How do you break through in a bipartisan way?
Politics had nothing to do with dealing with how we clean up the mess from the train, for example, or how we hold the train company liable and accountable for this. So Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and I both from the point of view of, “Hey, we got a problem. And let’s go fix it.” So yeah, I think there’s plenty of opportunity for people to work in a bipartisan way.
Another example is Gov. Steve Beshear, in Kentucky, another Democrat. He and I are going to build a bridge across the Ohio River. We got the federal government and we got our money and his money, and we’re going to build a bridge. We’ve worked exceedingly well together.
So, yeah, I think people want us to get things done. I think they don’t like partisan battles. You know, there are gonna be things that parties just are going to disagree about. And that is what it is. I have always found in my 20 years in Congress, particularly my 12 years in the U.S. Senate, as well as my time now as governor for the last four years, that you can find common ground. You can get things done.
What are your policy goals for your second term?
Since I took office, I have put an emphasis on mental health and fulfilling John Kennedy’s pledge in 1963, 50 years ago, to have mental health services available in every community in the country. From Day One, I put an emphasis on this. I provided in my first budget, my second budget now my third budget about $650 million for schools to use for mental health.
When the pandemic hit, we put money directly into our colleges and universities for mental health for students. We continue to have a very aggressive budget. In regard to mental health, we’re also taking this into the communities. We have additional money in this budget, for example, if it’s approved by the legislature, in regard to the research. We’re not doing enough research in the area of mental health. So, that’s a priority.
Prenatal care and pre-K education is also a priority and getting kids ready for school. Reading, as I told you, is important.
Another area is community development. We have a proposal in our budget this year that I think is unique. And it is to set aside a half billion dollars in what we call the Ohio Future Fund and that is to help local communities when they have a prospective site that needs to be cleaned up or that needs to be gotten ready for developments. They can tap into that fund. I consider it a window of opportunity for Ohio.
We are in a great position. Not only have we brought Intel chip fabrication plants into Ohio, but we’re having a groundbreaking for a new Honda facility to make electric batteries. This is really, I think, Ohio’s time.