Budget Enhances Strickland's Power

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. Ted Strickland seizes tighter control over many state functions in his proposed state budget, consolidating power over public schools, state colleges, state employees and a host of spending accounts for himself and his closest advisers.

The Democratic governor's 3,000-plus page proposal is peppered with instances where a new role is added for the governor, his higher education chancellor or other directors of the state agencies he oversees.

Chancellor of Higher Education Eric Fingerhut takes control of the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority, for example. A host of state boards and commissions are consolidated under the Department of Administrative Services that Strickland oversees.

And Superintendent of Public Instruction Deborah Delisle takes control of the Ohio schools for the deaf and blind under the plan.

Though Delisle is not a member of Strickland's cabinet, Strickland's chief of staff, John Haseley, consulted closely on her hiring last year by the Ohio Board of Education, which has a mix of appointed and elected members.

In similar fashion, Strickland's top lawyer, Kent Markus, played a key role in Democrats' transition to power in the Ohio House, which has raised concerns about that chamber's independence from the administration. The new House leadership has dubbed the Strickland budget House Bill 1 - its most important priority.

"I'm sure we will fight to make sure there's a balance of power, to make sure as the legislative branch that we don't cede too much control of state government to the executive branch," said state Sen. Jon Husted, who led the previous biennial budget debate when he was the Republican House speaker. "The chief executive of this state already has an extraordinary amount of power."

Strickland's budget proposal also includes creation of a number of new funds: a sustainable agriculture fund, a health care spending account, a dependent care spending account, and an employee educational development fund, among others.

All would be housed in the state treasury - overseen by Ohio Treasurer Kevin Boyce, whom Strickland recently appointed. And all could be spent at the discretion of someone within Strickland's cabinet.

The governor's attempt to further concentrate power isn't unexpected, say state lawmakers who now get their turn at the $54.3 billion, two-year spending blueprint.

Senate Finance Chairman John Carey, a Wellston Republican, said such funds have been proposed even as all legislative earmarks have been removed from Strickland's plan.

Carey said the governor has characterized earmarks as wasteful spending, but lawmakers view them as a way to direct state cash to precise programs.

"The administration and governor's office, it's their preference to have more flexibility. That's a natural inclination of the governor," Carey said. "We want to be sure we're able to have a transparent process. We like to be able to see where the money's being spent."

House Minority Leader Bill Batchelder, a Medina Republican, said the Ohio Constitution requires money spent from the state treasury to be tied to specific appropriations by the Legislature. He added that many of Strickland's tries at consolidation take power from local communities and center it in Columbus.

"There's an awful lot of centralism in this legislation, and I'm really concerned about what the long-term implications of that are," he said. "There's no doubt in my mind that local people do a better job of administering local programs."

Strickland's budget also includes added power over unionized state workers, with wording allowing his administration more leeway to impose mandatory furloughs, suspend holiday pay, and take other personnel actions in a fiscal emergency.

On at least one of the items, the furloughs, the state's largest public employee union expressed alarm Wednesday.

"We were shocked and disappointed at seeing the language regarding furloughs and the other statewide officers," said Ohio Civil Service Employees Association executive director Andy Douglas. "I believe this is nothing more than a misunderstanding, and we are working with the administration to arrive at a clarification."

Husted said whether such moves are power grabs or government efficiencies is a matter of debate, but that history indicates lawmakers aren't averse to giving the governor more power when appropriate, such as when they agreed to move the chancellor into Strickland's cabinet in 2007.

"I know that they (the administration) view the Legislature as an impediment to them achieving their goals, but that's not what the Constitution says," he said. "The Constitution creates separate powers, and when the executive branch oversteps its bounds, it's incumbent on the Legislature to correct these things."

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