CAPITOL NOTEBOOK Ohio Outdoes Michigan When it Comes to Tobacco Bonds

Source from:  Sunday, November 4, 2007 By PAUL E. KOSTYU gatehouse COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF 11/06/2007

COLUMBUS J. Pari Sabety, the state's budget director, was basking in the glow of a compliment by Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray at a press conference last week. The normally serious Sabety had a big smile on her face when Cordray said she deserved a lot of credit for the $5.05 billion the state got from the sale of tobacco bonds. When given a chance to speak, however, Sabety said she was happy to report Ohio did better than Michigan when it sold similar bonds. Cordray is a Michigan State University graduate and, of course, the Spartans lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes in football this season. BIG ROCK, LITTLE LADY There's a pretty good-sized rock weighing down the ring finger of Karen Tabor, the petite spokesperson for House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering. When a light shines on the diamond, it's blinding. Tabor will marry a significantly taller State Sen. Steve Stivers, R-Columbus, an Iraq veteran, later this month. Husted said he's staying as far away from the wedding planning as he can. No word yet if the couple will let the press follow them on the honeymoon to the Caribbean. DEM SPOKESMAN MOVING ON Randy Borntrager, the spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party, will leave that post to be the campaign manager for Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy, the only announced candidate so far for the 12th Congressional District next year. U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Columbus, is not running for re-election and Republicans have not been able to find a candidate to put on the ballot. Kilroy, a Franklin County commissioner, came close to beating Pryce last year. A source familiar with Borntrager's decision said he made the move because his girlfriend, a graduate student in North Carolina, would like to live in Washington, D.C. Borntrager countered that he thought the source, who he suspected to be his boss, Party Chairman Chris Redfern, was having some fun at his expense. A national search will be conducted to replace Borntrager, who has held the post for a year and a half. A LOVE-IN IN THE SENATE You could almost feel the love in the Senate chamber on Wednesday. People must have expected a chorus of "Kum ba Ya" to break out spontaneously. Republicans and Democrats didn't have a criticism of each other throughout the hours-long session. Votes on the four bills that were considered were unanimous, including bills dealing with the governor's energy policy, teacher misconduct, social security offsets and an internal auditing office. It mattered not which bill was being considered, whoever stood up to speak doled out compliments to their colleagues on both sides of the aisle. The only downer was a criticism of the Columbus Dispatch by one senator, but that was countered by a compliment by another. A college social work class that observed the proceedings that day probably got the impression the Senate always operates that way. Not. WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? State Rep. John Hagan, R-Marlboro Township, is a bit skeptical of the promotion by American Electric Power of its Green Pricing Option last week. He said customers of the utility might get the impression that by paying more each month that they will actually get power from renewable sources of electricity. "That's just not true," he said. "There's popularity in being more green." Hagan suspected AEP and other utilities are taking advantage of that popularity to earn more profit. Kevin Walker, chief operating officer of AEP Ohio, said the company won't make a profit off its green pricing. Enditem