Sat Mar 13 2010
CAPITAL NEWS
BY MARC KOVAC, CAPITAL BUREAU CHIEF
Would you pay $475,000 to help Chuck E. Cheese? Or $100,000 to provide wireless Internet service to businesses in one of the high-income areas of Columbus? Or $1.65 million for a shrine to individuals who make more in a few days on a football field than most of us earn our entire working lives?
The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions wouldn't. And it doesn't think folks at the Statehouse should be doling out taxpayer dollars for such projects, either.
Last week, the conservative think tank released its 2009 Ohio Piglet Book, subtitled "The book Ohio's government doesn't want you to read."
"Ohio's elected officials should always spend tax dollars effectively and efficiently," said David Hansen, president of the institute. "In times of budget deficits, it is especially important that legislators and the governor make every effort to ensure that money is spent only on those government programs which are truly needed. They have yet to make this effort in Ohio."
You'll find a copy of the book online at www.buckeyeinstitute.org. It outlines millions of dollars of what the institute believes is wasteful spending by the powers that be -- grants for a gay men's chorus and museums, road projects that benefit specific businesses, even a city's ballet program that already costs up to 100 bucks a ticket to attend.
The report concludes, "The ripple effects of the recession are very pronounced in Ohio. For example, over the last two years, Ohio has lost 641,800 jobs. In the meantime, the state Legislature has been spending money on ridiculous items, such as the Cleveland Swingband Foundation and an apprenticeship for breakdancing. This is not good stewardship of Ohio tax dollars."
David Williams, representing the Citizens Against Government Waste, which collaborated on the Piglet Book, used the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton as an example. It received $1.65 million from the state last year.
NFL players are signing big-money contracts -- some worth tens of millions of dollars.
"This $1.6 million is probably about the cost of one of T.O.'s tantrums," Williams said, referring to wide receiver Terrell Owens. "They could call up and ask the NFL players for a couple thousand dollars here or there. There is absolutely no reason Ohio taxpayers should be asked to fund the Pro Football Hall of Fame."
He added, "It's tough economic times across the country, especially here in Ohio. What's the first thing that goes? That spending on art, entertainment, because what the average household does is focus on the bare necessities ... And that's what governments need to do in times of economic crisis."
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