Ohio Governor Counters Recession with $1.7B Economic Stimulus Proposal

Responding to a statewide economic downturn, Gov. Ted Strickland announced two major TBED initiatives, injecting more than $1 billion into job creation and offering a free year of tuition at Ohio public universities for high school seniors.

 

During his State of the State Address last week, Gov. Strickland outlined his Building Ohio Jobs proposal, a $1.7 billion stimulus package focusing on the creation of high-quality jobs in the fields of renewable energy and biomedicine. The plan would be financed through bonds, which requires legislative approval. Gov. Strickland asked lawmakers to put the initiative on the ballot for a fall vote, and if approved, funds would be allocated starting next year across the following sectors:

• $250 million in the advanced and renewable energy economy, including solar, wind and clean coal;
• $200 million to establish the Ohio Main Streets Renewal Initiative to spur redevelopment in downtown neighborhoods;
• $200 million in the biomedical industry;
• $150 million for infrastructure projects; and,
• $100 million in bioproducts that use renewable sources to create plastics and other products.

Another $800 million would be distributed to Ohio Public Works Commission and the Ohio Clean Fund.

 

The governor’s Seniors to Sophomores proposal takes aim at high school seniors who meet certain academic requirements, providing them the option to spend their last year of high school taking college courses at a public university, tuition-free. Details of the proposal – including a funding source – have yet to be released.

 

Last month, Gov. Strickland unveiled his fiscal year 2008-09 Budget Reduction plan, which was designed to curtail a projected deficit ranging from $733 million to $1.9 billion. While the plan calls for reductions across many state programs, the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives announced in June are exempt from the cuts. This is especially good news for the Ohio Department of Education, which is slated to receive $12.5 million to create STEM-focused schools and follows a recent announcement that more than $12 million in private funds will be pooled with the state’s money to create the Ohio STEM Learning Network (OSLN).

 

The OSLN is an initiative to launch five regional math and science-based schools, particularly in low-income areas, with the goal of doubling the number of college graduates with degrees in STEM fields and preparing more than 100,000 students over the next 10 years for high-tech jobs. The program will be managed by Battelle, which also will support science and technology programs in other schools across the state.

 

A press release outlining the new proposals is available from the governor’s press office at: http://governor.ohio.gov/News/PressReleases/2008/February2008/News2608/tabid/835/Default.aspx