Herbert Weyl Jewish Business Network Luncheon

Herbert Weyl Jewish Business Network Luncheon

Thank you Jon Diamond for your kind introduction.

It is a pleasure to be here with you today to share some of my thoughts on education, economic development, and ethics.

Ethics and integrity in business are a longstanding concern and commitment of this group.

I can assure you that the ethics of my line of work are of profound importance to me. And I would argue, no matter what your job is, whether it's running a business or running a state, the foundation of maintaining high ethical standards and solid ethical practices are the same.

Indeed, it all starts with a basic truth. Trust can't be won in a day, or a week, or a month, or even a year - but it can be lost in a single moment.

The pursuit of an ethical, trustworthy organization must be an all-consuming passion for those in positions of leadership.

As many of you know, my very first official act as governor was to sign an executive order establishing new ethics requirements.

"The job of the officials and employees of the State of Ohio is to serve the people of Ohio" - that's how my executive order began on my first day, and that's how I expect my administration will conduct itself every single day.

There are far too many bad examples - not only in Ohio, not even primarily in Ohio - of public officials betraying the public trust. And we're all familiar with the headlines of prominent leaders of giant corporations who have behaved dishonorably.

But as a writer once put it, "Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere."

It hardly seems imaginable that I should have to acknowledge it - but let me say without hesitation, governors should not be getting free golf, free hot tubs, or free housing from lobbyists.

The executive order I signed limits significant gifts I will accept to family members and friends - friends who are not lobbyists, who don't have contracts with the state, and who do not receive grants from the state. Because I've noticed along the way that far too many elected officials say they only accept gifts from friends, and that it just so happens their friends have millions of dollars of business with the state.

Once you make commonsense policies, you have to ensure that they apply to everyone, regardless of salary or station.

That's why the rules I signed on accepting gifts apply to me, they apply to my wife, they apply to the Lt. Governor, they apply to his wife, they apply to my staff, they apply to my cabinet, they apply to state employees in cabinet agencies, they apply to those appointed to State of Ohio boards and commissions. In other words, they apply.

It's not enough to have a good set of rules, of course, because too often, ignorance of the rules is the first defense when an ethical mistake is committed.

My executive order requires a Chief Ethics Officer be put in place in each cabinet agency to serve as a resource to help teach what the rules are and offer help when questions arise.

The ethics bar is set high - not for the sake of appearances, not to avoid being caught, not to avoid being convicted - but to serve the people, to the best of our ability, every single day.

Ethical behavior is an obligation not only of those who work for the state but also those who do business with the state. Under this policy, all businesses with state contracts must acknowledge that they know and understand our laws and rules, and that they will follow them.

While we expect and demand ethical behavior from Ohio businesses, let me be clear that the business community is a vital partner in the prosperous future of Ohio.

We are committed to spurring the economic development of Ohio by attracting jobs that grow from Ohio's strengths and that are worthy of Ohio's workers. And part of that means eliminating some of the burdens we place on business.

My administration has launched an initiative called Advantage Ohio, an across-the-board review of current state regulations. We will eliminate unnecessary, redundant and contradictory rules and take a commonsense approach to regulation, reducing the burden on business while protecting the health and safety of Ohioans.

And my administration will listen - listen to business leaders who know first hand what it takes to create jobs. And what I've heard from business leaders from across the state - some in this room right now - is that there is a need for access to more highly skilled and educated workers.

There is an unbreakable connection between jobs and education. In fact, according to a report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, more than 60% of new jobs will require a college education.

Therefore when I say that in the next 8 years we will return Ohio's per capita income back above the national average for the first time since 1987, when I say that in the next 3 years we will return Ohio's job growth back above the national average for the first time since 1995, our turnaround begins with education.

Ohio should have the most educated workforce possible because what our people earn is a function of what they learn.

So we must work harder to see that our young adults don't find the door to higher education slammed in their faces by out of control tuition costs.

Today, the state spends less on instructional support for our universities than it did in 2000.

This defies commonsense.

At a time when we know an educated workforce attracts jobs - Ohio is 47 percent above the national average in university tuition costs.

At a time when we know an educated workforce attracts jobs - Ohio is 37th in producing college graduates.

At a time when we know an educated workforce attracts jobs - what we've had is a budget built to lead us charging headlong into the last century instead of the next one.

I believe we should fix that.

I have proposed a higher education compact between the state and our public colleges and universities. This compact will increase funding for the basic instructional subsidy by 5 percent next year. And by 2 percent more the following year.

To get their share of this historic funding increase, each public college and university must find ways to operate more efficiently. And they must announce that there will be no tuition increase next year, and that tuition will increase no more than 3 percent the following year.

That is in stark contrast to an annual tuition increase of 9 percent - and that's what our students have typically faced in recent years.

This compact will benefit over 400,000 students currently enrolled in our public colleges and universities, and will send a strong message to those planning for college.

Even with the compact in place, there will still be a gap between the cost of a college education and what many Ohio students and families can afford.

And we will address this with the full implementation of the Ohio College Opportunity Grant, and we will further attack the remaining gap through a partnership between the business community and the Ohio College Access Network to raise private funds.

Even as we work to welcome more Ohioans to our colleges and universities, now more than ever we must acknowledge that education is a lifelong endeavor.

We can and we will expand and improve our job training programs. By simply using funds available from the federal government that have gone ignored, we can provide more demand-driven job training targeting jobs of the future.

And we have committed to infusing our primary and secondary schools with a more equitable distribution of state aid and additional support for economically challenged districts.

By securitizing our state's tobacco settlement funds we will be able to provide a Homestead tax cut for seniors and the disabled - that's one out of four Ohio homeowners - while in the process increasing the state share of local education spending.

And we do not ignore the incredible significance of the learning that must take place even before a child reaches kindergarten. Research shows those early years affect everything from brain development to lifetime earnings to physical health decades later. Just a modest investment during a brief period of childhood leads to a lifetime of positive outcomes. So we are increasing access to early learning opportunities by expanding public pre-school and supporting high quality child care programs.

The mission and purpose of our education system - from pre-school to post-graduate training is clear. It's not to outshine Pennsylvania, or Indiana, or Kentucky. It is to prepare our young people to compete with the world, to win in the Global economy.

If we do this right, education will feed the economy. Success will bring more success. And the beneficiaries of our efforts will not only be students in the classroom, but all Ohioans.

And so we will follow the ancient proverb:
If you are planning for a year, sow rice;
If you are planning for a decade, plant trees;
If you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.

There is no denying that economically we are not everything we once were. But neither are we everything we will be.

I have committed to a state budget with the lowest rate of spending growth in 42 years. By making some cuts and holding most state agencies without new funding, we can both live within our means and invest in what matters.

And that includes an investment in education, an investment in the success and economic prosperity of Ohioans and of Ohio.

I thank you for this opportunity to visit with you here today, to share my thoughts and to ask for yours.

The Ancient Greeks defined happiness as the full use of one's abilities toward a worthy goal. And, it seems to me, that creating a new and stronger Ohio may well take all our abilities and is most certainly a worthy goal. But when it's done and done right, we will all be happier for it.

Now let me take a moment to acknowledge and congratulate Herb Weyl for the great distinction of having this group named for him.

The Herbert Weyl Jewish Business Network honors a man who as a boy lived through the tightening vice of Nazi control of pre-war Germany that drove his family to seek freedom and opportunity in the United States.

Herb arrived in this country with his parents Adolph and Gretta - between them only a few dollars in their pockets.

Herb learned to shine shoes and did what he could to contribute to the family as they moved from New York City to Michigan and finally to Columbus.

Studies at Ohio State helped launch Herb into a successful accounting career in his own firm, before his attentions turned to insurance and investments.

Herb has generously given his time to Temple Israel and the Columbus Jewish Foundation, and he continues his more than 5 decades of service as a volunteer for the Columbus Jewish Federation's Super Sunday.

Rabbi Kaltmann has said that Herb's wonderful family life, his successful career, his generosity, his path from pre-war Germany to freedom are the makings of the "American Dream." And I wholeheartedly agree.

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