The state and a national organization met in the Ohio Supreme Court this week to settle their fight over a fund that holds $260 million dollars. Though that's a relatively small sum in terms of the state budget, but the issues surrounding that money are huge. Gov. Ted Strickland has formally appealed the Obama administration's denial of federal aid for victims of last month's destructive tornadoes in northwest Ohio. Former Youngstown area congressman James Traficant, who was featured on the show last week, has been disqualified in his effort to run for a return to Congress.
A new budget year has dawned in many states over the last week. Ohio is at the halfway point in its budget cycle, and this week the state budget planning and management commission met for a second time to hear about how bad the upcoming budget crisis is. Though lawmakers aren't likely to make recommendations on the budget before the fall election, several experts have offered their thoughts. This week, John Begala, executive director of the Center for Community Solutions, goes over his report called "Thinking the Unthinkable - Finding Common Ground for Resolving Ohio's Fiscal Crisis." Joining him with another perspective is Dr. Richard Vedder, distinguished professor of economics at Ohio University who's associated with conservative think-tanks including the Buckeye Institute and The Cato Institute.