There won’t be passenger trains connecting Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, with two stops in Dayton.
But there’s a different kind of locomotive rumbling through the Statehouse these days.
Call it the Kasich Unlimited. Maybe Choo Choo Kasich would be better.
It all depends on what you think of the Republican governor.
Patience is no virtue with this guy.
Ohio hasn’t had a governor in this big of a hurry since 1983 when Democrat Dick Celeste roared in.
Kasich, with lots of help from the Republican-controlled legislature, was in full throttle last week.
Barely a month after taking office, he signed JobsOhio into law.
It’s the nonprofit corporation — led by Kasich and eight directors appointed by him — that’s supposed to turn around Ohio by attracting businesses and creating jobs.
It’s House Bill 1, showing the priority both Kasich and GOP legislators give it.
State laws about public records and public meetings won’t cover the new creation but backers say there will be plenty of ways for Ohioans to know what’s going on.
“It’s a new concept,” Kasich said. “Look, I’ve got more new concepts coming out every day.... It’s hard for people to keep track of them..”
Kasich also was busy backing an old Republican concept, battling unions.
The governor’s foes call it union bashing, while his allies label it leveling the playing field.
Kasich has shown support for Senate Bill 5, sponsored by Sen. Shannon Jones, R-Clearcreek Twp.
It would ban collective bargaining for state employees and restrict bargaining rights for police, firefighters, teachers and other local government workers.
Republicans have been building up to something like this since 1983, when Celeste and a Democratic-led legislature enacted the public employee bargaining law.
Thousands of supporters and opponents converged on the Statehouse for two days of hearings on the bill last week. Union supporters are also planning a rally for Monday at the Dayton Convention Center.
While Kasich has said he’s OK with Jones’ bill, he also said that if lawmakers don’t pass a something that he likes, he’ll wrap up his own proposals into the budget bill that comes out next month. His own bill would outlaw strikes and penalize those who walk off the job by firing them or docking their pay.
Legislation is needed to “restore some balance between management and labor ... this is common sense,” he said.
When it comes to controversial issues such as privatizing economic development and weakening unions, Kasich’s impatient approach probably is the right and effective one, political scientist John Green said in an e-mail.
“Controversy tends to spend down political capital, so it is generally better for governors to do the most controversial things early in their terms when their capital is large,” said Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.
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