Last Week’s Meeting
Findlay native Robert Sprague, Ohio’s 49th Treasurer of State, opened his remarks detailing what made him want to go into public service. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Sprague worked at Ernst & Young in Atlanta, Georgia, then started his own consulting firm, advising businesses from London to Singapore. It was while he was in Singapore that he realized he wanted to solve problems for people in the United States. He moved back to Findlay, and after serving as city treasurer, then state legislator, he ran for the office of State Treasurer in 2017 and won.
It was while serving in the legislature that Sprague felt there were many improvements that could be made in Ohio’s criminal justice system, especially in the area of drug addiction. After hearing the pleas of a constituent whose two daughters were addicted to heroin, Sprague worked with a bi-partisan subcommittee to study the issue. Out of the study came 11 bills addressing the addiction crisis, which provided the framework and funding to establish and increase the use of specialty drug dockets, which give courts flexibility for drug offenders, allowing them to place people with drug addictions into treatment and rehabilitation instead of incarcerating them. Sprague credited Senator Rob Portman for helping at the Federal level.
ResultsOHIO, another program championed by Sprague, aims to support PFS (Pay For Success) initiatives championed by policymakers at the state and local levels of governments. The program acts as a facilitator for new and innovative projects committed to combatting the complex and persistent problems facing our communities. The first ResultsOHIO project will address access to medical care in Appalachia. After discovering that kids don’t get eye exams, a $1.3 million project was developed to serve 32 Title IX school districts so kids can get exams and glasses. Many of these students never had an eye exam before.
The Family Forward Initiative helps to ease the financial burden placed on families seeking to adopt. Through the program, individuals and families may be eligible for reduced interest loans that can be used for qualified adoption expenses up to $50,000 for five years.
Other project and programs were created to help seniors and farmers weather increasing inflation. Sprague noted that seniors are having a hard time paying property taxes because their dollars don’t go as far, and many have to make the choice between paying the tax or paying for their medication. Ohio Gains is a new program in Ohio to help farmers. This initiative uses Ohio’s $29 billion balance sheet to reduce the cost of loans to farmers. Interest rates on planting loans have been reduced to .5% to 3% to insure rates remain low and affordable.
Congratulations Sharon Letson!
President elect Sharon Letson was honored with the Frances Kerpsack Award at ACTION’s 19th annual banquet and awards ceremony last week. Sharon was one of four individuals honored for their contributions to our community.
Congratulations Sharon!
