Ohio: Niehaus

That could have been the cry as the "3C Corridor" plan to bring passenger rail linking Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati emerged somewhat battered and bruised, but still intact after a partisan donnybrook in the Ohio House last week.

Derided as "snail rail" by Republican critics, the $250 million conventional-speed rail line plan would be launched primarily with federal stimulus dollars. The plan is tucked into Gov. Ted Strickland's transportation budget, which faces an uncertain future in the GOP-controlled Senate. Hearings on the transportation budget begin in earnest this week.

The "3C Corridor" was one of the most controversial elements of the $7.

COLUMBUS — Take two!

Looking to upstage House Democrats who on Monday called for a $10 million tax credit for film companies shooting in Ohio, Senate Republicans on Tuesday rolled out their own tax credit worth up to $100 million per year.

Sen. Tom Niehaus, a New Richmond Republican who serves as the second-highest ranking member of the Senate majority, said the tax credit would be transferable between companies and could spark an influx of film companies into Ohio.

"I think you want to be aggressive," Niehaus said. "If you think $10 million will get film companies to come to Ohio, I would think that $100 million would be an even bigger enticement.

The really unusual part happened inside, after the meaty 65-minute talk.

Bill Phillis actually was happy.

"This has been the first ray of hope that we've had since March 24, 1997, when the Supreme Court ordered the state to fix the system, and the state never has," he said.

But let's just say that warm glow didn't extend to numerous critics who wonder how Strickland is going to pay for it all -- both this year and especially in two years, when the federal economic-stimulus money is gone.

To many Statehouse types, Phillis, a 71-year-old former assistant state superintendent, has become a pain in the posterior over the years, mainly because he's seemingly never satisfied with what the legislature or administration does on school funding.