MOUNT VERNON — U.S. Rep. Zack Space says he is proud of his legislative accomplishments during his first year in Congress but feels there is much more work to be done.
Space, Ohio-18, visited Mount Vernon during a tour of the district on Thursday. During the past year, he said he focused on promoting job growth in the district, fighting for veteran’s benefits, and developing initiatives to encourage companies to develop broadband infrastructure, particularly in rural areas.
Space said the cultivation of economic growth in the district has been another major focus of his efforts in his first year as congressman. He said he was very proud to have fought to bring a manufacturing plant to Morgan County, a plant that could have been located in Wisconsin. In the next few years, ABC manufacturing will provide 200 jobs to the people in the county.
Space said he worked with company and county officials as well as representatives from the Ohio Department of Development and helped coordinate meetings with all the parties. In the end, the company decided to locate in Morgan County.
“That was so fundamentally important for a county that is one of the most (economically) depressed counties in this district,” Space said.
He said the new plant will allow for 200 new jobs that pay about $18 an hour, which will help increase the local tax base and have benefits for the entire community and begin a process of moving in the right direction. Space said, through his efforts to attract the company to invest in Morgan County, he learned that it is vitally important to have a positive attitude when working on such projects and to believe that you can achieve the goal.
Asked about the possibilities of a county like Knox County getting a new manufacturing plant, Space said has his eyes wide open, his antenna up, and is ready to jump at such an opportunity.
“I have a special relationship with Knox County,” he said. “I spent four years here (as a student at Kenyon College).”
Space said he has been very active on the House oversite committee and has been vocal in demanding accountability at the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. There is some evidence of unscrupulous practices in the way funding for veterans is administered at the department. Ohio is dead last in terms of the number of veterans who receive disability for veterans. Space held an investigative hearing into state-by-state disability pay discrepancies and is pushing for a new medical facility for veterans in Southeastern Ohio. He said he wants to continue to work to make sure veterans, who have made great sacrifices for the country, receive the health care and benefits they deserve.
Space recently announced his rejection of the findings of a feasibility study by the Veterans Administration that suggests that veterans in Southeastern Ohio do not need another VA facility, adding that he would do all he could to help bring greater medical care to more than 60,000 veterans who live in the 18th District.
Space said improving the broadband infrastructure to provide high-speed Internet access to the district, particularly in rural areas, is vitally important.
“It’s not a passing fad,” he said. “It’s much like electricity was in the 1920s and 1930s.”
Space said broadband access has implications for healthcare, education and the economy. His Connect the Nation Act and broadband initiatives in the farm bill will help encourage companies to develop broadband in the district.
Space said he pushed to have millions of dollars awarded to develop dedicated healthcare provider networks to better serve patients through telemedicing, which is the sharing of patient record sharing, diagnosing and consultation at a distance through broadband technology. He said better broadband access can also help in education by giving extra opportunities to earn college degrees, and companies are also more likely to invest in areas with a strong broadband infrastructure.
Helping to eliminate the so-called “phantom tax” levied against those who have fallen victim to foreclosure is another legislative accomplishment that Space takes pride in. The so-called phantom tax forces individuals to pay income tax when a portion of their mortgage loan is forgiven after a short sale or as part of a foreclosure. The state of Ohio ranks in the top three states in the nation of families who have lost their homes to foreclosure. He said having to pay this tax is added injury to families caught up in the foreclosure crisis.
“This is not a solution but can help mitigate the problem,” he said. “The foreclosure crisis, while caused in part to unsavory lending practices, reflects economic conditions as well. It’s important to be mindful that there is a lot of work to be done to improve the economy.”
Space said he has worked hard to restore trust to his position and to bring a high ethical standard to the House. But, he added, many still have a negative view of members Congress because of past corruption.
“You can’t unring a bell,” he said, alluding to ethical transgressions of some former members of Congress, including his predecessor.
Space said he was proud to be able to give a speech on ethics on the House floor early in his stint as representative. On his first day, Space’s rule change to ban gifts, travel and meals from lobbyists passed the House. The legislation was later signed by the president. He said he is pushing for an independent body that will monitor ethics in Congress and take a step towards removing political considerations from the ethics review process.
Other legislative accomplishments he cites include:
•Increased funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission to its highest level in a decade — $73 million.
•Fought to stem the tide of illegal immigration. He said he co-sponsored the SAVE Act, that would increase security along the U.S.-Mexico border and crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
•Sponsored legislation to make sure rural Head Start programs have the same advantages as ones in urban areas. He said Head Start students in rural area often have difficulties accessing Head Start facilities that students in urban do not have.
Asked whether he thought there was anything he could have done better, Space said he is very self-critical and is always thinking of ways to improve his job performance. He said, relatively recently, he has become aware of poverty in the district and realized also that there are real steps that can be taken to combat that poverty.
“A growing number of people are utterly impoverished, for reasons beyond their control,” he said. “Men and women who survive by working minimum wage jobs.”
One step he said he has taken is to sponsor tax deductions for companies who make donations of food to soup kitchens. Space said people in the 18th District are more likely to be impoverished than to have a college education, adding that his goal is help ensure children here receive a good education and are able to get a good job and stay here. He cites proposed legislation he authored that encourages high school juniors and seniors to take college courses at local community college to get a taste of higher education in the hopes that they will continue their education after they graduate. Space said he also co-sponsored legislation to reduce the interest rate on college loans.
“I like to think that my children can go to college and come back to the area, be able to get a good job and be close,” he said. “But, sadly, there is a generational trend, a brain drain, that effects us culturally. The best and brightest leave the area.”
He said he wants to continue to work to help bring new jobs to the area, explore renewable and alternative energy possibilities, and to improve the educational infrastructure in efforts to counteract this trend and improve the quality of life in the district.
