Ohio lawmakers want stimulus to follow ‘Buy American’ rules

By Marc Kovac

Copies of the letter went to the president and members of the House.

COLUMBUS — The leaders of the Ohio Legislature have sent a letter to the state’s two U.S. senators, urging them to ensure federal stimulus dollars end up in the hands of U.S. companies.

Senate President Bill Harris, a Republican from Ashland, and House Speaker Arrmond Budish, a Democrat from the Cleveland area, co-signed the letter directed to Sens. Sherrod Brown and George Voinovich.

They wrote, “We want to ensure that current federal and state ‘Buy American and Domestic Content’ laws, requiring publicly funded infrastructure projects to utilize suppliers operating with the United States, will be upheld and enforced.”

The letter, citing studies by a couple of outside groups, states that federal infrastructure investments of $148 billion would generate 2.6 million new jobs, including 146,000 to 252,000 high-wage manufacturing jobs.

Those federal funds should be distributed to support American companies and not overseas operations, the two lawmakers wrote.

“We ask that you discourage new outsourcing of manufacturing and purchasing to the detriment of U.S. suppliers serving those industries and businesses that receive public sector financial assistance, including suppliers located in Ohio,” Budish and Harris wrote. “We also hope that you will provide states with as much discretion as possible when determining how best to target stimulus funding.”

The U.S. Senate is considering stimulus legislation being pushed by President Barack Obama to help counter the continuing economic downturn.

Copies of the letter were sent to Obama and the Ohio delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives.