GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH) was elected in 2010. TRANSPARENCY In February 2011, Gov.

Kasich replaced Ohios Department of Development with a private, non-profit organization called JobsOhio.1 JobsOhio is financed by the sale of bonds backed by the states wholesale liquor profits and private donations, but it is exempt from Ohios public record laws and does not have to disclose its donors.2 The Kasich administration resisted efforts by the state auditor to examine JobsOhios financial records, claiming private donations and liquor profits should not be subject to an audit.3 State Auditor Dave Yost subpoenaed JobsOhio to get access to its financial records.4 JobsOhio eventually complied, but with Gov. Kasichs support, the group sought legislation to strip the state auditor of authority to examine records related to money from state liquor-supported bond sales.5 Gov. Kasich pushed the fast-tracked legislation, and signed it in private.6 In a separate disclosure dispute, Gov. Kasich invoked executive privilege to block the release of some of his schedules to the Ohio Democratic Party.7 He was the first Ohio governor to invoke executive privilege since it was created by a 2006 Ohio Supreme Court decision.8 PARTISAN POLITICS Gov. Kasich has backed new restrictions on voting. In 2011, he signed an election-law bill preventing counties from mailing unsolicited absentee ballots to voters, eliminating a requirement that poll workers help voters voting at the wrong location, altering rules for challenging voters based on citizenship and party affiliation and eliminating in-person voting the three days preceding an election.9 Opponents of the bill were able to gather enough signatures to put the law on the November 2012 ballot for a voter referendum.10 Concerned that the referendum would drive Democratic-leaning voters to the polls, benefitting President Obamas re-election effort, Republicans reversed course and repealed all of the new measures except that eliminating in-person voting the three days before the election, and Gov. Kasich signed the legislation.11 Ohio Democrats sued state officials over the elimination of the threeday period and a federal appeals court reinstated the early voting period in October 2012.12

Joe Guillen, Gov. John Kasich Signs JobsOhio Bill, Addresses Doubts that His Hand-Picked Leader for the Corporation is Eligible to Serve, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 18, 2011. 2 Id.; Reginald Fields, Gov. John Kasichs Private Jobs Agency to Control Ohio Liquor Profits, Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 23, 2012; Joe Vardon, Donors Funneled $6.9M to JobsOhio, Columbus Dispatch, May 18, 2013. 3 Joe Hallett, Kasich/Yost; Showdown?; Governors Office and State Auditor May Be at Odds over JobsOhio Audit, Columbus Dispatch, March 7, 2013; Tom Breckenridge, Democrats Raising More Questions On JobsOhio as Kasich, Yost Tussle over Audit, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 14, 2013. 4 Robert Higgs, JobsOhio Complies with Ohio Auditor Dave Yosts Records Subpoena but Still Disputes Auditors Legal Authority, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 19, 2013; Ann Sanner, Ohio Bill Shielding Liquor Deal Money Heads to Kasich, Associated Press, May 31, 2013; Breckenridge, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Mar. 14, 2013. 5 Id.; Higgs, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Mar. 19, 2013; Breckenridge, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Mar. 14, 2013. 6 Joe Vardon, Bill Signed to Close JobsOhios Books, Columbus Dispatch, June 5, 2013; Sanner, Associated Press, May 31, 2013. 7 Aaron Marshall, Gov. John Kasich Asserts Executive Privilege in Records Fight with Democrats, Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 20, 2012. 8 Id. 9 Jim Siegel, House Approves Election Overhaul Bill, Columbus Dispatch, June 29, 2011; Joe Vardon, Kasich Likely to Sign Repeal of Election Bill He Signed, Columbus Dispatch, May 15, 2012; Kim Palmer, John Kasich Signs Bill to Repeal Voting Law Changes in Ohio, Reuters, May 15, 2012. 10 Id. 11 Id. 12 Ann Sanner, High Court Wont Block Early Voting in Ohio, Associated Press, October 16, 2012.