The Jobs Ohio bill passed the Ohio Senate where all but two Democrats voted for it after changes were made to make the job creation board more transparent. Democratic Senator Mike Skindell was one of those who voted against it. He said the house handed the senate a bill that he compared to a house made out of straw.
"The Senate Jobs of House Ohio, nevertheless in my opinion, is only a house of wood. It is not a house of brick," he says. "Which would provide adequate transparency and protection of tax payer dollars--including that first million dollars going to this company."
Republican Senator Bill Seitz likened Ohio’s current development department to a house on fire and said the senate must pass the bill immediately. That happened. It was then zinged to the Ohio House where members voted on the Senate’s changes. But Democrats in the House were less enthusiastic about the bill, even after their counterparts in the Senate had changed it and voted for it. Republican Representative Bob Mechlenborg was quick to point out to House Democrats that they were out of step with their senate colleagues.
"And I apprciate the cander of a couple members that say this could have been on a slow boat--we just don't like this bill," he says. "Because that's what the reality of it is. Your colleagues in the senate, all but two voted in favor of this bill. They were satisfied."
In the end, only two Democrats in the House voted for the Senate passed bill but it passed anyway because majority Republicans approved it. The bill now goes to Governor Kasich for his approval.