Gov. John Kasich (R-OH)

"Gov. Kasich: A Year in Review" +
3:24 video from Dec. 19, 2013.

[Music throughout] Gov. John Kasich: As we head into the new year, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor and I look back with thanks for the strong, effective partnerships that are helping us continue to change the business as usual approach that held Ohio back in the past. 

As a result, we've made some impressive progress in 2013 to make our state a better place to work and to live and to raise a family.  But we can't let up.  We have to keep our foot on the gas.  Because job creation is our number one priority, much of our work over the past year focused on how we continue to improve Ohio's jobs friendly climate and achieve long-lasting and meaningful economic success. 

We cut taxes by $2.7 billion, more than any other state, by cutting income taxes 10-percent for all Ohioans and by cutting taxes for virtually every small business in half. 

We also gave employers a billion dollars back from worker's comp because careful management of the system has generated strong surpluses.

We've developed a better way to fund Ohio schools and our growing economy allowed us to invest more than $1.6 billion in new money in education, the largest increase in a decade.  That's so that every child has a chance to succeed regardless of where they live.  We also gave schools new resources to think outside the box and bring the best and most innovative reform ideas to work for our kids in the classroom.

We've incentivized our colleges and universities to work harder to help students get their degrees and certificates by tying their funding to graduation rates and course completion. 

We found an innovative and a creative way to tackle Ohio's most pressing transportation needs and that of course is a crucial factor for a growing economy, and we did it without a tax increase.

For years, red tape stood in the way of veterans who wanted to use their military service experience to get a job.  Frankly it was unacceptable.  So we lifted unnecessary barriers and helped open up the job market for Ohio's valued veterans.

And we extended health care coverage to low-income working Ohioans to help give them a path up and out of poverty and onward to a better life.

These and other successes were possible in part because of Ohio's stable budget and our growing economy.  I was proud to see our rainy day fund climb to a record $1.4 billion this year, a stark comparison to the 89 cents we had in 2011 when we faced an $8 billion budget deficit hole, that by the way was the largest in state history.

Putting those money problems behind us has made it possible to focus on making Ohio a better place to live, by doing things like writing new prescription drug guidelines to help prevent addiction, launching a new campaign to fight the evil of human trafficking and helping our seniors learn how to prevent falls, one of the leading causes of serious injury among Ohio's older population.

You know as we close the books on 2013, it's great to see Ohio continuing to move in the right direction.  We do have a lot of work to do, but we can look ahead with confidence to 2014 because we've shown that we know how to work together with creativity and good will to improve our state and make life better for all of our neighbors.  Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year and god Bless Ohio.


Notes