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

OH Senate President Kieth Faber & Rep. Matt Huffman question Governor John "I Love Obamacare" Kasich's Medicaid Expansion

As Governor Kasich continues criss-crossing the state trying to sell his shameful, untruthful and morally bankrupt argument for expanding an unsustainable Medicaid expansion in Ohio under Obamacare, Ohio Senate President Kieth Faber and OH Rep Matt Huffman speak out on the perils of this fiscally irresponsible and financially unsustainable proposal.

While Faber & Huffman should be applauded for speaking out, the OH Representative from the Cleveland area who serves on the Finance Committee, Rep. Marlene Anielski (614)644-6041 (click here to email), is leaning towards Medicaid expansion and refuses to even return constituent phone calls.

From Lima Ohio.com --

LIMA — On the same day that two powerful state legislators — Senate President Keith Faber and state Rep. Matt Huffman — laid out a case why the state needs to move cautiously before accepting federal funds for Medicaid, Ohio Gov. John Kasich was in Ohio’s Appalachian foothills extolling his proposal to expand the coverage.

Such is the battle that continues to play out among fellow Republicans over Medicaid, a tug-of-war that is soon to come to a head. It pits lawmakers who are trying to rein in government spending against the leader of their party who is on a crusade to help the poor with money provided under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

The battle is becoming so intense that a core of Republicans spent part of last week’s “spring break” in Columbus trying to figure out a deal that would convince the governor to alter his push.

“Our colleagues in the General Assembly could design a better system to take care of the people we all care about,” Faber said Wednesday during a meeting at The Lima News.

Kasich, meanwhile, was in Jackson County arguing a much simpler case.

The governor told a Republican gathering that by accepting Obama’s expansion of the Medicaid program, $13 billion in taxpayer money would come back to Ohio from Washington over seven years.

“This is money that residents have already paid in federal taxes,” Kasich said.

Faber bristles at such talk. He said the plan Obama has put forth feels like an ultimatum more than anything, and said long-term funding of the program is troublesome at best.

“They essentially loaded the revolver and pointed it at the states, and said do this or else,” Faber said. “Nobody really believes this is free money from heaven. You’re essentially borrowing it from China and giving our kids the bill. And then the question is, how sustainable is it? Is it going to stay? You can’t back out of it.”

Without flexibility, the Celina Republican said, “It’s fraught with peril, no matter which way you go.”

Huffman said the problem is that government thinks in “small bites” of time instead of 10 to 20 years in the future. He compared the proposed Medicaid expansion to the funding problems of Social Security, noting it “appeared to be OK and financially affordable at the time, but here we’re looking back now 45 years later, and the whole thing is a disaster.”

Huffman doesn’t want to make another two-year decision that ultimately will be a bad decision over time.

“It’s gotta stop. At some point, the system is going to collapse,” the Lima state representative said.

Local effects

The Medicaid expansion would help individuals who earn up to 138 percent of federal poverty, roughly $15,000 annual income for an individual and $32,000 for a family of four. Many of these individuals who aren’t insured are likely working low-wage jobs without benefits. They may have to limit working because of a mental health condition that isn’t severe enough to qualify for disability.

For local businesses and organizations, the expansion would assist in a variety of ways.

For the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Allen, Auglaize and Hardin counties, the expansion would help many of their clients by opening up their annual funds to programming beyond health care assistance.

“We’re very concerned for the overall health of our community. We are currently using resources to pay for some of these services. This [Medicaid expansion] would help us to restore some of our programming,” said Phil Atkins, associate director of the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board. “Many of our clients need services that even expanded Medicaid won’t pay for. … It won’t pay for things like housing. It won’t pay for things like getting people ready for jobs.”

Without the expansion, the board has to be more selective in what they can do for community members. Sometimes that even means rationing health treatments for clients.

At Baton Rouge Health Services Community in Lima, the Medicaid expansion would help about 10 percent of its workforce who work part time without benefits.

“Given that we’ve already endured quite a bit of Medicaid cuts on the reimbursement side, I think having some sort of a relief from the health insurance coverage would really help skilled nursing facilities,” said Georgiana Saffle, president at Baton Rouge.

Leaders from both local hospitals, Lima Memorial Health System and St. Rita’s Medical Center, expressed support for the Medicaid expansion in newspaper columns they wrote for The Lima News in February.

“We are already caring for people regardless of their ability to pay as part of our mission to improve the health of our communities,” wrote Bob Baxter, CEO of St. Rita’s Health Partners. “Expanded Medicaid Eligibility would allow our charity funds to go further and more equitably spread the cost of care.”

Alternative ideas

While Faber and Huffman agreed health care coverage is needed in certain situations, such as those who suffer from mental health problems or those who don’t have benefits through their low-wage jobs, not everyone should necessarily be included within the 138 percent of poverty threshold.

They said the program may not have the best incentives for people.

“The system has to have incentives for people to improve their lives, and not simply service what they want at the moment,” Huffman said. “And when you do that, it’s painful to people. When you say you can’t get this, unless you’re job training, unless you’re getting your education, unless you’re drug-free.”

Huffman also discussed the possibility of larger medical organizations using other monies to care for the poor. Some GOP members, such as Barbara Sears, of Toledo, have also discussed using more state funds than federal funds.

Kasich says state funding is off the table.

“Some in the legislature think we can spend state of Ohio money and reject the federal money. … I won’t tolerate it,” Kasich told the Columbus Dispatch. “We’re not going to make you pay twice. … That’s not acceptable.”

The Kasich administration has been negotiating with the White House since November to use federal funds to pay for some people to buy private insurance.

During the governor’s State of the State address in Lima in February, Kasich told legislators, “Our economy is stronger, our credit is up, we’re doing the right things. … The Lord would not want us to ignore those who are now vulnerable. These are people who played by the rules. They’re hurting.”

The next part of the process is coming soon.

Mike Dittoe, a spokesman for House Speaker William G. Batchelder, told the Dispatch that the Republican caucus has not achieved a consensus on what to do about Medicaid, but expects a bill from the House in two weeks that would show “which direction we’re pointed.”

Sustainable Development Funding in Ohio Budget

Marianne at the Mansfield Tea Party has been closely monitoring developments in northern Ohio that extend the tentacles of Agenda 21 into our region. Now we have an opportunity to slow down or stop these encroachments on our freedom. Here’s Marianne’s Alert:

Dear Fellow Ohioans,

As explained in previous newsletters, the Greater Ohio Policy Center, an affiliate of the national organization Smart Growth America, is an Agenda 21 organization funded by extreme environmental advocacy and other Agenda 21 based groups.

The Greater Ohio Policy Center is pushing for the inclusion of funding for the Sustainable Communities Initiative in the fiscal 2013 Ohio budget!

We cannot let this happen! Take Action!

Call your Senators and Representatives and tell them we cannot have our tax dollars spent through these programs! The purpose of these programs is the redistribution of wealth, promoting public transportation (light rail), water use restriction, and what they consider to be "equitable" housing, which is why HUD is involved. Click Here to read more about the Greater Ohio Policy Center's agenda. This link clearly supports the claims made in the previous paragraph regarding their purpose. Contact Information: State Senators State Representatives

Our Representatives and Senators must be educated on the agenda of these programs. Many are ignorant of the existence of Agenda 21, and it’s our job to make sure they see the light.

Thanks for all you do!

Time To Defund Ohio Commission on Hispanic Latino Affairs (OCHLA)

Now we need to defund the Ohio Commission on Hispanic Latino Affairs (OCHLA). OCHLA is an Ohio state agency created in 1977 to advise the Governor, General Assembly and other state agencies on the needs of Spanish-speaking citizens. OCHLA, receiving in excess of $500,000 from the State of OH and has routinely operated as an ACORN type group by actively lobbying the state legislature to provide favorable treatment for illegal aliens in Ohio. 
 
A complaint against OCHLA has been filed with Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles in 2010, but Charles, who was reappointed by Governor Kasich as Ohio Inspector General, did his best to ignore the complaint.
 
It would also be a safe bet that OCHLA most likely played a hand in the Justice Dept. singling out Cuyahoga County and demanding they print bilingual ballots at an extra cost of $500,00 for the past 2010 elections.

From the Grassroots Rally Team of Ohio --

Time to Defund Ohio Commission on Hispanic Latino Affairs (OCHLA)

Latino Affairs Director Defends Budget Before House Committee

OCHLA is hoping to continue to be funded with our tax dollars. When legislation has been introduced to help stop the influx of illegal immigrants into Ohio, OCHLA has been there to give opposing testimony. We expect our elected officials to protect us from the ill effects of illegal immigration and yet OCHLA uses our tax dollars to oppose this.

In testimony defending their current funding level of over $340,000 from Lilleana Cavanaugh, Executive Director of Ohio Latino Affairs Commission, calls this a modest investment for a more positive social and cultural impact for the State of Ohio.  (Click here to read full testimony).

Just two of the many testimonies from OCHLA:

S.B. 238 -

"... thank you for the opportunity to testify in opposition to Sb 238, which prohibits undocumented immigrant workers from receiving injury compensation from the Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC).  My name is Florentina Staigers, and I am the Policy Director of the Ohio Latino Affairs Commission...."

" The immigration system is broken and this bill is yet another attempt to deal with some of the effects of that broken system by deterring undocumented immigrants from seeking work in Ohio." (Click here to read full testimony)

S.B. 35 & S.B. 150 - 

Bill SB 35 reads: "To enact section 109.45 of the Revised Code to direct the Attorney General to pursue of Memorandum of Agreement that permits the Enforcement of Federal Immigration Laws in the State of Ohio by Law Enforcement Officers."

In permitting the Enforcement of Federal Immigration Law, both criminal and civil is not a clever way to resolve this dilemma om Immigration. This BILL is going to cause the State consequences, not only economical, but political as well.  Not everybody that dictates the Law, knows or has witnessed what happened when an ignorant Law Enforcement Officer approaches our Hispanic/Latino people. (Click here to read full testimony).

(Lupe Williams was an OCHLA commissioner when she gave this testimony.)

Please contact the following Subcommittee members, and ask that OCHLA be defunded:
Representative John Carey / ChairPhone: (614) 466-1366
Fax: (614) 719-6987

Representative Ron MaagPhone: (614) 644-6023
Fax: (614) 719-3589

Representative Gerald L. StebeltonPhone: (614) 466-8100
Fax: (614) 719-0005

Representative Matt LundyPhone: (614) 644-5076
Fax: (614) 719-3957

Representative Debbie PhillipsPhone: (614) 466-2158
Fax: (614) 719-6992

Public testimony will be heard on this issue next week:
Date: Thursday, April 7, 2011
Time: 10:00 AM
Room: 122

If you plan on giving testimony, please have 25 copies of written testimony to summit to the Chairman prior to the hearing. You are also required to fill out a Witness Information form prior to testifying.

To email the above Houe members, please cut, copy and paste the below emails...

district87@ohr.state.oh.us, district57@ohr.state.oh.us, district35@ohr.state.oh.us, district5@ohr.state.oh.us, district92@ohr.state.oh.us

Over the River & Through the Woods to the State House We Go!

Cleveland Tea Party Patriots

For Immediate Release

June 27, 2009

Contact: Cleveland Tea Party Patriots
clevelandteaparty@gmail.com

Statewide Tea Party Patriot Action Alert

Saddle Up Tea Party Patriots we are taking a road trip! That's right - we are taking it to our legislators and going to Columbus to sit in on the House vote of HB 1 freshly out of conference committee.

After having only 2 last-minute public conference committee meetings, (the last one being tomorrow) and MANY private meetings to work out over 960 differences in the House & Senate version of HB 1 -- the House & Senate are preparing to vote on our budget.

This includes the latest gambling proposal by Gov. Strickland & an extensive lobbying effort to increase funding with money our state does not have!

We smell another Crap & Trade type passing of a bill!

Not only will we try to sit in on the vote, we will demand that the bill in its' entirety be read aloud. While we wait, we will go to the office of each member of the House & Senate asking if they read the whole bill and any amendments from the conference committee.

We will let every member of the House & Senate know that, if there are ANY earmarks in the bill, we demand that they vote NO!

• Place: State House
• Date: Monday June 29, 2009
• Time: 9:00am
• Directions: South on I-71 until you smell the stench! (Or click here) There is public parking under the State House and many public lots in the immediate area.

We apologize for the short notice and inconvenience - but this is the way "they" operate. We need your support in taking this fight too them! We hope to see you there!

Cleveland Tea Party Patriots

A non-partisan grass roots movement

####

Calling All Ohio Tea Party Patriots: Keep the Budget Earmark Free!

Cleveland Tea Party Patriots

For Immediate Release

June 9, 2009

Contact: Cleveland Tea Party Patriots
Clevelandteaparty@gmail.com

Tea Party Patriots - Keep Up the Good Work!

Demand NO Earmarks be included in Ohio Budget

It is now time for the dirty work on crafting Ohio's 2yr Budget. Our state legislators will convene in conference committees to "work out" differences between the OH House & OH Senate versions of our proposed budget.

Our calls, letters and emails to the Senate Finance Committe worked! The current Senate version of the budget contains cuts across the board and most importantly contains -- NO EARMARKS!

Our work is not done! The Conference Committee is where the lobbyists will try pressuring our state legislators into putting earmarks back into the budget. It is only by the Silent Majority, being Silent No More -- that we can stop this!

We, the Tea Party Patriots, must continue the fight!

We are asking that you, as a Tea Party Patriot, contact Senate President Bill Harris & House Speaker Armond Budish by letter, phone call, fax or email and demand that any budget proposal coming out of the Conference Committee also contain NO EARMARKS! Anything less is unacceptable!

Please find below the contact information for Senate President Bill Harris and Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish.

Senate President Bill Harris
Statehouse
Room #201, Second Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Telephone: 614/466-8086
Email: SD19@senate.state.oh.us

Speaker Armond Budish
77 S. High St
14th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 466-5441
Fax: (614) 719-0008
Email: district08@ohr.state.oh.us

Our future depends on what we do!

www.clevelandteaparty.com

The State of Ohio Budget Woes

The budget office has anounced a $912 million gap in the OH budget between now and June 3oth. For those that don't know - that is just what we are short this year. The budget proposals being worked out in the Ohio Senate are for the upcoming budget - and Gov. Strickland, the House and Senate are all using cherry-picked numbers in crafting that one.

Unemployment in OH has just hit 10.2% - an almost unheard of number in our states history. This will have a direct effect on predicted revenues coming in.... in other words - the estimated revenue numbers being used to craft the budget - will in no way be close to the actual revenues.

Fellow Ohio blogger Kyle Sisk took the time to scribble down some of his thoughts that will hopefully help awaken some of the brain dead Ohioans. Why? Because we will soon be seeing a huge tax increase to pay for the current shortfalls and to cover the stimulus funds once they run out, backward school funding fix, etc...

From Kyle Sisk Blog --

Hopefully this will at least get people thinking a little bit...

The "hole" for this budget is BIGGER than anyone has reported thus far.

No, I don't have access to Pari's numbers (in the spirit of full disclosure, I don't think she has access to real numbers either...I envision some geeky guy in a room with no windows throwing darts at a dart board with budget figures on it...but I digress), but I do have an inkling as to some of the things the Senate GOP caucus will and will not do.

1. The Senate will not be the first to utter the words "tax increase" and because of the shenanigans that both Strickland and the House dems have pulled they have the "high ground" to not have to be the ones who call for a tax increase.

2. The Senate will not take a shot at the Nursing Home Industry (sorry Ohio Business Roundtable...just not going to happen) because the Industry provides way too many much needed campaign funds to hit them...especially since Budish will just take care of them on the back end in Conference. That would give the Senate GOP and Batch and the House GOP Minority (SIDE NOTE: From hereon "Batch and the House GOP Minority" will be referred to on this blog as "The Land of Misfit Toys" until they can show they deserve a different title) the worst of both worlds (i.e. Harris and the Senate GOP make cuts to the Nursing Homes and then Budish saves them in Conference). I hope/believe the Senate GOP caucus is smarter than
that.

3. I am going to do a completely separate blog post on this group of people because I believe it is a core group for the GOP (Kasich especially) in the 2010 elections: 80,000 students in charter schools and the 14,000 students getting vouchers. The Senate MUST MUST MUST restore the full funding to these 94,000 students. This point needs to be a "line in the sand" kind of thing.

4. With much of the backbone of the GOP's voter support coming from school districts that are not treated all that kindly in the Ted version or House version of the school funding proposals be looking for some dramatic shifts from the Senate on who will get funded, major changes in Ted's "not even remotely based in reality plan for today to 2017"

5. Don't look for many changes to the higher education budget. Look for some rearranging with proprietaries and privates, but the overall number will be about the same.

6. No one has been talking about prisons, but I just wanted to put my two cents in on the issue. For some background, I'm a card carrying GOPer who is pro-death penalty and I'd even be for firing squads for rapists (DNA proof) and pedophiles (I know...I'm a bit extreme on punishment of certain offenses, but I only throw this info out at you for what I'm about to say). That said, it is uber expensive to house non-violent drug offenders in our prisons. If this trend continues then our prison (already at or past critical mass with current prison populations) system will not be able to handle the number of prisoners. We will either have situations way worse than Lucasville or in this time where our leaders are trying to find places to make cuts we will be in a position where we will ... gasp ... have to build more, new prisons (how politically popular do you think that is going to be???).

Something has to be done differently with non-violent drug offenders and I can't think of any better time to address this issue than at a time like now when budgets are being scrutinized. That said, I don't think anything will happen on this issue in time for this budget so for the sake of this blog post we will say that no one will cut the prison budget.

7. The Senate won't touch this "slots at the tracks" stuff. It doesn't make sense politically for anyone to do this. Follow my line of thinking here: If the amount created by doing the slots at the tracks actually filled the hole entirely then it would be a no-brainer move. They do it and take shit for doing it, but it solves the budget hole. Done and done. That is not the reality of the situation though. Slots at tracks will not even come close to filling the hole so if the Senate went ahead with it they would get whacked for doing it AND still have the problem/issue of having to still come up with a huge chunk of funds to fill the rest of the hole (i.e. they would be proactively creating two headaches instead of creating just one headache).

Here is what I think will happen with the Senate. They will look at their situation and say,

"Ted & Pari played reindeer games and gave the House a budget not based in reality. Budish then played even more reindeer games and handed the Senate a budget based even less in reality than Ted's budget. Why should we be the adults in this situation? What is the political advantage to doing anything other than operating the same way Ted & the dems have acted? There isn't any....so...we'll continue this game of Fantasyland and take the budget back to Ted's numbers (or maybe a little bit better than that) and we'll essentially start over (sorry lobbying community) in Conference Committee."

If the Senate does that then basically they'll knock off the House dem $91 million, probably do something with Aging &/or the Regents, get rid of some of Ted's onerous fee increases, maybe even do an across the board minimal "window dressing" type cut across state gov't (probably will not do this) and really play with the numbers by adjusting the Medicaid caseload (they will do this because it is an easy way to play with the numbers in the short run).

Doing those types of things will make the Senate look at least quasi-responsible and will get this budget to Conference Committee where the real dirty work will occur.

The thing that will be funny about Conference Committe this budget cycle is that anyone with a brain in their head will be doing everything within their power to make sure they are NOT on the Conference Committee.

Cuts alone will not balance this budget in 38 days. Cuts combined with slots at tracks and all the messing around with figures everyone wants to do will not get us there this time.

The ONLY way to get there is with additional revenue (aka tax increase for those of you on the short bus who do not know what "additional revenue" means).

They will either do a tax increase in Conference Committee OR everyone will be back in Columbus addressing the budget again by say...hmm...no later than October...and then it will probably be even uglier than it is today.

Taxes WILL be increased. It is not a question of IF. It is a question of WHEN and HOW MUCH.