Government
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Strickland vetoes vet bonus bill
WKSU's statehouse bureau chief Karen Kasler reports
As expected, Governor Ted Strickland has slapped a veto on a bill to give recent war veterans bonuses paid for from the state's rainy day fund. Strickland had wanted the bonuses to be pain for through the sale of bonds. Speaker Armond Budish of suburban Cleveland said he hopes to take up the bonuses issue again soon, but to pay for it in the way the governor wants.
"I am interested in moving on a veteran's bonus bill. I supported the veteran's bonus bill, but I do believe that it needs to be done through bonding," said Budish.
Strickland said in a statement that although vets have earned bonuses for service in the middle East and Afghanistan, the decision to pay for them from the rainy day fund during this economic crisis is - in the governor's words - "simply not fiscally sound".
