Village of Batavia Administrator Dennis Nichols asks a question to, from left, Rep. Doug Green, Sen. Joe Uecker and Rep. John Becker at the Clermont Chamber of Commerce’s legislative breakfast on Dec. 3, 2015 at the Holiday Inn and Suites in Eastgate.

Village of Batavia Administrator Dennis Nichols asks a question to, from left, Rep. Doug Green, Sen. Joe Uecker and Rep. John Becker at the Clermont Chamber of Commerce’s legislative breakfast on Dec. 3, 2015 at the Holiday Inn and Suites in Eastgate.
By Kelly Cantwell
Editor

A Clermont Chamber of Commerce legislative breakfast on Dec. 3 gave attendees a chance to talk to their state elected officials about questions and concerns.

Rep. John Becker, Rep. Doug Green and Sen. Joe Uecker were all given the chance to speak at the beginning and then attendees participated in a question and answer session at the event, held at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in Eastgate.

“This community is so grateful to have the support of our legislative caucus here in Clermont County,” Clermont Chamber President/CEO Matt Van Sant said.

He feels that Clermont County is very fortunate

“This access to our legislators is really key to a pro-business orientation, a pro-business, pro-development culture in your community,” Van Sant said.

The legislators are good friends of the community, he added.

Uecker started the program talking to attendees about his committee assignments and about how the senate works.

He spoke about the priorities in the senate right now, which include improving the job climate in Ohio.

“Ohio’s coming back,” Uecker said.

The legislature could not do what it has done to improve the job climate without the help of Governor John Kasich, Uecker said.

There has also been a lot of discussion about tax reform, he said. Uecker pointed out that income tax has been reduced by about 30 percent in the last 10 years, which has helped businesses expand.

Green also talked about his committee assignments. He then talked about the efforts the reduce spending and the tax burden, a difficult task.

“The bottom line is services cost money,” Green said. He encourages voters to look at issues on the ballot and if they don’t feel that service is necessary, then don’t vote for it.

Green also spoke about encouraging job development and how he feels colleges and career technical schools are stepping up and preparing students well.

Becker spoke about income tax and how he believes the government could make faster progress getting rid of income tax than it is now. He also feels the government could do more about controlling spending.

Van Sant kicked off the question and answer session by asking how the Ohio 2020 Tax Policy Study Commission was doing in working on improving Ohio’s tax structure.

Ohio needs more committees to study issues, Uecker said. Jobs are a priority and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce does well bringing ideas to the assembly, he added.

“We’re working to try to make the business climate better,” Green said.

This is a matter of driving out cost and reducing the cost of doing business in Ohio. The state is on the right path but the government needs to do more, Becker said.

Dennis Nichols, village of Batavia administrator, asked Uecker, Becker and Green about doing a constitutional review.

There is a committee reviewing the constitution right now, Uecker said, although he cautioned Nichols not to look for changes in the near future.

Another attendee asked about term limits: the loss of institutional memory when an elected official meets his term limit and the fact that employees of administrative agencies will still be there when elected officials meet their limits.

Term limits are a double edged sword, Uecker said.

“When I think about the fact that I’ve been a legislator for 11 years and I am one of the people that is supposed to have the institutional knowledge, well that is frightening. Only 11 years,” Uecker said.

If term limits were to change, however, it would have to be a movement by citizens, not elected officials, because of how that would appear, Uecker said.

Green added that when the legislative body changes, the former body’s commitment to certain laws no longer exists, which can be problematic.

Becker said he believes in term limits because he believes in bringing in newcomers. However, he did recently propose expanding term limits from eight to 12 years.