Bee cunning him the Great American.
A few hours ago there was a note that Governor Mike DeWine is going to endorse Viveke Ramaswami. That should not be great shocked because both are Republicans, but there's also some indication earlier in the year that ended last year that he wasn't going to make an endorsement yet, John of you and I now is Governor Mike DeWine. And Governor DeWine, welcome again to the Bill Cunningham Show.
And Governor, can you announce now why you're endorsing Viveke Ramaswami now and didn't do it a few weeks ago?
Well, I could give you the answer that this is a little humor here this afternoon. I could give you the answer that Governor Rose gave when he endorsed Reagan. And the reporter said, well, governor, Governor, why why today? And he said, well, yesterday would have been too soon and tomorrow would be too late. I'm not sure that was a good answer for him, but the press didn't do much. It's going to shift their heads and walked away.
I guess so, uh, look, I think that you know he made the first the first big decision a president makes, or presidential nominee makes. UH. The first big decision that a governor makes is picking the running mate. And in this case, he picked Rob colly, who was the Senate president from northwest Ohio, someone very well respected. And so I think that, you know, that was a very very good decision. I wanted to praise that and congratulate him, and it just seemed, you know, I talked to uh
dbake yesterday. I talked to him today. We've been we have been talking, uh, and so I'm you know, happy to endorse him. Uh. I think he'll be a good governor. This is you know, will be a significant race. Uh. You know, we're electing the governor and uh it's a big, a big job in a big, big position. But I think he really hit a home run today with Rob McCully.
Good good choice, very very very good choice. And you know, Bill, we have to continue to grow a hile and we have to continue to bring companies in from California and New York, and I think the Dake has the ability to do that. I think he has the inclination to do that. I think he has the instinct to do it. Knows how to do it, so continued economic growth for Ohio. It's just so very very important.
You know, Governor, when this came out a few weeks ago, that you were equivocating a bit, there was some thought among some conservatives that you might lean toward Dtor Amy Acton because you two worked together March, April, May June July of twenty twenty. In fact, you filled a very important one hour time spot between one and two o'clock with me, with Dtor Aims the acting at your side. Do you think doctor Amy Acton is in a sense not qualified to be the governor.
I'm not going to go into that. I mean, you know, I worked, I worked with her. I think she did a good job. I know some people criticized, you know, what was done during that period of time, and I pointed out that I'm the governor. So if people got a complaintation, complaint, you know, they complaints with me. Buck always stops with the governor. It's not the governor's members of the cabinet. But look, I think she did a good job in that position. I enjoyed working with her. Uh.
But we're not talking about a very different position. We're talking about being governor. For the whole state twelve million people. You know, Bill, after having done this for seven years, I can tell you that every day, uh, there is something happening that the governor has to deal with that's important and that maybe was unexpected. You know, We've had a lot of unexpected things since I've been governor. Every governor faces that. You focus on so many different things
if you think about it. You know, we have seventy six state parks. We have you know, forty five thousand people who are in prison, so we're running a big state prison system. Economic development is so very important. Education probably the most important thing of all is something that you know, we put a big, big emphasis on frand with a Deli Partner Imagination Library library, getting free books
to kids. We're now over I think four hundred and fourteen thousand kids every month get a free book, getting kids ready for kindergarten, the science of reading, which we are spreading around the state in every one of our schools now. It's really the best way to teach kids
how to read. So all these things, you know, there's just a lot going on every every single day, and it's just important to have, you know, a leader and someone who not just as a leader, but someone who can deal with all the different things that the governor has to deal with.
And Governor de One I had on a couple hours ago Maya Cook who's doing her own investigation about daycare and autism fraud and medicaid fraud in Ohio, and food stamp fraud, home health fraud. And there was a report that one of your spokesmen said that the cost of some fraud is the cost of doing business. Do you have a sense that Ohio under your leadership is doing a much better job than appears to be in Minnesota? Are you on top of the fraud? Some talk about
enrollment versus attendance. What do you say to the critics who say that Ohio may have massive fraud in the Somali community, or in the Moreitanian community, or in the Haitian community. What would you say about that?
Well, I had a whole press conference the other day about this bill. As you know, I wanted to lay out for people to stay Ohio exactly where we were. I know some people are saying, look, you have Haitian or you have uh some allions. You know in Minnesota, you've got the Ohio, particularly the Plumbas area. Therefore, if you have fraud in in Minnesota, you must have fraud in Ohio. I'm just not sure that's the way we are to look at this. I'm not sure if it's
not factual. Uh, we have I think a very good system in place. It doesn't mean there isn't some fraud that gets biased, that does happen. No fraud is acceptable. We have no tolerance for fraud at all. I don't have the statistics in front of me, but I came out the other day. But you know, we have pulled the plug on a number of daycare centers, some run
by some audients, some run by not some allions. U. You know, if we see that there is fraud there, if we see, for example, that they don't have records. They're always supposed to keep their records. Uh. We've pulled some just because they didn't have their records. UH. So we're going to continue continue to do that. We do things differently than some states do. For example, we pay and maybe they're kind of set the stage if I could.
We're about one hundred thousand children who are in daycare in the state of Ohio where their parents probably couldn't afford it. But you know, they want to work. We want them to work, want the parents to work, and so we subsidize to some extent that daycare for that particular child. So there's one hundred thousand kids any one time are getting some subsidy, their favors are getting some subsidy to help them pay for that child child care.
We have about fifty two hundred, fifty two hundred daycare centers in the state that I have kids in there who the state is paying part of the tuition. Basically we have a lot more daycare centers now, but fifty two hundred, So it's fifty two hundred. You know that we are looking at. Last year we did ten thousand, ten thousand punt announced inspections. But in addition to that, you know, we if we see something wrong or paperwork,
you know, we go in. We also encourage I would say this to any any of your listeners, and I know that you've you're clear, you know from Cincinnati clear almost the Lego people listening to you. But if anyone has a suspicion that daycare center or any other kind of fraud that's going on any place involved in the Stable High we don't want to hear about it. And so when we get these these tips, I'll just call them tips. When we get them in, we check them
all out. Some of them amount to nothing, but some of them have amounted to something. And as it's all of those tips from citizens in the Stable Hi, we've been able to take action and to stop, you know, the fraut that was going on, stop money going out when it should not have been going out. So we encourage that bill.
Do you say loud and proud there is not massive fraud in the state of Ohio when it comes to subsidized daycare or medicaid and which transportation companies make up trips from the home to a care center or maybe home health, and which somebody can claim, you know, I'm caring for my mom or dad twenty four hours a day. I make seventy eighty thousand dollars a year living with
my mom, and I get paid for all that. The allegations I know you're aware of this out of Minnesota are absurd, And there's been seventy eight indictments ninety five percent of Somali's there's been seventy four convictions in Ohio. That does happen here too. But are you saying, as our governor, there is not massive fraud supporting the immigrant communities in Ohio similar to what's happening in Minnesota.
I know exactly what's happening in this so you just recounted it, you know, so I can't see exactly what's happening there. All I know is the same thing we all know is what's been reported. What I can tell you is, uh, you know that we're vigil about about fraud. Uh. Is there some fraud that occurs? Yeah, You've you've got fifty two hundred daycare centers. Uh you know, is there some sometimes uh fraud there? Yeah, but it's not it's not anything massive. I mean we do things like you know,
we only count. We only let them count and get paid for when that child actually shows up. Uh. The BUYD administration wanted us to switch over and we refuse to do it. They wanted us to switch over to UH paying buy an enrollment, and we said, no, we're not gonna pay just because someone's well, what happens and they don't, you know, the kid doesn't show up for a week, two weeks three, We're not gonna pay we're
not going to pay for that. Uh. So we you know, we do we do that differently as I say you do the unannounced uh visitations when we when we go in, and we're not only just looking for fraud, we're also looking, frankly, to make sure those daycare centers are good and to make sure that you know they're taking care of kids properly. I mean, we you know, we are concerned about that.
You know, one of the things that we've seen in the Columbus area, we've seen some people who have shown up at these daycare centers and filmed themselves and then stood out there and said, well, I'm shocked they won't let me into the daycare center. And these are just people who have no businesses a daycare center. And you know, if your child is in the daycare center, you wouldn't want that daycare center open to anybody he just just
to walk in. You can't do that in the school today, and you shouldn't be able to do that in the daycare center. So, uh, these daycare centers shouldn't be opening up uh and and let just someone who wants to film it and say they want to want to go in. That's not how we run daycare centers in the state of Ohio or or probably any place else. We've got to protect protect you. We do in casey proceeds.
Govin Are you more sensitive to this than you otherwise might have been because of what's happening in Minnesota? Do you notice when one of your representatives said, well, you know, fraud's are cost of doing business, it kind of didn't sound I don't like that quote.
Look, look I don't I don't like that quote. That's not my quote. Uh, you know, but we want to be honest. Just fraud occur. I can tell you it's occurred because we've caught it, so I know it's courred, you know. And do we catch everything? Well, probably not everything. Uh, there's just a lot of a lot of going on, but we're vigilant. It's important. Uh. We owe this to the taxpayers to be the ever vigilant about this. This is taxpairs dollars that we're dealing with.
Lastly, viveg Ramaswami's floating a trial balloon of maybe getting rid of all the real estate taxes in fact, and maybe he also said get rid of state income tax. So those are the main drivers of funding government. And I can't imagine what the sales tax would be if you got rid of real estate taxes and got rid of income taxes. Are those aspirational goals? Practically could Ohioans get rid of the real estate tax and nor the state income tax and have government function?
Well, I'll see how you do both of those. Know, I don't, I don't. I mean I think that is, you know, bill in every budget I've signed for budgets, we have cut the state income tax. So we were very very comparative today with other states. We didn't used to be, but we we certainly, we certainly are today. Real estate taxes, I just signed a series of bills that will make some significant reforms and I think bring some meaningful relief to the tax payers of the state
of Ohio. It's a problem, as you and I've discussed, when a couple that say they're seventy five years old and they've lived in this house for years, they've paid off their mortgage, the kids are grown, and they wake up one day and in the mail there's a bill that shows that their real estate taxes is going up thirty five forty percent. That's not right, and that's you know, that's what's causing some of the people who want to put this on the ballot to completely do the ways
the real estate tax. I don't think you know, the people behind that initiative. I don't think that makes any sense. I don't think you can do that. Can you have reform? Yes? And I think we, you know, were starting to achieve that kind of reform.
All right, Governor, thanks for setting the records trade in those regards, and I have on guests now and then to say things like the massive fraud, there's a sense because you had which I think was a meritorious event, you and your wife had a Haitian orphanage, that somehow
your bendover backwards to assist those other entities. How would you address the fact that the kindness you showed for twenty years in Haiti is kind of weaponized against you to say, as if he might agree with some of this fraud going.
On, Well, well, look what we have done in Haiti is working with father Tom Hagen, who runs the school down there. He's got five thousand kids in school. His kids wouldn't be going to school any other way but for Father Tom, and you know, we were help them away with him, and that's just something we do as individuals. It's not something I do as governor. It's something we do as individuals. So doesn't change my attitude. Don't think
about anything in the United States. I mean, you know, we're going to be visuals for any time we see fraud. We're going to be focused on Ohio and focused on this country.
All right, Governor, thank you very much. I want to get a quick comment by David Pepper, selected by Ammy Acton to be the lieutenant governor. He's an all Ohioan. I know David Pepper, He's run for many offices unsuccessfully. What's your thoughts about him being the lieutenant governor? Or? Will he be the lieutenant governor with Amy Acton?
Well, I saw that announcement today, so you know again, yeah, I simply simply go back. I think that what prevented today dredge that first first big decision. I think in Bob mcpellay, he made a good decision as far as what the Democrats are doing, I left the Democrats were about that.
Hi, Governor, thanks for coming on. I called you on the sly because I wanted to get to may A cook On and make look in Columbus. There's disasters happening all over the place, and she was almost physically assaulted by a couple of Somalis who went after her, and I said, down nine to one, one get the cops there. But I just have a sense that between you, the attorney general, the auditor, and others, that there may be some fraud in the Columbus, which is a blue city.
But I always said, Ohio is a red Stone eight. That we don't function the way California functions and the way that Minnesota functions because the governor spent years as the prosecutor, spent years as the attorney general, and Mike DeWine doesn't have a corrupt bone in his body, and so I'd be shocked if had the same level. But are there some mistakes. Absolutely, But thanks for coming on and setting the record straight.
We'll do it that way, all right, talking with you, We'll do it. We'll talk about the reps next time. There you go.
Rets, we only got about five weeks. What advice would you give to Mike Brown of the Bengals to tell Mike Brown to do what?
Well, let's uh, I'm yeah, I don't know, it's uh. We got a great quarterback, We've got great receivers and you know, there's a lot of good players on that team. But there's some things that have to be done, just like yeah, things have to be done to Reds. So you know, those Bengals fans and those us A Reds fans, you know, yeah.
Well, let the RESU made the playoffs. At least they got to the playoffs. We'll see what happens. But Governor Mike Dwine, thank you very much. And I reached out to Vivek Ramaswami. He's going to come on Monday to talk about the income tax, the property tax and all that stuff. We'll see what happens. But Governor Mike Dwine, thanks for coming on the Bill Cunning m Show. Once again. Thank you, Mike, Thank you, Governor, thank you. You see now let's continue with more news next. You're home of
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