John Kasich launches balanced budget tour
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, shown here celebrating his re-election victory last month, is launching a national tour to promote a federal balanced budget. First stop: Arizona.
(Gus Chan, Plain Dealer Publishing Co.)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Aided by a nonprofit advocacy group that can raise unlimited sums of money, Gov. John Kasich will launch a national tour this week in Phoenix.
The trip is designed to promote a federal balanced budget – something Kasich has championed since his days in Congress. The initiative also could promote Kasich's potential candidacy for president by establishing him as a problem-solver.
Kasich, a Republican who won re-election by more than 30 percentage points last month, has not ruled out a White House bid. But in a Tuesday meeting with reporters in Columbus he is expected to reaffirm his intention to travel the country in support of a constitutional amendment that would require the U.S. balance its budget.
He then will fly to Arizona.
"He's got a steady pulse on the issue," Kasich spokesman Jim Lynch said. "It's something he thinks about a lot. Imagine if you had spent 10 years [in Congress] working to balance the budget and once you leave, it all sort of unravels."
Kasich served as chairman of the House Budget Committee in the 1990s, when Republican leaders worked with President Bill Clinton's Democratic White House to balance the budget for the first time in nearly 40 years.
Legislatures in at least 20 states, including Ohio, have agreed to join a constitutional convention to consider a balanced budget amendment. According to the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force, one of the leading advocates for the measure, 24 states have active resolutions. Three, including Arizona, have resolutions pending in state senates. Another dozen – mainly out West – are on the task force's list of targets in 2015.
The Arizona House of Representatives passed its resolution last March. The measure has been held in the Arizona Senate since being introduced there several weeks later.
It likely would take 34 states to trigger a convention. After that, 38 of the 50 states – three-quarters – would have to ratify any amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Kasich has long vowed to push for a constitutional convention so, if nothing else, the trip is in line with one of his top policy goals. And the states that host the first two presidential nominating contests – Iowa and New Hampshire – already have advanced resolutions, so Kasich has little reason to visit there under such pretenses.
That's not to say there are no politics behind the Arizona trip.
In a Republican Governors Association forum last month with other possible White House contenders, Kasich showcased himself as a moderate Republican. By staking out budget policy as a signature issue, he also can assert his pragmatism while embracing a key piece of the conservative agenda.
And, understanding that a federal balanced budget is not an urgent state matter, his team has formed a nonprofit social welfare organization under the Internal Revenue Service's 501(c)(4) rules to pay for Kasich's travel.
Balanced Budget Forever was created Nov. 13 in Columbus, according to records kept by the Ohio secretary of state. The Warrenton, Va., law firm that handled the articles of incorporation has strong ties to the Republican National Committee, according to its website. The firm specializes in election law, Super PACs and nonprofits.
Because of its 501(c)(4) status, Balanced Budget Forever can spend unlimited amounts advocating Kasich's positions without disclosing its donors. Such organizations often are affiliated with, or considered on the same level as, Super PACs – political action committees that also can raise unlimited sums but must disclose donors.
While in Phoenix, Kasich plans to meet with State Rep. John Kavanagh, who was elected to a State Senate seat this fall. Kavanagh invited Kasich to visit, Lynch said. It's not clear how much of Kasich's visit will be public or how soon he will travel to other states.