All candidates were asked to answer these questions:
Question 1: Gov. Kasich has indicated he wants a new school funding formula. What would you do to revamp school funding in Ohio?
Question 2: What state government reforms would you support to help businesses cut their costs, red tape and regulations?
Paul R. Isaacs II
Website: Voteisaacs.com
Bio: My wife and I have four wonderful children. Presently, I am a minister to college students. We are committed to our faith in God. As a fiscal and social conservative, the Constitution will be the guide for our legislative endeavors.
Answer 1: Gov. Kasich has indicated he wants a new school funding formula. What would you do to revamp school funding in Ohio? I believe that the lottery promises have been exposed. Legalized gambling has done little if anything to help fund Ohio's schools, yet it was sold to Ohio as the school-funding panacea. I believe in choice in education. Parents should have the freedom to use their own money (tax dollars are the people's money, not the government's money) to give their children the opportunities they need for success. Opponents to the voucher system care little about the poor. Giving people control of the direction of their own tax dollars will help to even the disparity of quality education for all children.
Answer 2: What state government reforms would you support to help businesses cut their costs, red tape and regulations? It is important to remember Reagan's adage, "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." Businesses don't need to cut their costs, red tape and regulations. It's the government that needs to cut its costs, red tape and regulations. Businesses can't survive unless they manage those things. Big Government thrives on red tape and regulations. Higher taxes promote the red tape and regulations. Here is the most novel government reform to consider: Get the government out of the way of businesses and let them create jobs and grow the economy.
Peggy Lehner
Website: www.peggylehner.com
Bio: I was appointed to represent the 6th Senate district in 2010 after serving one term in the Ohio House. I previously served on Kettering City council for 10 years. My husband Jim and I raised our five children in Kettering.
Answer 1: There has been a real explosion of different types of education options for students even within the public school system, ranging from traditional public schools, charters, on line schools, voucher programs, special education and blended learning alternatives. These changes in education really require a complete overhaul of the current funding formula. The issue has become increasingly more complicated than simply solving the already difficult issue of burdensome reliance on personal property taxes. I believe the governor needs to develop a funding formula that allows state dollars to move with the child into whatever public setting they chose.
Answer 2: The CommonSense initiative that was approved by the state legislature in early 2011 is making real progress in eliminating hundreds of burdensome regulations that have proven detrimental to business growth and profitability. The legislature and administration need to continue to make this effort a top priority. Everywhere I go I ask businesses to submit unnecessary regulations to the CommonSense advisory board for review and many of them have successfully seen these regulations eliminated.