Portman hedges on Obamacare revamp

Even though the Graham-Cassidy bill to revamp Obamacare died last week without a U.S. Senate vote, many of you wondered where GOP Sen. Rob Portman stood.

So Washington bureau chief Jack Torry asked. Portman’s answer:

“As you know, at 9:38 a.m. on the morning when it was pulled, they were still changing the bill. I was trying to improve the formula for Ohio and frankly, over the weekend, I had some success in that.

“It was getting better. But we still had a ways to go, including the opioid funding. I was still in a position where I was looking at the data, which in a week, it’s kind of hard to analyze something this complicated; but, second, we were getting changes in the bill. And then they pulled the bill.”

That’s great, senator, but, again, how would you have voted?

“It depends on how it ended up.” soon as January.

“While SERS is not in financial crisis, the COLA changes are necessary to address immediate financial challenges and long-term funding goals,” says the retirement system for such former workers as school bus drivers, cooks and janitors.

The changes will be considered during a special meeting of the SERS board at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 9.

Those talks are coming at the same time the state’s largest pension fund, the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, continues to ruminate COLA changes for its 1 million current and future retirees. Among the possibilities: linking future COLAs with the Consumer Price Index subject to a cap, and extending the waiting period until new retirees are eligible for a COLA.

The topic generates plenty of interest: A PERS survey generated more than 72,000 responses from retirees.

Any changes by either board must be approved by the legislature.

Next for Ohio?

Last month, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation allowing candidates to raise unlimited money for superPACs and plow it directly back into their campaigns.

Although super-PACs are allowed in Ohio, state regulations ban such coordination with candidates. While no legislation is pending to change that fact, Ohio lawmakers often get ideas from what passes in other states — especially if it involves putting more campaign cash under their direct control.

Matt Borges, former chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, sees another danger. His pro-Issue 2 group was on the losing side last week of an Ohio Elections Commission ruling that found no legal barrier to the way the issue’s proponents are bankrolling their campaign: forming a limited liability corporation that can rake in millions in contributions from drug companies that don’t have to disclose the spending.

He warned the technique could become a new modus operandi that could cause “long-term damage to Ohio.”

Tax breaks still unexamined

Are Republican legislative leaders serious about examining whether the $9 billion in annual state tax credits, deductions and exemptions are really accomplishing their goals?

It took nearly eight months after its creation for House and Senate leaders to name members to the Tax Expenditure Review Committee, reporter Jim Siegel points out. That was more than two months ago, and the committee has yet to meet.

House Bill 9, which passed unanimously in December, required that the committee hold its first meeting by June 19 — three months ago. A report is due in nine months.

It’s not the first time lawmakers seemed reluctant to delve into the tax breaks, Siegel notes. In 2011, then-Senate President Tom Niehaus tasked his Ways and Means Committee to study them and make recommendations. The process fizzled out with no report.