Thank you to MediaTrackers for this eye-opening article.
Ohio’s $2.39 billion capital budget signed last week by Republican Governor John Kasich includes dozens of local “infrastructure” projects of dubious value (make sure to read the list) to state taxpayers.
The bill employs a common tactic, redistributing state spending for local projects in such a way that lobbyists and politicians cannot criticize the pie without jeopardizing their slice.
Even excluding college and university spending — $18.5 million for science lab renovations at Kent State, for example — Kasich’s capital budget includes numerous outlays whose benefits to taxpayers in other parts of Ohio are difficult to explain.