Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich (R) delivered a keynote address to the Big “I” board of directors during the association’s annual Legislative Conference.
During his remarks, Gov. Kasich discussed numerous topics of importance to the Big “I,” including bipartisan progress, the country’s economic challenges, his work to save and create thousands of jobs in Ohio and more.
“We looked at everything that operated in the state of Ohio and in a short four years, we went from a loss of 350,000 private sector jobs,” said Gov. Kasich, who was sworn in as Ohio’s 69th governor in 2011 when the state was facing serious economic challenges. “Today, we have grown employment by almost 340,000 in the positive. We went from an $8 billion hole to running a $2 billion surplus. We’ve cut taxes by $3 billion—the largest amount of tax cuts in our country today, and the state.”
In addition to serving as a legislator in Ohio and the U.S. Congress, Gov. Kasich worked in the private sector. “When you’re in government, you talk about the private sector,” he said. “But if you’ve never been in it, how are you supposed to know about it?”
Before being elected governor, Gov. Kasich served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 18 years. In the House, he served as chairman of the Budget Committee where his stalwart commitment to balancing the federal budget largely defined his legislative priorities.
“Gov. Kasich shared his recipe for economic growth and common sense solutions with small business leaders from every state at the Big ‘I’ board meeting, and he received overwhelming approval,” said Robert Rusbuldt, Big “I” president & CEO. “He has proven both at the state and federal levels that fiscal responsibility works for the people of this country, the business community and even for those who have fallen on hard times. Gov. Kasich understands that small business is the engine for increasing employment, and he has been successful in implementing tax, spending and regulatory policies that work.”
After leaving Congress in 2000, Gov. Kasich ran for President, worked as a managing director in the Investment Banking Division of Lehman Brothers, was a commentator for FOX News and served as a Presidential Fellow at his alma mater, The Ohio State University. Gov. Kasich is also the author of three New York Times best-selling books.