Ohio Gov.: ‘Unthinkable’ Budget Cuts Without Bailout

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) said that he and other governors would have to make “unthinkable” cuts to state budgets should President-elect Obama’s economic stimulus plan not assist a number of states that face billions in budget deficits.

“I’ve had conversations with many of my fellow governors, and I think many of us are facing significant challenges,” Strickland said in a Wednesday morning conference call.

He said that in his state, the size of government would have to be cut 25 percent absent assistance from the federal government, the scenario he termed “unthinkable.”

“This is not the result of mismanagement, this is a result of the collapse in our economy,” Strickland added, encouraging the incoming Obama administration to view states as economic “engines” akin to major industries. “I believe that it does not make a whole lot of sense to provide resources to infrastructure development and at the same time fail to recognize that the states are facing these horrendous circumstances.”

Brad Woodhouse, President of Americans United for Change, a consortium of progressive and organized labor organizations seeking to help pass a stimulus package, argued Republicans are to blame for the states’ budget woes.

“For eight years, Republicans got a chance to try things the way they wanted to, and look at the state that we’re in today,” Woodhouse said.