CHRISTINA HAGAN AND THE REPOSITORY COLLABORATE ON PUBLIC RELATIONS PIECE?

Running for retention as a state representative (50th Ohio District - Stark County) on her record, Republican Christina Hagan needs ratchet things up on the positive side.  Otherwise, if the Democrats run anyone with any sort of political heft, she may never become the elected state rep.

As things stand now, she has at least three huge negatives on her record.

She voted yes for the anti-collective bargaining bill (Senate Bill 5) which went down in flames in a voter referendum on November 8th as state issue 2.

She voted for the 2012-2013 state of Ohio biennium budget which is going to cost Stark County local governments millions of dollars over the next two years.

And she voted to split Stark County into three congressional districts and then tried along with Stark County Republican Chairman Jeff Matthews to spin the slicing and dicing of Stark as being a good thing.

Hagan is proving with her legislative initiative a state legislator she is not. 

She has sponsored, as a primary sponsor, four bills since her appointment by the Republican Ohio House Caucus on March 2, 2011, to wit:  (Source)

• May 24, 2011 - H.B. No. 236 - To enact section 5533.767 of the Revised Code to designate a portion of United States Route 30 within Stark County only as the "Staff Sgt. Kevin J. Kessler Memorial Highway."  As of November 29, 2011,  it sits in the Transportation, Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee with "no" action taken.
• June 21, 2011 - H.B No. 274 - To amend sections 122.013, 122.94, and 125.112 of the Revised Code to require the Department of Development to report economic development award information to the General Assembly and the public and to remove the responsibility of the Attorney General to publish economic development award reports.  As of November 29, 2011, it sits in the Economic and Small Business Development Committee with "no" action taken.
• September 1, 2011 - H.B. No. 311 - To enact section 5533.768 of the Revised Code to designate a portion of U.S. Route 62 in Stark County as the "U.S. Army Spc. Zachary Grass Memorial Highway."  As of November 29, 2011,  it sits in the Transportation, Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee with "no" action taken.
• November 2, 2011 - H.B. No 368 - To amend sections 101.82 and 103.13 and to enact sections 103.35 to 103.39 and 107.036 of the Revised Code to create the Long-range Financial Outlook Council for the purpose of informing the public and the General Assembly about the financial status of the state by studying financial and other conditions and issuing an annual long-range financial outlook report.  As of  November 29, 2011, it sits in the Finance and Appropriations Committee with "no" action taken.

It is fine for Hagan to want to honor America's fallen heroes.  Moreover, it is okay to want to change who keeps tabs on Ohio's economic development awards and to have a nonpartisan agency of Ohio government tells us all what will be an "educated" guess on Ohio's long range financial outlook.  But she should tack on a number of additional items that need urgent attention for the well being of Stark County.

Recognizing that she is a political novice and has very limited capacity to do heavy legislative lifting, the SCPR suggests she tackle just one additional thing for now.

• Take the list of unfunded state of Ohio mandates that Stark County Common Pleas Judge Taryn Heath gave to her fellow legislators (Oelslager, Schuring and Slesnick) and initiating legislation to undo them.

For it appears that neither Oelslager, Schuring nor Slesnick are going to be getting anything done to alleviate these burdensome problems for Stark County.

Despite the passage of the 0.50 sales tax on November 8th, Stark County is still in dire financial straits.

Apparently, Hagan contacted Robert Wang of The Repository about her sponsorship of, as a co-prime-sponsor, H.B. No. 368 and induced him to do a public relations-esque piece (November 27th). 

Long range financial prospects guessing is some sort of urgent priority for the well being of Ohio and by inclusion Stark County?

The SCPR contacted one Ohio think tank for an analysis of the importance of H.B. No 368 in the legislative scheme of things.

Response:  Where's the value added?  Hagan's (or any legislator, for that matter) should be devoting her legislative energies towards covering the $2 billion shortfall in Ohio's educational funding that is going to hit Ohio's school districts in the new fiscal cycle (2012 - 2013).

It would be interesting to know why Wang thought this meaningless piece of legislation deserved the attention he paid to it.  A slow news day?

Reportedly, Governor Kasich was not real impressed with H.B. No. 368 and let it be known to her.

But this is what you get when you take a college student and restaurant server and put her in the Ohio Legislature.

If she lacks direction on what to do legislatively with some sort of purpose, Hagan could comfortably follow the agenda of the business/Republican oriented Ohio Chamber of Commerce 2011-12 legislative agenda by seeking to take one of its suggested bills, let's say in the area of "Reform:  Reform Ohio's state and local governments into effective 21st century institutions" and go with it.

Now that would be a real achievement!