Carping isn't enough; Legislators may question much about Strickland's budget, but everyone's goal must be a plan that strengthens Ohio

BYLINE: Special To The Plain Dealer

It will be some time before it is clear whether Gov. Ted Strickland's first budget will work - whether the numbers ultimately will add up and whether his spending priorities can withstand the blistering critique that the GOP-controlled legislature undoubtedly will unleash soon.

But this much is already evident: His proposed $53 billion, two-year budget is a carefully constructed document that makes clear his administrative priorities while displaying the direction he wishes to lead the state.

Lawmakers will get the budget this week. And if the loud political discourse that began the instant Strickland announced his spending priorities during Wednesday's State of the State address is any indication, there's a rancorous debate on the horizon.

In the coming weeks, this page will closely follow that debate and challenge lawmakers to rise to the difficult task of helping Strickland craft a spending plan that rejects the status quo and works to reverse the myriad problems that continue to stall Ohio's progress.

One of the most pressing challenges Strickland outlined - one that his budget seeks to address aggressively - is the lack of affordable health care coverage for the state's poorest residents. It is a very worthy pursuit.

Currently, 156,000 children in Ohio have no health insurance. In a state known for its world-class health facilities, that lack of access is a cruel mockery. The failure to invest in the health of children also frequently leads to far larger public health costs later - avoidable expenses that make sense from neither an economic nor a moral point of view.

Strickland's budget would insure every impoverished Ohio child until age 21. It would help working families that struggle to purchase insurance by offering Medicaid coverage to families who earn up to 300 percent of the federal poverty rate. That means a family of four that makes less than $62,000 could be eligible for state-funded insurance.

Ohio extends full health coverage to each of its nearly 50,000 prison inmates. It should be no less conscious of the health of its children and poor working families.

Critics of Strickland's health care proposal ask where the money will come from and note that such spending probably will fuel spiraling Medicaid costs - valid points.

Legislators can, and should, question the scope and the sustainability of such health care outreach efforts. They should explore the possibility of unintended consequences - like the creation of incentives for employers to shift their employees from private health care to Medicaid. That must not happen.

But the health of Ohio's children should no longer be negotiable. During his campaign for governor, Strickland said he would make Ohio a better place for its poorest children. This budget proposal seeks to accomplish that. Now legislators must do their part.