Democrats are continuing to sound off about a recent report that Worthington Industries received more than 600-thousand dollars worth of state tax credits under Gov. John Kasich, who received a salary as a board member and deferred compensation payouts from that company. House Minority Leader Tracy Heard of Columbus is raising concerns about the decision that Kasich made a clean break from the company announced last week by the chair of the Ohio Ethics Commission – who is a Kasich appointee and campaign contributor.
"I think it's a conflict," says Heard. "And whether it's something that we have to address legislatively, there is a perceived perception of undue influence and that has to be addressed.”
Two House Democrats will introduce legislation tomorrow/Tuesday that Heard says will address those concerns. Though Democrats are deep in the minority and Republicans have passed legislation to shield JobsOhio from public audits, she says that doesn’t relieve Democrats of the responsibility to propose this new bill.