LISBON — The 2018 race for state representative is a repeat of the 2016 election, with incumbent Republican Tim Ginter again opposed by Guilford Lake Democrat John Dyce.

Ginter defeated Dyce to win a second two-year term, and just like 2016, the issues that dominated much of the candidate interviews this year remain about the same: jobs, school funding, state funding for local governments and the drug problem.

Jobs

Ginter, 63, said he believes the best way to create jobs is to create a friendly business climate by keeping taxes and burdensome regulations to a minimum.

During his time in the state legislature, Ginter said he has supported measures that helped create 520,000 new jobs in Ohio over the past six years, making the state third in terms of job growth over that period. The state was also ranked by Forbes magazine as having the third friendliest tax environment, which he said is essential for job growth, and the individual income tax has been cut to 1983 levels.

“We’re definitely on the right track, and I’m glad to be part of that team effort,” Ginter said.

Ginter also voted for legislation granting small businesses a 100 percent tax deduction on business income up to $250,000.

“When we give them a tax break, I believe most are going to look for ways to expand their company and that will result in new jobs. It’s also a welcome sign to people in other states looking to start a business,” he said.

This is why he also favors streamlining government regulations to help businesses grow.

“When we allow capitalism to work, to let ingenuous people do what they do best, and get out of the way, that’s when we create new jobs. We create an atmosphere where jobs can grow and thrive.” he said.

Ginter said he has been involved in discussions with local school districts through the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council about development of a curriculum for high school students who do not plan to attend college or trade school after graduation. Local employers would also be involved in the development of the new curriculum, which is specifically designed to meet the needs of local businesses so those students will have job options when they leave school.

Dyce, 68, said if Columbiana County has changed for the better, he must have missed it.

“As I look around the county and the state, I see people facing the same challenges my family faced over 40 years ago,” he said, such as job insecurity and unaffordable health care. “I know we can do better.”

He does not believes the legislature has spent tax dollars with an eye on helping the most people. “We have to put people first … Every time you start moving those numbers around on paper in Columbus, it affects peoples lives,” Dyce said. “We have to truly look at how it affects people and not just the bottom line you want to get.”

Dyce said that starts with spending tax dollars on programs that produce results for the most people. His jobs program consists of redirecting state funding to local communities and possibly restructuring the tax code, with the money going to local communities for roads, water and sewer projects and high-speed Internet.

“Infrastructure would be at the top my list because I think that’s how we really get our communities revived and going again,” he said. “I think if we address those issues I think we can really market ourselves and attract new business, new business that pays a living wage.”

Another way to get money for local infrastructure projects would be to use a portion of the state severance tax on oil and gas. Dyce said some of that tax money needs to be spent on helping those communities whose roads are most impacted by oil and gas development.

Dyce, who sits on the Mahoning-Columbiana Workforce Development Board, is a big proponent of job training programs that are tailored to meet the specific needs of area businesses.

Local Government Funds

Dyce was critical of the legislature for cutting taxes while failing to restore cuts made to the state Local Government Funding (LGF), which returns state funding to county commissioners as well as cities, villages and township.

“All that is is tax shifting, giving money away to special interest and corporations,” he said of the tax cuts, “while telling our local governments to bear more of the local burden.”

The county’s combined LGF allocation peaked at $4.8 million in 2008 before the state legislature began cutting it to address a budget deficit. The county’s allocation bottomed out $2.2 million in 2015 but has bounced back in recent years to $2.5 million in 2019.

“They cut it 50 percent, but then they started giving you little crumbs. But you’re never back to where you were, and our local governments are still suffering,” Dyce said, adding this has forced local governments to seek new property taxes to make up for the loss.

The current balance in the state “rainy day” fund is $2.7 billion, and Ginter believes that is enough for the legislature to consider a House bill that would require 50 percent of any future budget surpluses be put into a government road improvement fund and divided up among counties based on the number of road miles.

He does not favor touching the rainy day fund, however, because the $2.7 billion is only enough to run the state government for 30 to 40 days. Ginter pointed out as recently as 2010 the state faced an $8 billion budget deficit and there was only 89 cents left in the rainy day fund at the time.

“It’s not just for a rainy day. It’s there in the event something disastrous takes place in the state of Ohio,” Ginter said.

Ginter said the legislature has done what it could to restore funding cuts to counties. He said the Ohio House voted to reinstate sales tax cuts to counties after the federal government ruled sales taxes could no longer be charged on services provided for Medicaid managed-care services. Gov. John Kasich vetoed the bill and the Ohio Senate chose not to override his veto.

Despite being in office for nearly four years, Dyce said Ginter has to failed bring home much in the way of state funding. “I don’t think he brought home any bacon. What he brought us home was a stale muffin, and then he goes around and wants everyone to pat him on the back for that,” he said.

Ginter said he has been able to secure between $2.5 million and $3 million in discretionary state funding for the county, which excludes outright grants. “Where I come from, and by anybody’s standards, that isn’t a stale muffin: That’s a whole loaf,” he said.

School Funding

Dyce was critical of the legislature for cutting taxes at a time when it is reducing funding for some local public schools and barely granting increases to others. That does not mean Dyce is opposed to tax cuts in general or property tax abatements, but he believes the entire tax code needs reviewed to determine if the “taxes we are collecting are fair and affective” and are producing the promised results.

After Beaver Local and United Local school districts lost funding under the 2016-17 state budget, Ginter said he had to fight to ensure no districts were cut during the current state budget after the original formula had Beaver Local and Southern Local losing money. While those two received no additional funding, the other nine school districts in the county did.

“I’ve fought hard for Columbiana County on behalf of our schools,” he said.

Ginter said the problem is the convoluted formula used to determine how state funding is handed out. Few legislator understands how it really works, and he would like to work on reforming the formula so “that it’s more equitable to poorer and smaller school districts.”

Dyce was critical of Ginter for keeping a $12,000 donation from William Lager, the founder of the now-defunct Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), which was the largest online charter school in Ohio when it closed in January amidst charges of fraud. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is seeking to recoup $62 million owed the state.

Dyce said locals school districts have lost million of dollars in state funding to ECOT and other charter schools over the past decade or more because students opted to attend these online schools instead of their own.

“He’s part of the problem, and you know what? The papers here gave him a pass on that and don’t say a darn thing negative about him. Everything is always glossed over. ‘He’s the greatest at what he’s done.’ He’s done nothing. The man is an empty suit,” he said.

Ginter said he received the donation when he first ran in in 2014 and “there was not even a hint of any impropriety” back then.

“And to prove that my political decisions are never influenced by donations, I have voted in favor of every piece of legislation that increased transparency and accountability, resulting in some of the strongest (charter) school reform in two decades,” he added.

As for the “empty suit” comment, Ginter called it a “desperate comment” and that his record of “integrity and hard work” over the past four years speaks for itself.

Drug Problem

Ginter said he co-sponsored a bill that provides $180 million in funding “to hit this problem from all angles” — prevention, treatment, mental health counseling and job training.

Ohio is one of 13 states showing progress in battle against opioid addiction, according to the National Safety Council. “The battle is far from over, but we’re making progress,” he said.

Ginter said he has attacked the problem from the law enforcement side, introducing a bill increasing penalties for those caught selling drugs in the vicinity of a drug treatment facility. He did this after the Family Recovery Center in Lisbon reported dealers would wait outside for those undergoing outpatient counseling/treatment.

He also introduced language in another bill strengthening penalties for possession of fentanyl.

Dyce said you have to get at the root causes of the drug crisis, such as unemployment and poverty. “And then we have to address those issues. You just can’t arrest and incarcerate people and think the problem is solved. There’s a reason why people use drugs,” he said.

Both candidates were asked about their stand on state Issue 1, which would amend Ohio’s Constitution by reducing drug possession penalties and eliminating jail time for some drug offenses. The savings from reduced incarcerations would be used to fund more drug treatment programs.

Ginter opposes Issue 1, citing Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, who noted someone possessing tiny amounts of lethal drugs such as fentanyl could only be charged with a misdemeanor, which is an invitation for more drug dealers to set up shop in Ohio.

Besides, Ginter said these are issues that should be handled by the legislature and not constitutional ballot.

“Many of the people I speak to are not aware that a ballot initiative changes the Constitution, not just (state law),” he said. “That’s understandable because unless you really follow this sort of thing it could really easy to be confused.”

Once a constitutional amendment passes it becomes enshrined in law, and the state legislature has little to no say how. “Some people have told me you can always change it, and I have to tell them, ‘No. It’s in the Constitution. It will require another vote of the people to change the Constitution,” he said.

Ginter does not like the idea of out-of-state groups coming into Ohio to fund these constitutional amendments. Issue 1 is being funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the Open Society Policy Center, a foundation created and funded by billionaire liberal political activist George Soros.

Ginter said year after year these special interest groups are “moving into Ohio to pull a quick one. They prey upon the confusion in the minds of the people.” That is why he favors legislation being considered that would make it harder to put constitutional amendments on the ballot.

Dyce said he sees good and bad in Issue 1 but has not taken a position. While he favors prosecuting major drug dealers to prison, “We just can’t keep incarcerating first time users and pay the industrial prison complex using state money to house these people,” he said.

The inmates come out of prison unprepared to rejoin society, making it harder to find a job. Dyce said Issue 1 is a response to the state’s failure to address the problem.

Miscellaneous

Ginter said he is most proud of his constituent service, noting in 2017-18 alone his two-person office received 3,398 email requests for assistance, and only five to eight remain unresolved as of Oct. 1. He most recently worked with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for securing money to help Winona residents drill wells to replace a community water system.

Ginter said he also supported legislation that froze tuition at state colleges and ordered a review of college textbook costs, and in his next term he would investigate trying to slow rising health care costs.

Dyce would like to see a statewide comprehensive plan on safe drinking water and supported the governor’s expansion of Medicaid to include more of the working poor. He said as he has campaigned around the county, access to affordable health care is the number one concern.

Personal

Ginter remains pastor of Church at the Center in Salem, where he and his wife, Pam, live. They have a daughter, Angie.

He has been endorsed by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Businesses, Ohio Society of CPAs, Ohio Manufacturing Association, Affiliated Construction Trades of Ohio, International Union of Operating Engineers, Ohio Contractors Association, Teamster Ohio DRIVE, Ohio Farm Bureau, Ohio State Medical Association, Ohio Nurses Association, Ohio State Chiropractic Association, Ohio Right to Life, National Rifle Association and Buckeye Firearms Association.

Dyce and his wife, Sally, have two children and five grandchildren. He is a retired postal worker and currently serves as president of the Ohio State Association of Letter Carriers. As association president, Dyce said he has frequently worked with Republicans, a trait he believes would come in handy as a state legislator.

“We need members of both parties to get things done and I’ve been doing that for 25 years,” he said. “You sit down with people and you don’t have to agree on everything in life, but if you sit down and talk you can find common ground. There’s not enough of that going on.”

He is endorsed by the Ohio AFL-CIO, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Ohio Education Association, End Citizens United, Working Families Party, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation Workers, UAW and Ohio Association of Public School Employees.