Mount Vernon News
 
 

Kasich discusses jobs while in Mount Vernon

Ohio Governor John Kasich addressed the public at Sips Coffee House on Monday afternoon after a planned visit earlier that day at Ariel Corp. Topics the governor addressed before answering questions included job creation, education, taxes, shale drilling and others. Kasich was introduced at the public meeting by local State Representative Margaret Ann Ruhl, at right.
Ohio Governor John Kasich addressed the public at Sips Coffee House on Monday afternoon after a planned visit earlier that day at Ariel Corp. Topics the governor addressed before answering questions included job creation, education, taxes, shale drilling and others. Kasich was introduced at the public meeting by local State Representative Margaret Ann Ruhl, at right. (Photo by Alan Reed)

By ,  Mount Vernon News
March 20, 2012 10:35 am EDT

 

  • Share
  • Print
  • E-mail

MOUNT VERNON — “Ohio is the No. 1 job creating state in the Midwest and fifth in the United States,” Gov. John Kasich told a crowd of about 40 to 50 people at Sips Coffee House on Monday afternoon. Jobs were the main topic of the session, although he also touched on education, highway infrastructure needs, taxes, more efficient government, the environmental impact of shale drilling and the success of Ohio teams in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Kasich was in town to meet with officials at Ariel Corp. and had planned to meet with the Rolls-Royce plant manager, but he was out of town.

Kasich said that the state’s bond rating had recently been upgraded, which is good news, and although unemployment has dropped to 7.7 percent, “we’re still in a deep hole,” Kasich said. “We can’t relax.”

He didn’t break any new ground, but bounced from issue to issue, promoting the policies his administration has been pushing.

One of those is a severance tax on gas and oil products produced in Ohio, which he recently proposed, but which has been criticized by some Republicans in the General Assembly.

“I’m confident my Republican colleagues will eventually see how this tax would be beneficial,” he said. He explained that his administration has studied what is done in other states and what he is proposing would provide money to all citizens with a cut in the state income tax.

The citizens of Ohio, he said, should benefit from the gas and oil being extracted from the state. “Either Ohioans benefit or they will take the money they make home.”

The tax, he explained, would be competitive with other states, so it would not put a damper on the development of the resource. Ohio’s current tax is only 20 cents per barrel of oil and $2.62 per million cubic feet of natural gas. There is no separate tax on natural gas liquids.

He acknowledged people’s concerns about fracking and other environmental issues related to drilling, but emphasized that “We’re not going to sacrifice the environment for jobs; we can have both.”

photo gallery
For the full story, click here for the March 20, 2012 e-edition. The article will only be available for thirty (30) days.
Contact Chuck Martin
Email
Rules: Please keep your comments smart and civil. Don’t attack other commenters personally and keep your language decent.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.