Sunday, September 12, 1999
CAPITOL INSIDER
Allen to move quietly on settlement
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Mike Allen doesn't need any more headlines about picking a fight with another Republican official.
Colleagues in Ohio's other big counties are threatening to sue the tobacco industry if counties don't get a piece of the state's $10.1 billion civil settlement with cigarette makers. But Mr. Allen, the Hamilton County prosecutor, plans to sit out that battle.
“We thought about it, but we don't see any grounds for a lawsuit now,” Mr. Allen said last week. “We feel we can be more effective lobbying behind the scenes on this.”
Perhaps it's a savvy political calculation by the former head of the county GOP. But Mr. Allen said he didn't opt out of the lawsuit talk in deference to Gov. Bob Taft, a fellow Cincinnati-area Republican whose blueprint for the tobacco payments doesn't include counties.
Prosecutors in Montgomery (Dayton), Franklin (Columbus), Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Summit (Akron) and Lucas (Toledo) say a lawsuit may be necessary to recover money counties have spent treating smoking-related illnesses in public hospitals and jails.
It's not as if Mr. Allen is afraid to fight. He recently en gaged in a heated battle with Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis, another Republican, about lawsuits the sheriff's office filed on its own. State law requires county prosecutors to handle those cases.
Anti-tax groups think the state's share of the tobacco settlement should be returned to taxpayers, because the state sued to recover the cost of treating sick smokers.
While giving Ohioans $10.1 billion sounds like a lottery jackpot, such a plan would put about $55 a year in each taxpayer's pocket. That's enough to buy three blue box-seat tickets for a Reds game, with change left over for one beer.
There were 7.3 million taxpayers in Ohio in 1997, according to the most recent figures available from the state Department of Taxation. Divide the tobacco money to be paid out over 25 years by that number, and you get $55.
Mr. Taft and legislators don't like the idea. They say taxpayers would benefit if the state spent the tobacco payments on other things, including anti-smoking programs, medical research and school construction.
In this age of term limits, sessions of the Ohio General Assembly often sound like one of those celebrity roasts Dean Martin hosted in the 1970s.
Legislators who can't run for re-election next year already have started to leave for other government or private sector jobs. And following tradition, the House or Senate sets aside some time for colleagues to wish each departing member well and throw in a few rhetorical zingers.
Our choice for the Dean Martin role is Rep. William Ogg, a Sciotoville Democrat who spins amusing vignettes with a deep, Southern drawl.
During a goodbye ceremony for Rep. Darrell Opfer last week, Mr. Ogg remembered how angry the Oak Harbor Democrat got when a committee chairman kept mispronouncing his last name.
“It's Upfer not Opfer,” Mr. Opfer complained under his breath to Mr. Ogg.
“Well that's a problem,” Mr. Ogg replied. “'Cause if your name's Upfer, mine's Ugg.”
Michael Hawthorne covers state government for The Cincinnati Enquirer. He can be reached at (614) 224-4640.
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