Ohio Budget; Help Cut Spending in Ohio

Dear Patriots,

As the budget process in Ohio moves forward we want to share some areas where the grassroots groups in Ohio can try to make an impact. Below is a detailed outline on how your group & members can get involved in the process & immediately make an impact.

While many are concentrating on Governor Kasich's proposed budget, we must understand this is only a spending wish list of what Kasich wants from the Ohio Legislature.  We have a choice of stomping our feet over Kasich's requests or we can inject ourselves in the actual budget process as it moves forward.

The Ohio House is in the process of conducting budget hearings on HB 64 (Main Operating Budget FY2016 - FY2017) and will put forth a budget of their own. This is an area where we can inject ourselves and have an immediate impact. As part of this process, Sub Committee's of the OH House Finance Committee are conducting hearings on the requested budgets for the State Boards & Commissions in our state.

There are over 500 State Boards & Commission!  

The Main Operating Budget FY2016 - FY2017 is HB 64   (https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA131-HB-64)

 

 Your researching the funding and playing an active role in the Boards & Commissions funding process will be welcomed and great help to many of the elected conservative's serving in Columbus. 

Attached in this email are two (2) links to get started and a sign up sheet (http://goo.gl/forms/tHxvn4S0Kv)

The first link is for all the State Board & Commissions in Ohio.  In the document, it will list the purpose of the Board/Commission, how many members and how they are funded.  Not all receive funding. (Be aware - the number of boards & commissions we have is staggering!)

http://www.lsc.ohio.gov/boards/boards&commissions.pdf

The second link is the proposed Executive Budget (Kasich's Wish List)

http://blueprint.ohio.gov/doc/budget/State_of_Ohio_Budget_Recommendations_FY-16-17.pdf

Sign up sheet (http://goo.gl/forms/tHxvn4S0Kv)

In Section D of Kasich "Wish List" you will find a list of State Departments, Boards & Commissions with a corresponding page that will list previous funding & proposed funding.  

Below is an example for the Ohio Arts Council (Pg. D-50)....

Funding Recommendation for 2016 and 2017

 • GRF: Funding for fiscal year 2016 is $12.0 million (or a 5.5% increase from fiscal year 2015). Funding for fiscal year 2017 is $12.5 million (or a 4.2% increase from fiscal year 2016). 

• All Funds: Funding for fiscal year 2016 is $13.5 million (or a 8.2% increase from fiscal year 2015). Funding for fiscal year 2017 is $14.0 million (or a 3.7% increase from fiscal year 2016).

On the same page below the Funding Recommendation there will be a list of how the Board/Commission spends their budgeted funds.  

Getting Started

• Sign up to review a Board / Commission at this link - http://goo.gl/forms/tHxvn4S0Kv

• Pick & identify a Board/Commission you would like to concentrate on from link #1 (Board & Commission PDF).  Let us know which Board/Commission you select so we do not duplicate efforts. http://www.lsc.ohio.gov/boards/boards&commissions.pdf

• Research & identify the previous & proposed funding for the selected Board/Commission from link #2 (Kasich's Wish List). http://blueprint.ohio.gov/doc/budget/State_of_Ohio_Budget_Recommendations_FY-16-17.pdf

• Review how the budgeted funds are being spent - identify wasteful spending.  Also do Google searches on the specific Board/Commission to find articles regarding how they operate and other areas where the budgeted funds for that Board/Commission are being spent.  Ask - is this spending that should be done by the state?

• Identify which Sub Committee of the Finance Committee that will be hearing budget testimony on your selected Board/Commission under HB 64 (Budget) by contacting the Finance Committee Chairs Rep. Ryan Smith's office (614)466-1366. http://www.ohiohouse.gov/ryan-smith  /  http://www.ohiohouse.gov/committee/finance

• Contact the Chair of the Sub Committee and request that you be added to the email list for all scheduled hearings for that Sub Committee. 

• Identify the date your Board/Commission will be giving budget testimony for their funding. Obtain & review the Board/Commission funding request.  

• Identify the dates of "Interested Party" hearings.  This is the public comment period on proposed funding requests.

• With the research you did on the funding of your selected Board/Commission - present in person testimony on why it should be opposed/decreased at the "Interested Party" hearings.

• Forward the research you conducted with the case on why funding should be opposed and/or decreased and the date of the "Interested Party" hearing on your selected Board/Commission to clevelandteaparty@gmail.com RE: OH Budget.

• We will in turn send the info & Interested Party Hearing date out in mass across the state so groups and individuals can use your research to submit in-person & written testimony to oppose/decrease funding for your selected Board/Commission.

Some Sub Committee hearings are already being conducted so time is of the essence.  To sign up, please click the following link - http://goo.gl/forms/tHxvn4S0Kv. 

If you choose to participate in this initiative or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Marianne Gasiecki (mansfieldteaparty@gmail.com)  or Ralph King (clevelandteaparty@gmail.com).

Thank You,

Ralph & Marianne

Ralph King

Marianne Gasiecki

State Coordinators

Tea Party Patriots

Secretary of State Jon Husted: Ohio's Happy Hypocrite

At a recent House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform joint subcommittee hearing regarding how President Obama's recent Executive Actions can further undermine voting integrity in the U.S., Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) posed questions to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted about voter fraud. (Click here to watch)

The negative effect President Obama's Executive Action Amnesty will have on voter integrity across the country, along with the devastating costs and effects on our country, cannot be underestimated. And since the integrity of the voting process goes to the core of what we stand for as a country - the importance of protecting & ensuring that integrity must also not be underestimated.

SoS Jon Husted's testimony and recent letter to President Obama clearly shows he hopes voters in Ohio have a short memory. As for Jordan - knowing Husted's role in Ohio's voting fiasco - he should be ashamed for allowing Husted to grandstand!

To be fair, it should be noted that SoS Jon Husted did remove some illegal voters from the rolls in 2012 - 2014.  More importantly, it should be noted that in 2005, as then Speaker of the Ohio House, Jon Husted played a major role in defining the current allowable identification for voting in Ohio.

After campaigning in support of Photo-ID's for voting in his 2010 GOP primary for Secretary of State -

- yet once elected Secretary of State, Jon Husted was the single largest road block to having Photo-ID for voting in Ohio.

In 2011 a bill requiring Photo-ID for voting easily passed the OH House. For his working against it & effectively killing this bill in the OH Senate, Husted was given the title of "Ohio's Pro-Fraud Republican" from the WSJ. 

And for all his efforts to kill this Photo-ID legislation (HB 159), Jon Husted was also commended by Connie Schultz, wife of Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), for standing up to the GOP.

In 2013 during the last legislative session, again recognizing anyone with a utility bill was allowed to vote in Ohio, another Photo-ID bill (HB 269) to ensure voter integrity and that only legal citizens were allowed to vote in Ohio elections, was introduced in the Ohio House. 

SoS Jon Husted also actively campaigned against this effort requiring Photo-ID for voting in Ohio, which effectively killed HB 269 by keeping the bill stalled in Committee. 

In June 2014, Husted again expressed his thoughts on Photo-ID's at at Akron Press Club luncheon...

Asked his thoughts on voter identification, Husted said he doesn’t think Ohio should strictly require photo identification, which other states have done. Ohio’s ID requirement accepts photo identification or an alternative form, such as a utility bill.

“As far as identification goes, I think we should leave it the way it is,” he said. (Emphasis Added)

And as recently as November 2014 in an interview with NPR, Jon Husted agreed with his Democrat challenger State Senator Nina Turner that there is no need for photo-ID's for voting in Ohio. 

The political theater of Jon Husteds' new found love for Photo-ID's reeks of political hypocrisy from an establishment politician trying to now use the issue of voter integrity to position & recreate himself for his eventual GOP primary run to be Ohio's next Governor.

In fact - since 2005 - through a bill (HB 234) passed under then Speaker of the House Jon Husted, an individual has been able to use a utility bills as an acceptable form of ID for voting in Ohio. 

Meaning, since proof of citizenship and/or a valid social security number are not required to have a utility turned on in your name, any illegal immigrant able to produce a utility bill has been able to vote in Ohio since 2005.

So as you can see, Jon Husted, helped create the problem, he did nothing about it and he worked against efforts for Photo-ID. Now - "Ohio's Happy Hypocrite" - Jon Husted only supports them when he needs to move to the "right" again.  

The integrity of the voting process and voting in general has been nothing more than a political football for many of the Democrats & Republicans in our state for far too long! (It should be noted that State Senator Nina Turner DID support Photo-ID's for voting registration in a 2013 Plain Dealer article.)

And because of all the Executive Actions and directives taken by President Obama regarding immigration in our country, ensuring voter integrity by enacting Photo-ID requirement's for voting in Ohio & across the U.S. is needed now more than ever before.

Without question integrity of the voting process starts with verifying an individual meets the minimum voting requirement(s) - that being - that they are of legal age & a legal citizen of the United States.

This starts with a valid Photo-ID showing you are old enough to vote and are a legal citizen of the United States.

Please contact your State Representative (click here) & State Senator (click here) in Ohio and let them know you support Photo-ID for voting in Ohio to restore & protect the integrity of our election process.

HR 5 Student Success Act (NCLB): ONLY DELAYED - NOT DEFEATED!

Through the hard work of many phone calls, emails and the use of social media, the reauthorizing of No Child Left Behind or the Student Success Act (HR 5) was not passed this past week. 

While this is cause to celebrate, it is important to understand our success was only in DELAYING the Student Success Act (HR 5) from passing - it was not defeated (voted down).

We must remain vigilant & continue to contact members of Congress to tell them to NO continuation of NCLB and No on the Student Success Act (HR 5).

To contact your member of congress, click here.

From Politico --

House Republicans decided not to vote Friday on their proposed rewrite of the No Child Left Behind law, the Student Success Act, after House leadership struggled to lock down support for the bill and debate over Department of Homeland Security funding eclipsed education plans.

The House passed a nearly identical bill in 2013, but discontent with the Common Core academic standards and concerns about federal government intrusion have grown, and conservatives have said they want to get more out of an education bill in the newly Republican-controlled Congress. That left House leadership facing new criticism from the right because the GOP bill omits school vouchers, radical reductions to federal mandates and other right-wing proposals.

“My district doesn’t like it. They just feel that we’re moderating No Child Left Behind. They hate No Child Left Behind,” Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) said.

It’s not clear when a vote on No Child Left Behind will take place.

The wrangling over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, set to run out Friday, complicated matters. The debate over how to handle DHS funding has angered conservative lawmakers — who House leaders will need to vote on the Student Success Act. Handling both votes in one day would have been difficult for lawmakers, several House aides said Friday.

And that’s not to say the Student Success Act didn’t have issues of its own: On Thursday night, House leadership was still trying to shore up support for the bill, several GOP aides and lawmakers said. At a Friday morning press conference held by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and others at a charter school in the Anacostia neighborhood of D.C., lawmakers didn’t talk about the Student Success Act and didn’t hold scheduled press availability. House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline didn’t even attend, though he was originally listed to be there: He was on Capitol Hill whipping votes for his bill.

Despite anger that has built up over the law’s far-reaching scope, the politics constrained how far to the right Republicans pushing the Student Success Act could go.

Kline needed a bill that would pass the House with support from moderates. He has made clear that a bill with private school vouchers would not have the votes to pass the chamber and would not fly with President Barack Obama, who has threatened to veto the House version of the bill.

NCLB expired in 2007. The current push to update the law is the first serious attempt at reauthorization since then, but there’s only a short window to rewrite it before the 2016 elections are fully underway and legislative work slows.

Senate lawmakers are working on their own version of No Child Left Behind in a bipartisan fashion, with hopes of heading to conference later this year.

Kline has been coordinating his approach with Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, but the Senate leader is on a very different track than Kline. He’s negotiating with committee Ranking Member Sen. Patty Murray on a bipartisan bill that they hope can clear the chamber. Alexander has insisted he’s optimistic about his chances of striking a deal with Murray and wants to get a bill in front of the committee by mid-March.

“We’re making good progress,” Alexander said earlier this week. “I’m very pleased with the way we’re working with Sen. Murray right now.” With Alexander taking the moderate route, it was up to the House to push a bill that’s as conservative as possible to set the party up in a strong position for the potential conference — but without ostracizing the White House altogether.

So House Republicans supporting the bill have had little choice but to play to the center of the party. The House took up over 40 amendments but didn’t consider any proposals that would have added heavy doses of conservatism. An amendment pushed by Heritage Action that would allow states to opt out of the law’s requirements altogether but still receive federal funds was left on the cutting room floor when the bill went through the House Rules Committee. Heritage and The Club for Growth both strongly opposed the bill.

“It’s a good thing that at least the train has been stopped at the station for now and maybe there’s some time to go back and rethink this,” Club for Growth Communications Director Doug Sachtleben said.

There were signs as the week progressed that House leaders were trying harder to turn some of the “no” votes. Language slipped into the bill Thursday that included new provisions barring school-based health centers from distributing information on abortions, for example. The abortion language did not reflect a major change to education policy — and it could easily get stripped out of the bill down the line — but it catered to the right.

As of Thursday night, House leadership was still not sure whether it had the votes needed to pass the bill, several lawmakers and GOP aides said.

In the end, it appears, they didn’t. At least not this week.

Democrats, meanwhile, balked at Republicans’ bill, and at Alexander and Kline’s optimism about a potential compromise on education. The White House veto threat called out a provision that would allow education funds for low-income students to follow students as a particularly harmful measure. Democrats say the net effect of the provision would be to drain billions of dollars from poor school districts, where the funds are needed most.

“The goal here isn’t to pass a bill — it’s to pass a good bill,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said this week.

Education doesn’t always divide along party lines, but current differences between leadership of the two parties are vast. Republicans want to cede more control to states and localities to make decisions on education and dump many defined programs.

To Democrats and the civil rights community, stripping the federal role out of education would signal a return to times before No Child Left Behind, when many states didn’t even collect data about the achievement gap between poor and minority students and their peers. Democrats want the bill to retain strong accountability measures and would like to see a new title in the bill devoted to early education.

House Democrats have also criticized Kline’s approach to passing the Student Success Act: There wasn’t a single hearing on the bill in the new Congress. (The House education committee has held many hearings on the bill in previous years.)

The Student Success Act “turns the clock back on educational progress and jeopardizes the civil rights of young people,” House Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott said this week.

Action Alert: Call Senate GOP Leaders Now! Stop Them From Caving on DHS Funding!

           Action Alert        

Throughout the election cycle Republicans vowed to do everything they could to stop the President's overreach. 

Now, the Republicans in the Senate under Majority Leader McConnell's guidance are playing games. Bowing to President Obama, Sen. McConnell now plans to bring a bill to the Senate floor that would fully fund the Department of Homeland Security without defunding executive amnesty! 

McConnell is now offering a stand-alone anti-amnesty bill, but the current plan is to vote on it after they pass the DHS funding. This means the vote will be meaningless because it will not be attached to something that must pass Congress and be signed by the president.

Congress has the "power of the purse" and is responsible for serving as a check on the President's actions. We have a very narrow window of time to put a stop to President Obama's executive amnesty, and Congress needs to act now!

Please call Sen. McConnell, the Senate Republican Leadership & Ohio Senator Rob Portman to let them know that you want Congress to defund executive amnesty. 

Remind them of their oath to support and defend the Constitution and urge them to vote on one bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security, while stripping funds from President Obama's unilateral amnesty.

Tell them that the Senate must vote to defund President Obama's amnesty before they vote on a clean DHS appropriations bill.

Senate Republican Leadership:

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Phone: (202) 224-2541

Twitter: @McConnellPress

Email: Click Here

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)

Phone: (202) 224-2934
Twitter: @JohnCornyn

Email: Click Here

Sen. John Thune (R-SD)

Phone: (202) 224-2321

Twitter: @SenJohnThune

Email: Click Here

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)

Phone: (202) 224-6441

Twitter: @SenJohnBarrasso

Email: Click Here

Senator Rob Portman (R-OH)

Phone: (202) 224-3353
Twitter: @PortmanPress
Email: Click Here

Millions Spent Illegally on Obama Amnesty Plan; So Who is Going to Prison?

From Ernest Istook --

Some bureaucrats could end up in prison for implementing President Obama’s amnesty plan for illegal aliens. Even if they don’t violate the brand-new court injunction, they are accountable under a special federal statute.

It’s illegal to spend federal money on purposes never approved by Congress. Yet Mr. Obama has bureaucrats going full-speed ahead to create the mechanism that would process amnesty for millions, even while a court injunction requires that actual processing cannot yet begin.

Preparations are proceeding “full-throttle,” according to Judicial Watch, which works to make government accountable. The group has uncovered details about some of the tens of millions of dollars already being spent to launch Mr. Obama’s amnesty plan and called for a full investigation. Billions more in tax dollars are also on the line.

However, there is personal risk for all who do Mr. Obama’s bidding rather than obey the laws that govern federal payments.

Each person who violates what’s called the Anti-Deficiency Act (31 U.S. Code Sec. 1341) could be fined $5,000, sent to prison for two years, lose their job, or all of these. That law makes no exceptions for those who claim they merely obeyed orders from superiors, including the president.

Mr. Obama did not personally sign an executive order to put his amnesty plan in place. Although Mr. Obama claims credit and blame, the orders technically come from a Cabinet secretary. Orders then are carried out by subordinate agency heads plus a small army of bureaucrats who process the paperwork and get checks issued.

Those payments are already happening despite being spent on a program not authorized by law. Congress has never approved spending money for this purpose.

While Mr. Obama avoided a personal signature on the incriminating paperwork, a multitude of clerical workers don’t have that luxury. They are risking their jobs and freedom. So is Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who issued the formal instructions to do Mr. Obama’s bidding.

Carrying out illegal orders is no excuse under federal law. Because there evidently is no statute of limitations on the Anti-Deficiency Act, therefore a new president and attorney-general in 2017 could pursue criminal charges as well as firings or job disciplines against all persons who approve payments on the amnesty program. And these fall guys would likely have to pay their own legal fees.

Federal Judge Andrew Hanen last week enjoined the government from launching the amnesty program. Judge Hanen’s order did not dispute Mr. Obama’s authority to avoid deportations by applying prosecutorial discretion. But the judge pointed out that Mr. Obama was creating new law by going farther, namely by issuing certifications of “lawful presence” plus work permits.

Even if the executive branch had legal power to create new programs — which the judge’s order questioned — Judge Hanen ruled that it still would require months of prior public notice and comments about the details, as required by the Administrative Procedures Act.

Instead, Mr. Obama had things prepared secretly in advance, then launched his blitzkrieg before opponents could learn the details. To enable processing 4 million to 5 million expected amnesty applications, since the end of November, the Department of Homeland Security:

• Has received 5,000 applications for 1,000 workers it is hiring at salaries up to $157,000 a year (One estimate says these salaries will run $50-million a year.);

• Signed a $7.8-million lease to provide them with office space in Arlington, Virginia;

• Solicited for hundreds of contractors to assist with managing the program and its data;

• Requested proposals to purchase 39-million high-tech plastic ID cards with built-in RF chips (used to create “lawful presence” and “work authorization” identity cards for millions of illegal aliens) 

Plus, the IRS is ready to respond to Obama’s actions by unleashing billions in federal cash payments directly to those receiving executive amnesty.

The amount actually spent so far is a secret closely-guarded by the Obama team, as are projections of future expenses. A group of Republican senators on Jan. 22 sent a formal request to find out the full costs. Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican; Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican; and Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, wrote the Citizenship and Immigration Services to ask for a detailed accounting.

The eventual answers may reveal that a lot of federal workers are in trouble for going along with Obama’s secret and unauthorized plan.

Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, has labeled it illegal for money to be spent on Obama’s amnesty program.

Training materials for federal workers are chock-full of warnings about not violating the Anti-Deficiency Act.

For example, materials from the General Services Administration warns never to initiate any purchases or contracts without obtaining approvals that include “written assurance from responsible fiscal authority,” plus checking with their legal department and budget officers.

The 2013 Fiscal Law Deskbook published by the federal Judge Advocate School advises federal workers they can only “incur … obligations for expenditures within the limits and purposes of appropriations.”

The White House claims that the massive expenses of amnesty processing will be covered by fees charged to applicants, but that fails the laugh test because: 1) expenses are already massive, but zero fees have been collected to date; 2) there have been no calculations released to match expenses with fees; and 3) the Constitution forbids spending any money unless it first is approved by Congress.

Mr. Obama’s disregard for the law seemingly has no limits. His publicly-stated goal is to use his last two years to determine the shape of America for the next ten years. Changing the composition of America is just part of his strategy.

Smirking, Mr. Obama considers himself immune from consequences. But he can only usurp power with the assistance of others within the bureaucracy.

If those now spending millions of our money without authority are punished eventually, they may finally realize that their proper loyalty is to obey the laws of our land instead of a blind loyalty to President Obama. 

If HR 5 passes, the federal government will own education

Art credit: thearrowsoftruth.com

While we continue to fight for local control of education, the federal government looks to eliminate it.  

The No Child Left Behind law created a culture of extreme testing and oppressive federal intervention on students, teachers and school administrators. 

Next week the House will vote to reauthorize No Child Left Behind (H.R. 5 Student Success Act), thereby extending this outdated education policy through 2021 and it MUST BE STOPPED!  

From NCLB came Race to the Top, and from RTTT came the Common Core State Standards Initiative.  If HR 5 passes, the federal government will own education!

HR 5 will transform all schools into government run schools, just like Europe.  This will be accomplished through the use of NATIONALIZED TESTS and CURRICULUMS and Title I money.

Page 552-553 in this 597 page bill clearly states that if a State participates in federal funding grants and programs (Title I) the state waives its rights and gives full authority to the federal government.  Click Here to read the bill

TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION!

Call your Representative and tell him/her to vote "NO" on HR 5!

Tell them we want to SUNSET NCLB and defund the Dept of Education.  We do not want this failed program to continue.

Click here to read the legislative brief 

The vote is expected nextTuesday, so ACT NOW!

Click here to contact your representative

# # #

Grover Norquist Promotes MORE Immigration in Daytona 500 Ad

Given that Grover Norquist and his Americans for Tax Reform have long been nothing more than pawns for the U.S. Chamber - that he would support more illegal immigrants to flood the work force and drive down wages should come as no surprise....

From Breitbart --

 

Grover Norquist stars in a pro-immigration ad that a George Soros-funded pro-amnesty group is running this weekend at Daytona International Speedway during the Daytona 500.

The National Immigration Forum ad promotes increased immigration.

“Immigration is part of the secret sauce that makes America work,” Norquist says in the ad. “More people are a resource, they’re an asset; they’re not a liability.”

Ali Noorani, the Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, said that, “at the end of the day, immigration is about people, not politics.

“We need to welcome immigrants and afford them the opportunity, skills and status they need to succeed,” Noorani said. “When new Americans are able to reach their fullest potential, America thrives as well.”

Norquist teamed up with Michael Bloomberg’s pro-amnesty Partnership for a New America group earlier in the week to host a conference call in which top 2016 GOP donors pushed for comprehensive amnesty legislation.

The ad will run this weekend on the Daytona 500 Jumbotron twice an hour, 12 hours a day, including during the Great American Race. It will also run at the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 500 races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway later in the year.

While the ad touts the benefits of increased immigration, a recent Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the country’s immigration levels and just seven percent want more immigration at this time.