Strickland gives Hagan brushoff on landfill fees
BY Paul Kostyu
The Canton Repository
COLUMBUS - State Rep. John Hagan isn’t holding his breath waiting to hear from Gov. Ted Strickland.
Hagan, R-Marlboro Township, is a bit peeved with the governor’s decision not to charge a 10-cent-per-ton fee on waste dumped at construction and demolition debris landfills. And, he said, a lack of action by the administration is costing senior Ohioans money on their prescription drugs.
Hagan said the waste fee is needed to monitor groundwater and protect the public. Hagan, who sponsored legislation that set standards for construction and demolition landfills, wrote Strickland in early April suggesting the governor include the fees in the state’s two-year budget. That budget, without the fee, was approved by the Legislature and signed into law last week by Strickland. It took effect Sunday.
The fee was part of legislation passed in 2004. It was expected to generate $500,000 annually to be shared among the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and local health departments. Over the past three years, the EPA has developed rules to put the fee into effect and scheduled a public hearing about it. Landfill operators didn’t oppose the fee, and environmentalists thought it was a good idea.
“Water safety is the issue,” Hagan said last week. “Why does that create a problem?”
Administration budgeters dissed the fee because it violated Strickland’s directive that taxes and fees not be raised in the budget. Apparently, budget writers in the Legislature, which is controlled by Hagan’s fellow Republicans, didn’t want to commit to higher fees and left it out of their budget versions.
Hagan said the campaign promise clouded Strickland’s decision making. He said negating all fee increases could have a dramatic effect not only on environmental protection but in other areas as well.
“Consider all the things we operate that have fees associated with them,” Hagan said. “There’s a normal cycle when fees increase. It shouldn’t be the prerogative of the governor to start or stop it.”
Back in April, Keith Dailey, Strickland’s spokesman, said the governor was open to talking about the fee.
When would this happen, wondered Hagan, who wrote two letters to the governor and never got a response. He’s preparing to write another one asking Strickland to reconsider “and get the discussion going.”
Hagan has had no better luck meeting with Strickland about Ohio’s Best Rx prescription drug program.
Hagan sponsored legislation that combined Best Rx with the state’s Golden Buckeye drug program and put it under the auspices of the Department of Aging. That law went into effect in April. He told the governor a new bid process was needed to find an administrator of the program. Instead, the administration extended by a year the contract to the current administrator of the Best Rx program. Delaying competitive bidding on the massive program adds to the cost senior Ohioans pay for drugs, Hagan said.
Hagan said the governor promised in two passing conversations to meet with him to discuss his concerns. Hagan sent Strickland a letter in March. Still, no meeting. “I take offense that I get no response,” Hagan said, though he has met with department officials.
With the budget out of the way, will the governor find time for Hagan? He’s not holding his breath.
The Canton Repository
COLUMBUS - State Rep. John Hagan isn’t holding his breath waiting to hear from Gov. Ted Strickland.
Hagan, R-Marlboro Township, is a bit peeved with the governor’s decision not to charge a 10-cent-per-ton fee on waste dumped at construction and demolition debris landfills. And, he said, a lack of action by the administration is costing senior Ohioans money on their prescription drugs.
Hagan said the waste fee is needed to monitor groundwater and protect the public. Hagan, who sponsored legislation that set standards for construction and demolition landfills, wrote Strickland in early April suggesting the governor include the fees in the state’s two-year budget. That budget, without the fee, was approved by the Legislature and signed into law last week by Strickland. It took effect Sunday.
The fee was part of legislation passed in 2004. It was expected to generate $500,000 annually to be shared among the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and local health departments. Over the past three years, the EPA has developed rules to put the fee into effect and scheduled a public hearing about it. Landfill operators didn’t oppose the fee, and environmentalists thought it was a good idea.
“Water safety is the issue,” Hagan said last week. “Why does that create a problem?”
Administration budgeters dissed the fee because it violated Strickland’s directive that taxes and fees not be raised in the budget. Apparently, budget writers in the Legislature, which is controlled by Hagan’s fellow Republicans, didn’t want to commit to higher fees and left it out of their budget versions.
Hagan said the campaign promise clouded Strickland’s decision making. He said negating all fee increases could have a dramatic effect not only on environmental protection but in other areas as well.
“Consider all the things we operate that have fees associated with them,” Hagan said. “There’s a normal cycle when fees increase. It shouldn’t be the prerogative of the governor to start or stop it.”
Back in April, Keith Dailey, Strickland’s spokesman, said the governor was open to talking about the fee.
When would this happen, wondered Hagan, who wrote two letters to the governor and never got a response. He’s preparing to write another one asking Strickland to reconsider “and get the discussion going.”
Hagan has had no better luck meeting with Strickland about Ohio’s Best Rx prescription drug program.
Hagan sponsored legislation that combined Best Rx with the state’s Golden Buckeye drug program and put it under the auspices of the Department of Aging. That law went into effect in April. He told the governor a new bid process was needed to find an administrator of the program. Instead, the administration extended by a year the contract to the current administrator of the Best Rx program. Delaying competitive bidding on the massive program adds to the cost senior Ohioans pay for drugs, Hagan said.
Hagan said the governor promised in two passing conversations to meet with him to discuss his concerns. Hagan sent Strickland a letter in March. Still, no meeting. “I take offense that I get no response,” Hagan said, though he has met with department officials.
With the budget out of the way, will the governor find time for Hagan? He’s not holding his breath.
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Hagan: Impose landfill fees
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