Strickland isn't playing safe now
BYLINE: Ellen Belcher, Special To The Plain Dealer
After the governor's State of the State speech, one wag quipped, "If somebody asked me what Ted Strickland is trying to do, I think I could tell them. That's pretty good, don't you think?"
A governor gives his first major policy address and we're pleasantly shocked if we can figure out what's on his mind?
Besides being a statement about our expectations of politicians, the observation has a couple other layers. There's an unspoken reference here to Bob Taft, and to the fact that, even after his eight years as governor, too few people knew what he really cared about.
One other possible insinuation comes to mind: Strickland said next to nothing during his campaign last year about how he was going to do what he wanted to do. It's the details that distinguish platitudes from policies.
Though he was criticized for his strategy, candidate Strickland still played it safe, refusing to give Ken Blackwell evidence that he was going to break the state's bank.
But I dissect too much. Really, the comment was a compliment.
In 50-odd minutes on Wednesday, Strickland sent a flurry of signals: He has priorities, he has ideas, he's serious, he does (contrary to some critics' charge) understand state government, and he will not accept the notion that his administration can't do things to help people who are scraping by.
The declarations are bold, considering that Strickland has ruled out increasing taxes and fees and that the state is hardly rolling in revenue growth. They're also a rejection of the budgetary fatalism that prevailed during 16 years of rule by Republican governors. During that time, how many hundreds of times did you hear that, after paying for schools, Medicaid and prisons, there wasn't a lot the state could do to control its destiny?
Well, now we're going to see.
At a reception for journalists after the speech, Strickland was totally at ease as he was peppered with questions. Make no mistake: This is a person who has thought about the biggest things he wants to accomplish, and most of them touch people directly.
Asked what three "non-negotiables" in his bundle of initiatives might be, he paused, then answered with specifics: his health care ideas, his plans for early childhood education and his compact with higher education.
He wants to make free or subsidized health care available to every child whose parents make less than 300 percent of the poverty level - that's $62,000 for a family of four. Pregnant women earning up to 200 percent of the poverty level would be eligible for Medicaid; low-income parents with earnings at 100 percent of poverty also should get a Medicaid card, he said.
Health care for kids, pregnant women and dirt-poor working adults - as convictions go, it's hard to argue with this one, even if it means stripping money from other laudable programs.
Allowing children whose families earn less than 200 percent of the poverty level into early childhood learning programs and expanding public pre-school programs for needy children won't - in the big realm - cost that much, but Strickland is convinced the payoff will be too big to ignore.
The deal he's offering public colleges puts it on the line. He wants them to get 5 percent more money next year and 2 percent the following, but only on the condition that there's no tuition increase next year, and any hike the following year is under 3 percent.
The universities will grumble, but the governor's statement is clear: He knows they need more money, but he's not prepared to let them solve their financial problems by pricing young people out of an education.
Tuition caps are one thing, but a tuition freeze - when increases have been running 6, 9, 12 percent - that would be a change.
Some people have worried that it would take Strickland a while to get his footing, or that the Republicans would easily exploit his earnestness. They suggested that the governor's young staff, who are learning some of the ropes from a cadre of people who worked for Gov. Dick Celeste a decade and a half ago, might be in over their heads.
Looking back, what they missed was an intensely loyal Strickland team digging in and readying a volley of ideas that Republicans can't dismiss out of hand, whether because of their popular appeal, their common sense or their underlying moral principle.
It's too early to predict success, but one thing is certain: Strickland knows that if Ohio drifts, he has failed.
Belcher is the editor of the Dayton Daily News editorial pages. To reach her: ebelcher@DaytonDailyNews.com, 937-225-2286