2008: Final Report on a Successful Year
Posted by admin in Uncategorized, tags: Adoption, Annual Report, Ohio General Assembly, Tom Brinkman, TransparencyHappy Abraham Lincoln’s 200th Birthday.
2008 was an outstanding year for me in the Ohio General Assembly and I have you to thank for making it all possible. Without your support in 2008, I would have been unable to accomplish the things you sent me to Columbus to do.
I wanted to write you today to explain just a few highlights for 2008 and explain how your support made it all possible.
HOUSE BILL 7
Every session of the Ohio General Assembly the majority caucus selects several priority issue to work on over the two year time period. Those issues turn into bills and are given the ten first bill numbers. Key legislators are selected to manage those bills according to their ability and interest.
House Bill 7 was the bill to reform adoption in the state of Ohio and I actively sought its selection as a priority issue and bill and the appointment to manage the bill. Adoption is a Pro Life issue and as the leader in Pro Life issue in the Ohio General Assembly as proclaimed by Family First, Ohio Right to Life, Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati and Ohio Christian Coalition; it was only natural that I would be selected to write, introduce and manage the bill.
Two years of hard work paid off when on December 17, 2008 both houses of the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 7 unanimously and it was sent to the Governor for his signature in early January of 2009.
Programs to make it easier, quicker and less expensive to adopt children in Ohio were made law. Very successful programs to find adoptive parents in the Cleveland Area will now be instituted statewide. Children who were hung out to dry and “time out” in the system, literally to stay in foster care without any hope of being adopted, were free for loving families looking to adopt.
I have cut taxes and beat back the encroachment of government into our daily lives but nothing and I mean nothing made me more proud than passage of House Bill 7 into law.
I promised to be 100 percent Pro Life. Not only to stop abortion but also to promote loving families for all children in Ohio. You have been supporting me for years in this efforts and I could not have accomplished this without that support.
HOUSE BILL 351
In many ways, Columbus is a dream world lost in the reality that the 88 counties, 512 cities and villages and over 1,600 townships have to deliver services to the local population. It would be easy to drive back and forth to Columbus for session and ignore local issues, but that would not have been doing the job you expected me to do.
Hamilton County faced a problem with jail space. Quite frankly, Todd Portune and recently David Pepper, had diverted millions of dollars into low or no priority projects (like the Film Commission and County Advertising) and neglected to set aside the funds necessary to house our prisoners. Their answer was, of course, create a crisis and pass a new tax to build a huge jail without allotting one penny to run the facility.
Working with the local legislative delegation, I introduced a bill that would allow the county to place prisoners in Kentucky jail at half the cost of housing the prisoners in the County jail. That is right; it cost $45 per day in the Hamilton County jail and $22 in the Campbell County jail and get this, the Campbell County jail in Newport is closer to the Courthouse at Ninth and Main than the Workhouse in Queensgate!
This was a common sense idea that saved valuable tax dollars, gave the commissioners the flexibility that claimed they did not have, and everyone agreed upon. It is now the law in the State of Ohio.
You sent me to Columbus to solve problems. I firmly believe that it does not take more money to solve every problem. In fact, some out of the box thinking is expected and House Bill 361 is an excellent example of ideas that work.
HOUSE BILL 420
But many times you need to know where the problem is in government in order to fix it.
That is why I introduced the Taxpayer Accountability and Transparency Act early in 2008 an fought so hard for its passage. Almost every document created by government today is done so on a computer, but very few of those documents are available on line so that taxpayers like you and me can research and find out; “What the Heck is going on with our money?” I found this out first hand when I was investigating how and where the Clean Ohio bond money was being spent. What a mess!
We must have all government programs out in the open so honorable legislators can do the work you sent me to Columbus to do. Ronald Reagan said government is the problem and he was right. But we cannot fix the problem unless we can find it, shine the light of day upon it and come up with real ideas that get the job done better for taxpayers.
Despite its late introduction in the session; House Bill 420 was an idea whose time had come and it was embraced both Republican and Democrats and Legislative and Executive leaders. It passed unanimously in both houses of the Ohio General Assembly and by mid 2009 we will see information heretofore hidden from you and me, posted for easy access on the Internet.
Being named “Watchdog of the Treasury” means more than passing the 21 percent income tax cut. It also means watching government expenses and making those expenses easy to access.
YOUR FANTASTIC SUPPORT
Once again this was the reason you sent me to Columbus and solve the problems that face our state. I could not have done it without you fantastic and steadfast support.
Many of you took advantage of the Ohio Political Contribution Tax Credit in 2008 and you need to fill out line 55 on this your Ohio Income Tax Form and get every penny you donated to me back. Hundreds of taxpayers take advantage of this program for me every year and for that I am grateful.
Now it is time to make this years contribution. I need you to take advantage of the Ohio Political Contribution tax Credit this year, in 2009, by making your check payable to Brinkman Campaign Committee for $100 per couple or $50 per single person and mailing it to: Brinkman Campaign Committee
P. O. Box 9714
Cincinnati, OH 45209
You can also make a contribution on line. Just click on the “Donate” button at the top right of this page.
Republicans, fiscal conservatives and pro life voters face the most daunting political climate since 1993 when both Congress and the President were in liberal Democrat hands and the Ohio House of Representatives was also liberal Democrat.
Quite frankly, we need to get our “dander up” and begin to build the resources now, to fight the battle right around the corner. The Ohio Political Contribution Tax Credit lets YOU direct where $100 of your tax money goes. Either you give it to Governor Ted Strickland and bureaucrats to misspend on wasteful programs or you give it to Brinkman Campaign Committee to be used to fight for lower taxes and less government.
Please help me by writing your check today for $100 per couple to Brinkman Campaign Committee and mailing it in today. You do not have to use an Abraham Lincoln Commemorative stamp, but your prompt action is certainly needed and appreciated.
Sincerely yours,


Tom Brinkman today blasted Jean Schmidt for her vote in favor of sending tax rebates to “resident aliens” who, under the bill, aren’t required to prove they are legal residents of the United States in order to receive the rebate.
For your convenience, we have just added a new page on the Brinkman for Congress website to help you request an absentee or early voting ballot.
Mr. Heimlich’s departure from the race this morning has radically altered the election-day landscape, giving Tom Brinkman more volunteers, more money, and more attention – in short, all of the things a campaign needs to win. If Republicans in the 2nd District want a candidate who will control spending, limit government, and take a stand for life and liberty, Tom Brinkman is the clear choice, and his record proves it.
State Representative Tom Brinkman today filed a notice with the Federal Election Commission that he is a candidate for Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District.




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