The Lima News | Group asks why Ohio pension data being kept secret

TUA’s call for Ohio Gov. John Kasich to release pension data was featured in this Lima News article.

CHICAGO – Ohio Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly are being asked to set the standard for transparency by releasing information about their government pension.

“Ohio is one of a few states that interprets its Open Records Act exception regarding personal information to include pension payments. But as long as taxpayers fund the pensions, they have a right to review them,” said Christina Tobin, the vice presiden of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).

TUA was in Ohio last week, releasing pension estimates for government employees. The first stop was the Ohio Capitol to hand-deliver letters to Kasich and lawmakers that uged them to change the culture of secrecy surrounding government employee pension benefit amounts.

“In order to have the critical dialogue about meaningful pension reforms, Ohioans need to know exactly what kind of lavish pensions their tax dollars are providing for government employees.” said Tobin.

She sees no reason for the numbers to be kept from the public.

“They can champion a culture of transparency to ensure honesty and integrity through unlimited public review of all taxpayer funds.” said Tobin.