Ohio: Senate

They just call them fees instead of taxes. One of the most harmful is the proposed hospital franchise fee, which would cost Ohio's cash-strapped hospitals $127 million, $333 million or $411 million, depending on whose plan and estimates one adopts.

The basic arithmetic is this: The state would impose the fee on hospitals and apply the revenue generated to the state's share of Medicaid. That money, combined with similar assessments on other health-care providers, would draw about $2 billion in matching funds from the federal government for the state's Medicaid program.

In return, the governor proposed to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates to hospitals so that they recoup some of the franchise fees they pay.

Jennifer Brunner says that if she's elected to the U.S. Senate next year, one of her priorities will be to toughen the just-passed credit-card bill to limit interest rates consumers can be charged.

Brunner, currently Ohio's secretary of state, is running against Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher for the Democratic nomination.

Brunner lauded the credit-card bill's passage but said last week, "Until this bill becomes law next summer, Americans trying to pay down their credit-card balances will be at risk for being slapped with sudden interest-rate increases, excessive fees, double-cycle billing or charging interest on paid balances, and credit-card companies applying payments to low-interest balances before the higher-interest ones."

Brunner said Congress should quickly cap the amount of interest a company can charge, "so that the bill has some teeth and actually protects everyday Americans when it finally becomes law.

That is how Rep. Mike Foley, a Democrat from Cleveland, summed up why Ohio needs a six-month moratorium on foreclosures, which would apply as long as borrowers continue to make at least half of their monthly payment. His bill also would create a $750 fee on foreclosure filings to help fund foreclosure-prevention efforts and set up new licensing standards for loan servicers.

Most Republicans objected to House Bill 3, arguing that it would do more harm than good.

But the bill passed 54-43, with three Republicans joining all Democrats in support.

Foley said the moratorium would give borrowers more time to remedy their financial situations and perhaps to work out new loan terms.

Taylor made her announcement at the Statehouse a week after informing the Ohio Republican Party central committee that she would not run for the U.S. Senate against former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman of Cincinnati in next May's GOP primary election.

"I want to continue the progress we've made helping to provide Ohio taxpayers with a more accountable and affordable government," Taylor said at a press conference.

Taylor said she "seriously considered" a Senate bid and denied receiving any pressure from the state GOP to run for re-election. Her decision, she said, was based on "where do I fit in to be of the best service" to Ohioans.

The auditor is one of five members of the State Apportionment Board, which will reconfigure Ohio's 99 House and 33 Senate districts for the next decade after the 2010 census.