Governor Voinovich's Selected Speeches   

1994 State of the State Address (5th January, 1994)
State Capitol Columbus, Ohio

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Mr. Speaker -- Mr. President -- Lt. Governor DeWine -- distinguished members of Ohio's 120th General Assembly -- justices of the Supreme Court -- elected state office holders -- members of the cabinet -- my wife, Janet -- friends -- and fellow Ohioans.

As all of you know, our State Treasurer, Mary Ellen Withrow, has been appointed Treasurer of the United States by President Clinton -- congratulations, Mary Ellen.

It's hard to believe that this is my fourth State of the State address, and, according to the Historical Society, the first one ever outside the House Chambers.

I miss being there, because it's where I started my career 27 years ago.

Mr. Speaker, I know you feel the same way, as you begin your 36th year as a member of the House and 20th as Speaker.

I want to say a special word of welcome to the students of Jim Kerr's "human anatomy and physiology" class at Beaver Local High School in Columbiana County, along with students at Lisbon and Salem High Schools, who are joining us through two-way, interactive technology.

Students, I'm sure everyone is interested in why we've invited you to be part of the State of the State presentation -- we'll get to that a little later.

1993 was a very good year for the citizens of Ohio because the legislative and executive branches of state government worked together for their benefit.

I want to thank House Speaker Vern Riffe and Senate President Stan Aronoff for your continued leadership through another year of challenge and significant change, and for keeping the spirit of bipartisan cooperation and teamwork alive and well during 1993. I especially want to thank you for your friendship during some very difficult times.

I will never forget your support, counsel, encouragement, and prayers during the darkest, most difficult days of my career -- the Lucasville prison riot.

My feelings of gratitude also extend to the rest of you in the 120th General Assembly for what we accomplished together in 1993. We have had our differences, but chose to look for common ground in order to do the very best we could for our fellow citizens.

I'm convinced that 1993 will go down as one of the most productive legislative periods in anyone's memory, with accomplishments that include: Workers' compensation reform -- our Education for Results reform package -- PASSPORT expansions for older Ohioans -- record funding for the Ohio E.P.A. -- the start-up of our community corrections program -- Medicaid reform -- passage of our parks and natural resources bond issue -- and many others.

I was flattered last summer when the independent Sheridan Report gave me high marks for making major changes in these and other entrenched systems.

But no one understands better than I do that change in state government cannot occur without true partnership between the legislative and executive branches.

I want to focus today on what I've referred to during the last year or so as "Ohio 2000/Ohio First" -- our practical vision for making Ohio a national leader and world-class competitor now, and number one by the year 2000.

Today, each of you has received a copy of this action plan for change.

As you will see, Ohio 2000/Ohio First is several things: A summary of what we, working together, have accomplished since 1991 -- a number of "next steps" that I believe should be taken in 1994 and beyond -- and an explanation of how it all ties together, recognizing that we will need a full-court press on many fronts to get the job done.

Despite some real progress in many areas over the last three years, there are still too many Ohioans out of work, and far too many individuals, families, and businesses struggling to survive in an environment that seems to change nearly every day.

In the global marketplace and on the high-speed, information highway, our competition is coming on stronger than ever before. To merely keep pace, Ohio must continue to change.

To lead once again, Ohio must excel like never before.

What's at stake is nothing less than the standard of living our children will inherit from us.

It was with this view of the challenges before us -- coupled with a personal commitment to be an agent for change -- that I decided early on, to stay focused on several primary areas which I felt had the greatest potential to bring about the kind of change necessary for Ohio.

Those areas have been management, education, jobs, and quality of life, which includes environmental quality, crime- and drug-free communities, and access to affordable, quality health care.

I will briefly discuss each of these four areas of focus today -- both in terms of what we have accomplished together, but more importantly, the challenges that remain for us to tackle.

Management

Management is part of our blueprint, because state government must work up to its capacity, if the rest of the state is to do the same.

I was very pleased that Osborne and Gaebler quoted a line from my Inaugural Address in their book, Reinventing Government.

It read: "Gone are the days when public officials are measured by how much they spend on a problem. The new realities dictate that public officials are now judged on whether they can work harder and smarter, and do more with less."

Let me tell you -- we've been reinventing state government in Ohio for the past three years!

We've restrained the spending spiral of the '80's, cutting it back 25 percent, and saving taxpayers nearly $4 billion in the process.

Overall, the growth of Ohio's budget increased at its lowest rate in a quarter century.

Significant improvements have been made to our state agencies, thanks to the outstanding leadership of our Cabinet directors. I believe we have the most professional, experienced, committed Cabinet Ohio has seen for years, and I want to thank them again for their departments' outstanding service to the citizens of Ohio.

We've been supported in this effort by the advice and counsel of numerous public-private partnerships, which have truly helped us to work harder and smarter, and do more with less.

The flagship of these -- our Operations Improvement Task Force -- conducted the largest private-sector audit of state government in Ohio history.

While we have already implemented 63 percent of the administrative recommendations and 46 percent of the legislative, we need your support in implementing those recommendations that remain.

With respect to the future, our principle "management" objective is to carry on with our "Quality Services through Partnership" program, which would not have been possible without the cooperation of our enlightened labor union leadership.

To date, 3,500 State of Ohio workers have received the three-day quality training, and we're going to keep at it until all of them have taken the course.

Our program is all about labor and management working together to empower the right people to get the right results for our customers, the citizens of Ohio.

Already, Ohio's "quality" program is looked on as a model in the country.

Education

Next, education.

The new paradigm in education is lifelong learning -- in school and on the job.

From preschool through post-secondary education to job training and retraining, life in the 21st century will require people to spend more time learning.

That's why it's so clear that without good schools and colleges -- good jobs will not survive.

Before I talk about primary and secondary education, I want to say a few words about higher education.

My hat is off to Ohio's colleges and universities, which have accepted the challenge to cut costs and refocus their missions as laid out in the Board of Regents' "Securing the Future" report and recommendations from their individual Operations Improvement Task Forces.

Already, new efficiency measures are saving millions of dollars on campuses across the state -- duplicate courses and subject majors are being consolidated or cut altogether -- and, thanks to your efforts, undergraduate faculty members are spending more time where our students need them most -- in the classroom!

We need to keep the ball rolling in '94!

With respect to K through 12, we remain committed to achieving the six national education goals by the year 2000 -- and I'm very proud to say that we've begun to see dramatic improvement in some areas.

For example, an estimated 95 percent of high school seniors will have passed the 9th grade proficiency test by the end of the current school year -- up from 51 percent just three years ago.

That is a huge accomplishment -- and it's happening because students, teachers, parents, and communities are focused on a common goal.

Our efforts to achieve goal number one, that our kids enter school ready to learn, stayed on course, thanks in part to our 23 percent increase in funding for programs that serve Ohio children and families.

From Head Start, where we lead the nation in state funding, to increased dollars for childhood immunizations and expanded day care enrollment -- we truly are making a difference.

And I'm excited about our nine Family and Children First pilot projects in 13 counties, which are helping us find local, homegrown solutions to cut government red tape, coordinate service delivery, and assure that the dollars we spend on our families are being spent wisely.

Marion Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund was kind enough to say, "If every state had a governor that provided this level of leadership on children, we would be ready for the future."

It's nice that someone of her stature would notice -- but, again, what's been accomplished so far in Ohio, we've done together. Let there be no doubt: In 1991, we drew the line in the sand for Ohio's children -- and we stood our ground!

Our "Education for Results" reform package provided funding that will support many school improvement measures, including expanded proficiency testing in the basics -- improved teacher training, especially in science and math -- and "break-the-mold" schools that use classroom innovations to produce better academic results.

Yet, despite all that we've done, there are still far too many Ohio students enrolled in "general education" coursework. General education leads to general unemployment, and we've got to break the cycle now!

That's why we committed ourselves to School-to-Work programs.

Tech Prep, our nationally acclaimed Jobs for Ohio's Graduates program, and the six pilot projects, including the German apprenticeship program in Blufton, will help teach our students the workplace skills Ohio employers are looking for. But we can't stop here.

I still believe we need a common-sense system that grants licenses only to those people who have demonstrated that they can teach -- evaluates teacher performance regularly -- intervenes when improvement is necessary -- and ultimately removes those few who do not or cannot improve.

Toward that end, I will again seek legislation.

I think most teachers will embrace it as a way to preserve the integrity of their profession and assure that our children are being taught by only the very best.

And, to better help students plan for their futures, I will again seek legislation to help students and their parents map out strategies that connect high school coursework with getting a job, or going on to college.

We must also re-establish our schools as safe learning zones -- not combat zones.

That means Ohio must be a leader in achieving national goal number six -- drug- and violence-free schools.

It's time to get guns, drugs, and violence out of the classroom!

On Monday, Lt. Governor DeWine and I announced a major recommendation to help curb the spread of guns in our schools and elsewhere.

While we pursue that course, I am also recommending that money be set aside in the next capital budget to provide metal detectors and other security equipment.

And I have authorized the use of drug-sniffing dogs for periodic "sweeps" by the Highway Patrol -- working in cooperation with local law enforcement officials -- in those schools where the local board of education chooses to take advantage of our offer.

Our school systems are working very hard to keep their schools safe and help youngsters find ways other than violence to resolve their problems.

But they need help now -- and it's our responsibility to provide it.

Ohio's parents need to know that their children are safe at school!

I'm pleased that, together, we have maintained our commitment to addressing one of our most pressing education challenges -- improving equity among Ohio's school districts.

That commitment included full funding for the 170 poorest school districts in the difficult 1992 budget -- $45 million in equity funding in '93 -- $135 million in additional funding in '94 and '95 -- and $15.3 million in the current budget for technology equity.

In addition, working together in the last budget, we set aside funds to leverage $68 million to our low-wealth districts for building renovation or construction.

Today, I am recommending that we allocate an additional $70 million in the upcoming capital budget, which will double our commitment to those districts.

And we must do even more.

I am today asking that the leadership of the House and Senate join me in a shared effort to examine all remaining alternatives to improve equity, including the earmarking of state dollars for primary and secondary education, and dusting off the recommendations of previous legislative reviews.

Regardless of the outcome of the court case, it's time for us to take the next step toward equity in our educational system. On top of all of these measures, I am also proposing a significant, new infusion of state dollars into the one area that can most quickly close the equity gap -- technology.

Without technology, many of our Ohio companies would not be competing in the global marketplace.

And technology is quickly becoming part of an educational revolution that can improve classroom productivity, student results, and school district financial equity.

From distance learning to the fast-paced productivity that can come from individualized, computer-aided learning and instruction, computer technology can change classroom structure and eliminate many limits to learning.

That's why Jim Kerr's class at Beaver Local High School is with us today!

Without the interactive system made possible through technology, those students in two other Columbiana County High Schools would not be studying anatomy and physiology this year with Mr. Kerr.

Ladies and gentlemen, what you see on the screen is the classroom of the future in Ohio.

It's time to bring the 21st century into all Ohio schools!

Accordingly, I am today announcing "SchoolNet" -- Ohio's commitment to bring telecommunications and computer technology into the classroom over the next five years.

SchoolNet has three primary components.

The first step is to wire every classroom in every school to provide for voice, video, and data transmission -- including interactive "distance" learning, which is what is going on in Mr. Kerr's classroom today.

I am suggesting that $50 million in the upcoming capital budget be set aside to fund this initiative, beginning with our lowest-wealth districts.

Second, another $45 million in capital funding will be earmarked to put a computer with CD-ROM capability and a modem, or other related equipment, in every classroom in the poorest 25 percent of the public school districts -- an estimated 14,000 classrooms.

Third, we must make a greater state investment to help provide in-service training for our teachers, to make sure they are prepared to utilize this technology and take advantage of other break-the-mold concepts that will move Ohio ahead of the class. This step is critical to the success of our mission, and, again -- some school districts are already using technology and distance learning to train their teachers and administrators.

What will SchoolNet mean to Ohio schools?

It will expand our available curriculum and give our students access to the best experts and teachers -- people like Jim Kerr. It will literally plug our schools into the finest libraries, educational resources, and most up-to-date information, not only across Ohio, but across America and the world!

Some of those things have already begun to happen in Columbiana County.

The smallest high school there -- Southern Local -- had about 50 total course offerings in their curriculum last year, compared to schools in wealthier districts across Ohio that offer more than 200 courses.

This year, thanks to the county's interactive network, 10 new courses have been added to the curriculum at Southern Local -- and more are on the way.

That's a 20 percent increase in course offerings at a cost of $10,000, in addition to a one-time construction cost of $50,000. To accomplish that in the traditional way would cost $500,000 per school year.

This is truly working harder and smarter.

Mr. Kerr -- I'm looking forward to visiting with your class after my remarks and answering their questions.

I just hope they don't ask me anything about human anatomy or physiology!

Congratulations to you and your students.

You are true pioneers on the new frontier of education in Ohio, and we salute you.

Jobs

Getting technology into our classrooms is important, primarily, because of what it will do to help prepare our young people for the high performance workplace of the 21st century.

As we turn our focus now to jobs, we must remember that our number one job creator and retainer is lifelong learning and our commitment to education improvement.

Beyond that, we've worked hard to redirect Ohio's economic development strategy -- capitalize on our strengths -- and improve the business climate of our state.

Our streamlined Development Department, with its 12 regional offices that you funded, is now providing the best-ever, highly focused assistance to communities across Ohio -- just ask them!

The Jobs Creation Act of 1992, or "Jobs Bill I" -- in just one year -- has encouraged 91 companies to invest more than $1 billion and create or save more than 11,300 jobs -- and it's now viewed as a model nationally.

Not only that -- we've learned that Site Selection and Industrial Development magazine has just ranked Ohio first in the nation in new business facilities and expansions -- up from 12th just three years ago!

Three of our metro areas ranked in the top ten in the country -- Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria was third -- Columbus, fourth -- and Cincinnati, fifth.

Ladies and gentlemen -- the rust is off the belt!

We've focused our job-creating activity in several key areas of traditional strength in Ohio: Agribusiness, exports, travel and tourism, and science and technology.

In fact, we'll be coming to you this year for help in implementing the recommendations of our science and technology and export task forces.

Looking ahead and building on what we have already accomplished, we will soon introduce Jobs Bill II to fur

Several highlights include:

an income tax credit to help displaced workers get training to improve their skills;

a $5 million-per-year Defense Conversion Assistance Fund to help defense-oriented companies and their employees transition to commercial opportunities;

and a corporate franchise or personal income tax credit to help small- and medium-sized companies invest in new equipment and technology.

I am also committed to expanding our "Jobs: Ohio's Future" strategy for training and preparing a high-performance, globally competitive workforce.

In this regard, we will bring 10 more of our "one-stop" customer service centers on line around Ohio in 1994, and start-up our new computerized "Job Net" program, which matches job seekers to jobs all over Ohio by looking at their skills rather than their previous job title.

I'm proud of our jobs-creation record over the last three years, but we must do more.

We cannot rest until every man and woman who wants a job in Ohio has one!

Quality of Life

Finally, the fourth component of our Ohio 2000/Ohio First strategy, involves doing everything possible to assure the most desirable quality of life today and tomorrow for our citizens.

There are many factors which affect the quality of life we enjoy as Ohioans, and we have identified three as being most important: Environmental quality -- crime- and violence-free communities -- and cutting the escalating cost of health care for those who have it, while providing access to those who do not.

With respect to the environment, we can all take pride that Ohio leads all other industrial states in getting companies to participate in voluntary pollution prevention.

Also, passage last fall of our statewide parks and natural resources bond issue gives us the permanent funding source we need to preserve Ohio's natural areas for current and future generations.

What a wonderful legacy we made possible with the approval of our citizens.

We also increased funding for the E.P.A. by 60 percent, so that it can substantially improve its regulatory activity and respond more efficiently to those being regulated.

We must take action early in 1994 on Senate Bill 221, sponsored by Senator Montgomery, to help our major urban centers in cleaning up environmentally unsafe and abandoned industrial sites and recycling them to produce jobs for our inner city residents. In the area of crime and substance abuse, we have made real gains.

The Ohio National Guard has seized over $325 million in illegal drugs and weapons since 1991, including two straight record-breaking years -- and the Ohio Highway Patrol's 15 drug interdiction teams have also set records the last two years, seizing $46 million in drugs, cash, and other property.

In 1992, there were 84 fewer alcohol-related fatalities on our highways than in 1991, and with our new license revocation law, we will do even better, thanks to you.

Other initiatives -- some of them partnerships that Mike DeWine has forged with the Attorney General's office -- are providing local law enforcement officials with the tools they need to get their job done.

They include an automated fingerprint system -- the center for human identification -- the planned DNA crime lab -- and increasing the accuracy of our criminal record system from five to 60 percent.

To keep pace with our growing inmate population, the total number of prison beds will increase, over the next two or three years, by more than 7,000 above 1990 levels, including a new "supermax" prison in Northern Ohio.

And listen to these numbers: We increased the number of prisoners working on community service projects from 180 in January '91 to over 13,000 last year.

With your support, we've begun making dramatic changes in the way Ohio deals with juvenile offenders through our Reclaim Ohio program.

We are trying to shift the focus away from state reformatories to community solutions.

But you ask any Ohioan, and he or she will tell you that crime is still out of hand.

We have to keep moving forward on other important fronts this year, including:

construction of a new high-security facility for violent juvenile offenders;

enactment of a "three-strikes-you're-out" law to toughen penalties against repeat, violent offenders;

tougher penalties for crimes against children, including death penalty specifications for people who kill children; and, continued implementation of our community corrections approach for non-violent offenders to help reduce recidivism and make room for more violent prisoners in our state institutions.

Finally, the tragic loss of Officer Robert Vallandingham at Lucasville reminds us that it is time to do something more about the status of capital punishment in Ohio.

I agree with his mom and dad, who took the time to express their feelings to me personally -- the appeals never end.

Accordingly, I am today announcing my intention to seek your approval of a constitutional amendment to be placed on the November ballot, which would eliminate the review of death penalty cases by the court of appeals.

We know that this will cut the appeals process by approximately two years.

We also support the concepts outlined in House Bill 437, which would restructure Habeas corpus and post-conviction petitions to further reduce delays in processing capital punishment cases.

It's time to recognize that justice in capital punishment cases has, for decades, been a prisoner, itself -- held captive by a system that's not working -- a system that prolongs the suffering of victims and their families -- wastes untold amounts of taxpayer dollars -- and renders the death penalty anything but a deterrent to heinous crimes!

"Justice delayed is justice denied."

On the other hand, we must constantly recognize that our Family and Children First Initiative -- our Education for Results package -- our School-to-Work programs -- our "Jobs: Ohio's Future" initiative -- and our efforts to create more job opportunities -- will do more to reduce crime and harness our expanding prison population than anything else we can do.

In the meantime, we must do everything possible to make our schools and communities safe from those who have no respect for the law, for personal property, or for human life, itself.

We've also made strides in our shared quest to provide access to quality, affordable health care to all Ohioans. Our first priority must be to cut costs and eliminate waste so that those Ohioans who are now covered can continue to keep that coverage.

We have, together, begun to contain the spiraling cost of Medicaid.

Our new reimbursement system for long-term care will save Ohio taxpayers more than $470 million by the end of fiscal year 1995. And more than 18,000 older Ohioans will be receiving loving care at home, where they would rather be, at one-third the cost, instead of in nursing homes, thanks to our PASSPORT program and our Community Care initiative.

We must continue to expand the use of managed care in Medicaid.

The use of managed care for our state employees reduced our costs by $6 million and saved $34 million against the projected 15 percent increase we were expecting.

We must use this same managed care approach to provide health care coverage for Ohio's working poor, as outlined in our OhioCare proposal.

We must now seek a federal Medicaid waiver to extend medical coverage to uninsured, working Ohioans living below the poverty line. OhioCare will provide health coverage to approximately half a million Ohioans who are not covered by Medicaid or insurance.

It will help control state Medicaid spending and result in better, more affordable care by emphasizing preventive medicine and encouraging competition between health care plans.

OhioCare will not cost additional dollars, because money now used for uncompensated hospital care will be redirected to cover those costs for low-income individuals.

This managed care approach can help eliminate one of the biggest stumbling blocks to freeing people from welfare and is entirely consistent with our welfare reform efforts in Ohio.

1994 must be the year for meeting our health care challenge in Ohio!

Conclusion

Nearly three years ago in my Inaugural Address, I spoke of our need to recapture Ohio's innovative spirit -- that same spirit which transformed Ohio from a rough frontier outpost at the start of the 19th century into a national leader at the turn of the 20th.

My intention then, as it is today, is to reclaim that stature, for our children and grandchildren, as we prepare to embark on a new century and a new millennium.

Ohio 2000/Ohio First represents a practical vision for helping us achieve that goal by setting our sights on a short list of critical priorities.

It is comprehensive, realistic, and achievable.

What's at stake is nothing less than the ability of our children to compete and succeed in the global economy of the 21st century. Our competition is only going to get more formidable.

Two world wars this century have tested America's strength -- and the Cold War tested our resolve.

In each case, America prevailed.

In the 21st century, the economic war will test our nation's ingenuity as it's never been tested before.

I think my two mottos apply very well to this challenge.

One is our state motto: "With God, all things are possible."

The other is the motto I've used since my days as Mayor of Cleveland: "Together, we can do it."

With God's help and together, I'm confident that America will once again rise to the challenge -- and Ohio will be there to lead the way.

Thank you, and God bless Ohio!