Cordray bashes House GOP, praises Kasich
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Richard Cordray criticized the speakerless House Republicans on Friday, but praised some of outgoing GOP Gov. John Kasich’s programs.
Cordray underscored his attempt to appeal to moderate Republicans who support Kasich and his initiatives, such as the expansion of Medicaid and the private, nonprofit job creator JobsOhio. He did so while speaking at an event in Polaris that focused on private prison and criminal-justice reform for the Ohio Justice Alliance for Community Corrections.
He also spent time bashing what he called the “rampant corruption on Capitol Square.””It needs to be cleaned up and we need to change state government in Columbus,” Cordray said, referring to the ongoing ECOT charter school scandal and the FBI investigation that led to former House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger’s resignation.
“We have a state government and a state legislature right now that does not respect local governments in Ohio and is willing to take their money for the state’s purposes and the agenda in Columbus.”With Kasich sayinghe hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll endorse Mike Cordray DeWine for governor, Cordray’s advancement of Kasich’s positions becomes all the more intriguing.
Cordray praised Kasich for “having the courage and tenacity” to veto the legislature’s attempt to freeze Medicaid, opting instead to expand it to provide health care to 700,000 low-income Ohioans.“There is a fundamental disagreement in the state this year in this election,” Cordray said. “The Medicaid expansion has been good for Ohio.
“I am for the Medicaid expansion and Mike DeWine is against it,” he said.
The Ohio Justice Alliance plans to host DeWine, Cordray’s Republican opponent for governor in November, at its meeting in August.After going through his “kitchen table” issues — economic security, better education and access to affordable health care— Cordray addressed the upcoming ballot initiative that brought him to speak in the first place.
The proposed amendment is still in the process of obtaining signatures. It would reclassify non-violent possession and use of drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor. Offenders would no longer be sent to prison for their first or second drug-related sentences. Cordray said he wants treatment for offenders charged with drug violations, not prison sentences.“There is a lot of concern about people whose lives are being wasted because they were given felony convictions for being addicts,” he said. “They were led into a prison pipeline where that became their future. It ruins people’s lives and it ruins the whole communities.”
Cordray also said more funding is needed at county and local levels to help deal with jail overcrowding.”To make the state prison population go down by pushing those people down to the local level so that sheriffs and others have to deal with them...they are going to be overcrowded and not have the personnel that they need,” Cordray said.