John Kasich in 2017 Governor's State of the State speeches
On Corporations:
Businesses are job creators, the engines of job growth
Our greatest moral purpose as governmental leaders is to create an environment of job creation. Just a short six and a half years ago, we'd lost 350,000 jobs. I said, "Give us a chance." It was tough, and we came out stronger. Now we are up 460,000 new
jobs in our state.Our state, with JobsOhio's support, is attracting businesses of the 21st century from a range of different industries. Not just agriculture, not just making things, but it's across the board.
How did we do it?
We reassured job creators that Ohio knows how to fix problems itself. We don't need to go and impose anything on them. We eliminated income taxes for almost every small business in the state. They're the engines of job growth.
We streamlined regulations, committed ourselves to constantly improving job training, which is a big, big deal. So job creators can have the workforce they need and Ohioans can take advantage of all the new opportunities coming our way.
Source: 2017 Ohio State of the State address
Apr 5, 2017
On Drugs:
Shut down the pill mills; put crooked doctors in jail
On drug addiction. Seven years ago, I went down to southern Ohio. And I met these ladies, and they walked in with these pictures. Well, who's on the picture? Beautiful young people--sons, daughters, football captain, cheerleader, whatever.
I said, "what's up, moms?" They're all dead. We've got pill mills down here and they're passing these pills out. They're passing out pills down here like they're going through the McDonald's for french fries. I said "we will shut this down."
How it operated all these years, I don't really understand. We shut the pill mills down. We put the crooked doctors in jail whenever we could.We moved the Highway Patrol into more aggressive interdiction to remove illegal drugs. Here's the
understanding about Ohio. Why is Ohio at the epicenter of all this? It's location. 600 miles within 60 percent of the country. It's only a day from Mexico and the drug cartels. Believe me. Talk to the patrol. It's only a few hours from Chicago.
Source: 2017 Ohio State of the State address
Apr 5, 2017
On Drugs:
StartTalking! Talk to kids to say no to opiates
On prescription opiate abuse: We were one of the first states to create prescribing guidelines for doctors. Seven days of opiates for adults and no more than five days for children. Don't be giving all this stuff. We linked our medical providers into
our pharmacy system to slow doctor shopping. For those that are chronically ill, we're not out to take your medication away. But you're more closely watched by your physician.We created StartTalking! Talk to your kids. Talk to somebody who's not your
kid. Just talk about it. 50% less likelihood if somebody would do drugs, opiates, that's how they start. These young kids, they go to a party and somebody says, "hey, they've got a bowl of pills." That's the moment of truth. The answer is "no, I don't
want to be cool by taking drugs." That's what we're trying to do with StartTalking!
We spent nearly $1 billion on this issue of drugs. Our work is paying off. A 20 percent reduction in opiate prescriptions. Doctor shopping has fallen by 80%.
Source: 2017 Ohio State of the State address
Apr 5, 2017
On Environment:
$2.5B invested in cleaning Lake Erie, and keep it clean
This region continues to generate good memories for hundreds of thousands who come here for the recreation, the resources, and the hospitality Lake Erie coast is known for. And we're investing a lot in our lake--Randy Gardner is always on top of
that--and our coastal resources to make the water cleaner and keep it that way. About two and half billion dollars have been invested in Lake Erie since the start of the Administration. Yes, we want to make it cleaner, and we aim to keep it clean.
And I hope those that come after me will realize this is the great, great jewel of the state of Ohio, and that's the great Lake Erie.
These are investments in water and natural resources, the quality of life, but of course they're
also an investment in economic growth because we know that when we take care of the world around us it becomes another reason for job creators to want to put down roots here and want to grow.
Source: 2017 Ohio State of the State address
Apr 5, 2017
On Families & Children:
CATCH court: prostitutes are victims of human trafficking
All these ladies are coming into Judge Paul Herbert's court. He's checking them out and putting them all in jail. They find out they've been human trafficked. They're prostitutes because they have a pimp who is out there putting them out on the street.
Drugging them, beating them, all horrible things we can imagine. So the judge is the founder and driving force in Franklin County's CATCH court. Changing Actions to Change Habits. He began to realize that these people were not criminals.
They were not defendants--they were victims. And they should not be subjected to criminal punishment from which they may never recover. His CATCH court diverts these victims into a two-year program that may include residential detox therapy, treatment
for depression and other mental illness, and they can get help to find employment. And best of all, when they graduate, they have the opportunity to have their convictions dismissed and their records sealed. He has helped 200 women get assistance.
Source: 2017 Ohio State of the State address
Apr 5, 2017
On Health Care:
Medicaid expansion brought health care to 700,000 people
The expansion of Medicaid has brought health care to 700,000 people, one quarter of whom have chronic illness and one-third are struggling with mental illness or drug addiction.
Expanding Medicaid has freed up expanded resources in our communities to help more people.
Source: 2017 Ohio State of the State address
Apr 5, 2017
On Welfare & Poverty:
Welfare without a path to work doesn't work
On welfare reform: Thanks to the legislature, we've been able to take 16 to 24 year olds. You get welfare; you stand in line; you get your food stamps; they check a box. You go over here; they check a box. We don't like that. Our 16 to 24 year olds,
when they go in we will help them. But once we help them, we want to know what the problem is. We want to know how we solve your problem. We want to get you trained. We want you to get a job.
Welfare without a path to work doesn't work. We want these people to have opportunity, and we want them to go to work.When I'm gone, you've got to expand this thing.
We can't have people just going in and people checking boxes. We have to bring back caseworkers, and we've got to get at the root cause of why people are stuck.
Source: 2017 Ohio State of the State address
Apr 5, 2017
Page last updated: Dec 10, 2018