Voinovich, DeWine oppose TEL

Sen. George Voinovich said he plans to help defeat the proposed Tax and Expenditure Limitation (TEL) amendment, which Ken Blackwell has made a centerpiece of his gubernatorial campaign. The Ohio Republican Party also is backing the plan, which would limit increases in state and local government spending to what was spent the previous year, adjusted for inflation and population growth, without voter approval.

"I may get involved in this whole issue of the TEL that Kenny Blackwell is supporting because I really feel that it’s not in the best interest of the people of Ohio,” Voinovich said, explaining that putting an “artificial limit” on what the state and local governments can spend that’s “not based on need or anything else” would cause problems.

“It’s just an artificial cap,” he said. “It really takes the power away from the governor and legislature to deal with the problems confronting the state and puts it on automatic pilot.”

Sen. Mike DeWine, a Cedarville Republican, also spoke out against the bill when he ran into reporters in the Senate Office Building hallway shortly after Voinovich’s breakfast.

“From what I’ve seen about it … it would hurt local governments and it would hurt education,” he said.

By the way, Voinovich and DeWine both said they are not endorsing either Secretary of State Blackwell or Attorney General Jim Petro in this spring’s heated Republican primary for governor.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Sabrina Eaton was in the hallway with DeWine and two other reporters when he made these comments. Read her take, and Blackwell's response, on the TEL stuff here.