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News: Ohio Business Climate Slips in National Rating, Toledo Blade
Notes: Business climate rankings should be interpreted carefully and not taken as a Divine insight into business and community opportunities. First we all know that restaurants, research and development, and manufacturing will need different resources when selecting a location to establish their business. Second, Site Selector magazine uses tax ranking data that is highly problematic when calculating the tax responsibility of businesses. Finally, almost every new business will start up and select a site near to the owner. Instead of arbitrary rankings, Ohio should look at our poverty rate (1 out of 4 kids in poverty), college completion rates, and the quality of life in our communities.
News: Granting Opportunity, Toledo Blade
Notes: The Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG) was cut by $224 million in 2009 and denied Community College students access. By restoring these funds, Ohio can improve access and opportunity for thousands of Ohioans attending 2 year degree programs, anchor them in the communities, and create a strong workforce that will attract businesses to inveset in Ohio.
News: School levies are the big issue for Ohio Voters, Public News Service
Notes: Ohio voters will decide on 194 school issues, 72 of which are asking for new money. School financing in Ohio is a mixture of state and local funding. The state of Ohio continues to underfund public education, including $607 million less in the most recent budget compared to 2010-11 budget.
News: Vote Tuesday, It Matters, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Notes: A great editorial reminding people about the importance of local elections. From school board to city council, Ohioans have many leadership positions to fill and 1,678 local issues to vote on.
