Kasich-O-Meter: Tracking the promises of John Kasich
PolitiFact Ohio has compiled promises that John Kasich made during the 2010 campaign and is tracking their progress on our Kasich-O-Meter.
We rate their status as Not Yet Rated, In the Works or Stalled. Once we find action is completed, we rate them Promise Kept, Compromise or Promise Broken. (See our About the Kasich-O-Meter page for details on our ratings.)
The report card at right provides an up-to-the-minute tally of all the promises.
Browse the Kasich-O-Meter:
Promises we’ve rated recently
Oppose restrictions on gun rights
The Promise:
"I believe in the 2nd Amendment. Everybody has the right to keep and bear arms to either protect your family, protect yourselves, to be a hunter. The 2nd amendment is part of that Constitution. It's something I believe in. And, we're going to stand firm, very firm, for 2nd Amendment rights here in the state of Ohio."
Dismantle the Department of Development and privatize job-creation efforts
The Promise:
Under his "JobsOhio" plan, he would abolish a state agency devoted to job creation and replace it with a privatized, corporate board that he would appoint and chair.
Revamp the state's collective bargaining law for public employees
The Promise:
Said striking public employees should be fired and that binding arbitration provisions from outside negotiators hurt financially-strapped cities.
Phase out Ohio's personal income tax
The Promise:
"Phase out the income tax. It's punishing on individuals. It's punishing on small business. To phase that out, it cannot be done in a day, but it's absolutely essential that we improve the tax environment in this state so that we no longer are an obstacle for people to locate here and that we can create a reason for people to stay here."
Scrap Gov.Ted Strickland's evidence-based school funding model
The Promise:
"Ted Strickland's evidence-based model was unfunded, filled with unfunded mandates on cash-strapped districts, and has been unsuccessful in the states in which it has been implemented."
Dismantle the Department of Development and privatize job-creation efforts
The Promise:
Under his "JobsOhio" plan, he would abolish a state agency devoted to job creation and replace it with a privatized, corporate board that he would appoint and chair.
Raise education standards
The Promise:
"Raise (education) standards for everybody. We should bring the curriculum in line with international norms. We're not competing with Indiana. We're competing with India."
Promote cooperation among colleges, universities and major institutions
The Promise:
Said he can bring Ohio colleges and universities together to share resources, entice major institutions to collaborate and force Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly to tackle tough issues.
Update April 24th, 2012:
Joint recommendations for higher education on capital budget a first
Improve job retraining programs
The Promise:
“We have to train ourselves for the jobs that are going to come. Because we’re not just going to be stuck here in manufacturing, and we’ll do manufacturing as best as we can, but we also have to be involved in bio technology and computer information technology. We’ve got to retrain Ohioans and we need a whole new system to do that.”
Update April 23rd, 2012:
Executive order creates office that will streamline job training programs
Create voucher program for job training
The Promise:
"How about vouchering out all the job training program and giving it to the businesses, including small businesses, and letting them drive the curriculm at our technical schools and our community colleges so we begin to train people and retrain people for jobs that exist and those we think are going to come."
Update November 10th, 2011:
Framework was part of the state budget, with funding to come from casinos
Promote Ohio as a place to locate businesses
The Promise:
"As governor it's going to be my job to be like Jim Rhodes was and that is to chase around this country and chase around the world, if necessary, to convince people that Ohio is a place to locate their businesses."
Promote school choice
The Promise:
"I've been in cities where I've seen people stand in line to give their kids a chance to be safer and better educated. And the idea that we're going to deny them a chance to have choice; to put their kids where their kids can get the best education, in my opinion violates their civil rights. To me it's the biggest civil rights issue out there. The right of mothers and fathers to have the resources to put their kids in a school setting where their kids can learn and prosper."
Eliminate Ohio's estate tax
The Promise:
“Kill the death tax. You know the death tax, all these people who are successful, they’re moving to Florida. Florida doesn’t have a death tax. So we’ve got to get rid of that so the entrepreneurs, the job creators, stay."
Preserve the delayed income tax reduction
The Promise:
During the debate Oct. 7 he pledged not to raise taxes and said he favored allowing the fifth phase of the five-year, 21-percent income tax reduction that was delayed under Gov. Ted Strickland. The reduction took affect Jan. 1, 2011. He has said he intends to leave it in place despite the need to fill an $8 billion hole in the state budget.
Scrap Gov.Ted Strickland's evidence-based school funding model
The Promise:
"Ted Strickland's evidence-based model was unfunded, filled with unfunded mandates on cash-strapped districts, and has been unsuccessful in the states in which it has been implemented."
Update June 2nd, 2011:
Gov. John Kasich’s budget proposal would throw out former Gov. Ted Strickland’s education blueprint
We want to hear your suggestions and comments. Email the Ohio Truth-O-Meter with feedback and with claims you'd like to see checked. If you send us a comment, we'll assume you don't mind us publishing it unless you tell us otherwise.
