Sunday, October 17, 1999
Lt. Gov. won't seek another job
CAPITOL INSIDER
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When Lt. Gov. Maureen O'Connor announced she wouldn't run for another elected office next year, she said she wanted to “make a positive difference in the lives of Ohioans.”
Ms. O'Connor also may have been thinking about the difference in pay she would have faced if she ran for Summit County executive.
Gov. Bob Taft doesn't want his top staff running for office while they work for him, so Ms. O'Connor would have had to quit as director of the state Department of Public Safety, a job that pays $113,172 a year.
She would have had to fall back on the more modest lieutenant governor's salary of $62,500 a year. Under state law, lieutenant governors who serve in the Cabinet can choose the more lucrative agency director's salary.
Most would rather have the extra pay and more to do. The lieutenant governor's only official duty is chairing the State and Local Government Commission.
Much of their work may be tedious, but state lawmakers relish a chance to crack down on the latest version of criminal behavior.
The most recent example came last week when the Ohio House unanimously approved a bill to tighten state controls on a “date rape” drug called gamma hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB.
Sponsoring Rep. Chuck Calvert, R-Medina, said he introduced the bill after reading about a girl from his county who was hospitalized last year after drinking water laced with GHB.
A person who drinks something containing a few drops of the drug can lose consciousness within 20 minutes, Mr. Calvert said. Victims frequently have no memory of what happened, and the drug is difficult to trace because it leaves the body quickly.
Mr. Calvert's bill, which moves to the Senate, would classify GHB as a Schedule II drug in Ohio, meaning it could be used for medical research with severe restrictions.
Twenty-five other states already have outlawed GHB. Similar legislation passed the U.S. House last week.
State officials plan to push for new laws that clear up the legal relationship between kids and grandparents who raise them.
A state task force found that grandparents provide most of the care in 10 percent of Ohio households with children. But only 11 percent of those raising their grandkids are legal guardians for the children.
The panel recommended the law be changed to allow notarized affidavits stating a grandparent is a child's full-time caregiver. Such a document would make it easier to enroll the child in school, authorize medical care or obtain government services.
Grandparents also need to know more about programs that offer mental health counseling, immunizations, child support collection and free health insurance for children from low-income families, the panel said.
Michael Hawthorne covers state government for The Cincinnati Enquirer. He can be reached at (614) 224-4640.
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