League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund
Hamilton County, OH November 2, 2010 Election
	Jim Stith Answers Questions Candidate for State Representative; District 33

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Ohio and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What are your Qualifications for Office? (50 word limit)

I am a true Citizen Legislator not a professional politician. I live, work, and raise a family every day in our community. I also bring my nationally award winning experience in government finance and my track record for applying Hard Work and Common Sense to the job.

2. What plans do you have to address your top three priorities? (100 word limit)

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Ohio needs to become business friendly to attract jobs for our citizens. As one of the highest taxed states in the country we must limit taxation and release the stranglehold of unfunded mandates on our businesses allowing the economy to grow once again. Increasing private sector jobs creates a larger tax base and provides the state with more capital for programs. The current philosophy of increasing taxes during a recession does not work.

3. Ohio is facing a huge budget deficit for the FYs ending in 2012 and 2013. What specific revenue increases would you support and what cuts would you make to balance the budget? (150 word limit)

Our expenditures are out of control. We have to learn to live on less than we make. We cannot continue to expand the government by raising taxes like we have done this past year. Since the start of this recession our state government has increased the number of employees and raised taxes on business and citizens to pay for it. We must cut overhead, outsource where cost effective, and decrease expenditures.

It is time for a long hard public look at our expenditures and to begin questioning the services and departments run by our government. We must be accountable to the tax payer. This means creating a detailed cost to benefit analysis of all departments and demanding efficiency with our tax dollars.

4. What should be done to ensure that all community schools and nonpublic schools that accept state financial support (including vouchers) are accountable to the public? (150 word limit)

A system of accountability for all schools should be in place to ensure that the basic services and standards are being provided for all students. We must also be very careful about the unfunded mandates for non-classroom issues that are being placed on our schools at the cost of their effectiveness. We must increase the dollars to the classroom by decreasing the other expenses imposed by our own government.

5. What would you propose, if anything, to change Ohio’s tax structure? (150 word limit)

We should eliminate the inheritance tax, lighten the business tax, and look towards rolling back the recently increased in income tax.

The next step is a detailed analysis of the tax code and the cost of its implementation. Do we benefit overall from the current code or is a simpler means of taxation more cost effective?

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Word limits apply for each question. Direct references to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 8, 2010 12:04
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