Ohio's Lt. Governor holds roundtable with Wooster Chamber
When was the last time Americans witnessed government leaders working with and listening to leaders in business and industry? Those attending the roundtable discussion on Aug. 9 with Ohio's Lt. Governor, Mary Taylor, would have found members of the Wooster Chamber of Commerce talking about government regulations that impact the operation of their businesses. And, the Lt. Governor was listening. Mary Taylor is leading the Common Sense Initiative (CSI Ohio) to reform Ohio's regulatory policies. She also is the director of the Ohio Dept. of Insurance, which the two assignments, according to the Ohio Governor's Web site, work together to make "Ohio a jobs – and business – friendly state." CSI Ohio is tasked with reviewing Ohio's regulatory system to eliminate excessive and duplicate rules and regulations that may stand in the way of job creation. To date, approximately 25 roundtables have been held across Ohio with more planned in future weeks. "We've held at least one roundtable in every region in the state so far and plan to hold one or two roundtable meetings a week depending on my schedule in Columbus," Taylor said. "We're working on a formal review process for rules and regulations working with businesses across the state. Part of our goal is to reduce regulations that burden businesses here in Ohio and impact creating jobs. Our plan is to take every issue brought up in the discussions back to Columbus with us and develop an action plan. The goal is to address redundancy in regulations, to make complying less complicated and less costly while continuing to protect the health and safety of Ohio residents," she said. One of the success stories Taylor cited was the "Blue Sign Rule" in Ohio. The signs along the highways that list the restaurants and gas stations at an upcoming exit are called the Blue Signs and have been the responsibility of the Ohio Dept. of Transportation (ODOT). There were no formal rules around how businesses advertised on the signs and ODOT wanted to develop specific policies. Taylor said they were asked to go through the formal CSI rule process so that they could help put together the needed policies for advertising on the blue signs. An example of working directly with a company Taylor shared was about a small business that called and said they had overpaid their sales tax by $65,000. The taxation department said they would refund but it would take six months. CSI worked with the taxation department to expedite the refund to just a couple of weeks. Taylor said that some of the issues brought up by Wooster Chamber members were concerns she had not heard in any of the other roundtable meetings. Businesses attending varied and included manufacturing, transportation and economic development among others. Sandra Hull, executive director of Main Street Wooster, Inc., a local non-profit organization focused on the economic development of downtown Wooster, requested the Lt. Governor help find a new economic development vehicle to replace the lost funding for Main Street projects. "There are 32 Main Street programs across the state of Ohio all working to revitalize business districts in downtown areas," Hull said. "Our organization has reduced the building vacancy in downtown Wooster from 42 percent to 5 percent vacancy. We need a new vehicle to help us continue this form of economic development," she said. Paul Williams, president of Wooster Motor Ways and chairman of the Ohio Truck Association expressed concerns over the rising fees for transportation companies to be able to take heavy loads on the Ohio Turnpike. Current fees are between $50 and $350 to transport heavy loads just a few miles on the turnpike. Fees are scheduled to go up as high as $3,500. He also discussed issues with drivers being able to self-insure so that they would be covered when driving loads in other states and mentioned some of the redundancy in HASMAT regulations. He also mentioned that plate fees for commercial trailers are so expensive in Ohio that many trailers have plates registered in Maine to save license plate fees. Issues with the Bureau of Worker's Compensation (BWC) were also discussed by several companies in attendance. Pat Neyhart, vice president of Wooster Glass Company and chairman of the Wooster Chamber voiced concern that employees have so much power with the BWC and the employers have almost none. Taylor said that CSI hears all the time that BWC favors the injured worker more so than the employer. Employers at the roundtable expressed concerns over the abuses of the BWC system. CSI has a business advocate that companies can call for information about BWC rules, laws and administrative procedures. Taylor said they are working with BWC to find better solutions for both employees and employers. Taylor mentioned at the end of the meeting that she spent 8 hours the day before learning about the taxes associated with President Obama's Affordable Health Care Act. She said the instructor couldn't cover all of the taxes in one full day of class. For more information about CSI Ohio, visit http://www.governor.ohio.gov/PrioritiesandInitiatives/CommonSenseInitiative.aspx. Photo by Patricia Faulhaber: Mary Taylor, Lt. Governor for the state of Ohio addresses members of the Wooster Chamber of Commerce and other guests. She stopped in Wooster to explain how she has been meeting with businesses throughout Ohio to listen to businesses about redundant regulations and other issues that are problematic to companies and organizations.Photo by Patricia Faulhaber: Ohio's Lt. Governor, Mary Taylor, discusses the Common Sense Initiative (CSI- Ohio) and how the specially formed group has been assigned the task of reforming Ohio's regulatory policies with Wooster Chamber of Commerce chairman and vice president of the Wooster Glass Company, Pat Neyhart.