Senators force GOP to answer why bill was passed in the middle of the night

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Beverly Staten/Greg Lestini Thursday, June 2, 2005 (614) 466-7182/(614) 466-5204 Senators force GOP to answer why BWC bill passed in the middle of the night Dann: ‘Let Ohioans decide if this is a cover-up’ (Columbus)- Today State Senators Marc Dann (D-Liberty Twp.) and Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) reinforced their floor speeches made during the contentious budget debate yesterday and called on the majority in the Ohio Senate to answer why Senate Bill 7 was passed at 3 a.m. this morning rather than earlier this year or even next week. SB 7 deals with reforming the investment practices at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. The Senate is slated to meet for the next couple of weeks and has cancelled several sessions this year because no legislative business was scheduled, but a mandate was made by the Senate President to pass SB 7 in the middle of the night today. “Why this had to be done in the middle of the night remains a mystery to the public,” said Senator Dann, who is one of two Senators who launched the investigations into the Coingate scandal which has to date revealed up to $12 million in missing taxpayer dollars. “It is truly up to the people of this state to decide if this is a cover-up. “It walks, talks and acts like a cover-up to me,” said State Senator Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) who also with Senator Dann initiated the ongoing Coingate investigations. “The majority rule in the Senate needs to answer completely why they have run state business the way they have.” Senate Bill 7 takes a swipe at trying to remedy problems currently plaguing the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. A $50 million investment by the BWC with rare coin dealer/Republican fundraiser Tom Noe has launched several state and federal investigations into the millions of missing taxpayer dollars