Kasich "appreciates the gravity of this authority and therefore carefully considers these cases to make decisions that further justice," said a spokesman. Ohio resumed executions in 1999 under Gov. Bob Taft after a 36-year gap. Taft said he's now opposed to capital punishment except in the most severe cases.
Sparing inmates is not the political death knell it might have been in decades past, thanks to concerns about innocence raised by DNA testing and the role of severe mental illness on some offenders' behavior. "Kasich's decisions to commute reflect a societal shift away from an unquestioning belief in the value of the death penalty or at least the value in every case," said a University of Dayton law professor.
John Kasich believes that Americans need an energy policy that encourages more energy production from a broad base of sources. At the same time we need environmental regulations that strike the right balance between needed protection and the need for jobs.
Keep Energy Affordable And Reliable by Pursuing All Sources of Energy: Diversifying our energy supply is the best strategy for economic growth. Government policies that encourage or discourage energy from any single source are economically counterproductive.
Akron-based FirstEnergy wants an electricity rate increase for its customers to save the Davis-Besse and Perry plants, which sit along Lake Erie and produce 14% of the state's electricity. The plants generate millions in tax money for the rural towns where they're located. But like many nuclear plants around the nation, Ohio's two plants are aging, costly to operate and maintain, and face stiff competition from cheaper natural gas plants.
Kasich toured a new $800 million natural gas plant near Toledo that can produce enough electricity for 700,000 homes--more power than one of the nuclear plants can make. "There's always a tendency to slip back into yesterday. This represents tomorrow," Kasich said.
The governor said he hopes lawmakers understand that. "There's always a tendency to slip back into yesterday. This represents tomorrow," the Republican governor said.
Kasich said all forms of energy--wind, solar, coal, natural gas and nuclear--should be a part of the mix, and he added that limiting government regulation will spur investment by industries and create new jobs. There are more natural gas plants on the drawing board in Ohio, if the state legislature does not approve financial help for the nuclear plants
Kasich was asked at a news conference announcing new opioid prescription limits what role medical marijuana might play in addressing the growing number of opiate overdose deaths in Ohio. Kasich said telling kids not to do drugs but that marijuana is OK sends a mixed message. "I know it's not recreational marijuana, not recreational use, but I don't see a role for it in this at all," Kasich said.
Studies have shown opioid overdoses and deaths have decreased in states that allow medical marijuana, which is far less addictive and lethal. Republicans and Democrats cited the opioid crisis as a reason to pass Ohio's medical marijuana law last year.
"I don't like the whole thing -- medical marijuana," Kasich said. "It got passed because somebody was going to have a broader law."
Three state agencies are in the process of establishing a tightly regulated program to grow and sell medical marijuana in limited amounts.
Studies have shown marijuana can alleviate pain. The most recent study found hospitalization rates for painkiller addiction and abuse dropped 23% on average in states after they allowed medical marijuana use. Hospitalization rates for overdoses dropped 13%, according to the report published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
"I don't like the whole thing -- medical marijuana," Kasich said. "It got passed because somebody was going to have a broader law."
The Sierra Club Ohio Chapter: "We commend Gov. Kasich for vetoing the Ohio Legislature's attempt to tie our state to outdated, dirty, and expensive energy sources. The world is doubling down on wind, solar, and energy efficiency, and Ohio's robust manufacturing base is now in a better position to maximize that opportunity."
So when Kasich met with The Post's editorial board, I had one question: When you hear the phrase "Black lives matter," what do you hear? "Well, what I hear is that there are people that are in this country who think the system not only doesn't work for them," he said, "but it works against them."
Kasich then unleashed a torrent of information on everything he had done for the African American community. There was the commission to heal the fractured trust between police and people of color. He talked about efforts to reform the schools and welfare. And he boasted about signing a law to "ban the box" and reducing prison recidivism.
What struck me as a breath of fresh air was really Kasich being consistent. What he told us was in keeping with what he has been saying for months now, [like this excerpt from a] CNN interview last August]: "Black lives matter, especially now, because there's a fear in these communities that, you know, justice isn't working for them. But it's about balance. The community has to understand the challenges of police, and the police have to understand the challenges of the community."
There's something about that "especially now" that reveals a person who heard his constituents and understands their fears and concerns. This is exactly where the Republican Party ought to be in 2016. Working on tough issues and expanding the reach of the GOP while adhering to its conservative principles.
But when Kasich signed a bill in February cutting $1.3 million in funding to Planned Parenthood, he did not cut funds for abortion care; those services are not covered by state money. Instead, he slashed funds for the organization's sexually transmitted infection testing, and mother and newborn care, and anti-domestic violence programs.
Kasich has used his tenure as governor to relentlessly attack women's health on multiple fronts. Kasich's aides drafted restrictive anti-abortion language in Ohio's 2013 budget, requiring licensing regulations for clinics. This led to the closure of half of the state's outpatient abortion clinics. The bill also contained provisions mandating ultrasounds for abortions, blocking funding for rape crisis centers that provide information about abortion, and "re-prioritizing" family planning funds away from Planned Parenthood to crisis pregnancy centers, which routinely lie to patients.
Earlier this month, the Ohio Senate voted overwhelmingly, on a 32-1 vote, to "ban the box" for public-sector jobs. Under the bill, a public employer would still be allowed to do a background check and reject applicants with recent or relevant offenses. But the record check gets done later in the process, usually after an interview. The bill does not apply to people seeking private employment.
Kasich earlier instructed the state's human resources department to "ban the box" in June, by voluntarily adopting the Ohio Justice & Policy Center and Ohio Organizing Collaborative's recommendations.
Last year, the Republican-controlled General Assembly enacted a two-year timeout in state law that required utilities to find at least 25 percent of their power from renewable or advanced technology sources by the year 2025. That two-year freeze is set to expire at the end of 2016, at which point the annual benchmarks that utilities must achieve would resume if the legislature doesn't act.
A special legislative panel, however, recently recommended keeping the freeze in place indefinitely. Mr. Kasich said the indefinite freeze would be "unacceptable," but he hasn't indicated what he expects to see instead.
[OnTheIssues follow-up: Gov. Kasich vetoed the indefinite freeze in 2016; the Ohio legislature then passed a compromise measure to reduce the renewable standard to 8.5% by 2022].
"We'll make sure we produce more energy from oil and gas; from nuclear; from coal that we dig, clean, and burn; alternatives and renewables, and anything else that we can find, and we'll do it responsibly," Mr. Kasich said in New Hampshire as he spelled out his plan for the first 100 days of a President Kasich administration. "We need it all, and it should come from right here," he said.
He proposed working with Canada and Mexico to ensure that North America can meet its own energy needs, and part of that plan would be approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline. "Energy freedom is a matter of national security," Mr. Kasich said. "We don't want wars when it's all about energy when we can do what we need to do in America to be energy independent."
He said he would end the ban on exporting domestic oil and gas and would end President Obama's proposed, stricter regulations on carbon emissions from coal and other fossil fuel power plants.
[After that] the closest he came to broaching the subject of campaign finance reform was when he declared that "sometimes I think these laws can work, but unfortunately I think they work mostly on the margin." Got it? Neither do we.
Kasich took a different tack last month when he said that "a handful of billionaires should not decide who is president." But, even then, he was unsure of a solution to the problem.
Kasich has an unlimited-money super PAC. Earlier this year, it announced raising more than $11 million from 166 reportable contributions.
Q: "What would you do to end corruption of our government by big money, and more specifically, would you support and work for a constitutional amendment clarifying that the constitution applies to natural persons only?"
A: "I'd like to say a couple things about campaign finance laws. First of all it is a bad system when billionaires can be the ones to pick a president, I don't like that. And here is the beauty of New Hampshire: they could spend all the money in the world but money don't buy you love in New Hampshire. So I'm concerned about it, and I will have something to say about it at an appropriate time, but I want to think it through. I think there is an element of fundraising influencing decisions. It's an issue & it will be dealt with."
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The above quotations are from 2018 Ohio Gubernatorial race: debates and news coverage.
Click here for other excerpts from 2018 Ohio Gubernatorial race: debates and news coverage. Click here for other excerpts by John Kasich. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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