's rising unemployment rate, which dipped recently, remains in double digits (10.1%). The signing by President Barack Obama last Friday of a $24 billion bill that included the extension of jobless benefits for unemployed workers is good news indeed.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Square today, Gov. Ted Strickland, House Speaker Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) and Senate President Bill Harris (R-Ashland) are scheduled to meet with Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Tim Wilmott, president and chief operating officers of Penn National Gaming, two key people behind the pro-casino (Issue 3) Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan.
Ohioans, by a margin of 53-47 percent, approved Issue 3 on Election Day. The Ohio General Assembly must now pass implementing legislation within six months. Included in this bill will be a 12-member Casino Control Commission. Issue 3 authorized the building of one casino each in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo.
Some lawmakers, like Cincinnati Republican Lou Blessing, a co-chairman of the campaign opposing Issue 3, and Clyde Evans from Appalachia Ohio, are already rattling their legislative sabers, promising to put another constitutional amendment on the ballot next year that would correct the weaknesses they said were written into Issue 3 by Gilbert and gaming interests that would give them a constitutionally sanctioned monopoly. Even some mainstream media political reporters, who are supposed to be neutral on such issues but who clearly took sides before the election, continue to accelerate the fires of resentment over the passage of Issue 3 by challeneging state lawmakers to fight "the imposition" of the casinos.
While the news that even more Ohioans have been cut loose from their jobs, the realization by many economists that everyone should expect similar news going forward is the kind of news Ohio officials do not want to hear but will likely be forced to deal with for many months to come.
Should the economy start to add jobs in November, which few market watchers predict, the 2009 recovery would already be one of weakest in history for job creation, according to the well-respected financial Web site, Calculated Risk.
The recovery following the 2001 recession, CR reported, was the worst for job creation, with the bottom for employment happening in August 2003, 21 months after the official end of the recession. By many measurements, the 2009 recovery could be labeled a "job less" recovery.
Whether Ohioans feel the economy and their lives are improving by next fall will play a major role in whether Strickland will hold on for a second term or whether his GOP challenger, John Kasich, can swoop in to claim the governor's office based on promises to improve the economy versus Strickland's years as state CEO, when unemployment doubled, revenues disappointed and Ohio drifted in sympathy with a souring national economy.
Follow me on Twitter @ohionewsbureau. Read more stories on people, politics and government in Ohio here.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
