Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court declined to rule on the constitutionality of JobsOhio, the newly created private, nonprofit economic development organization designed to leverage the state’s liquor operations as a funding stream to promote economic development and job creation. The Columbus Dispatch reported that in a letter to Mark Kvamme, interim president and chief investment officer of JobsOhio, Department of Commerce Director David Goodman voiced concern over “lingering constitutional issues” regarding the transaction, including “whether JobsOhio violates the prohibition of the General Assembly from conferring corporate powers via special act; and whether the transfer improperly allows the state to lend credit to a private corporation.” Therefore, JobsOhio put the Kasich administration “in the unusual position of challenging itself in court” when it responded to Goodman’s refusal to sign the agreement to transfer the state’s liquor operations by “asking the Ohio Supreme Court to settle the matter,” an editorial from the Akron Beacon Journal reported. For more information, read our August 17, 2012, blog post.
In a 4-2 ruling, the Supreme Court stated that although on the surface the complaint seeks to compel Director Goodman to comply with the transfer of the state’s liquor operations to the agency, it is actually trying to get “an expedited ruling” from the court declaring the agency constitutional so as to “preclude any further challenges,” Gongwer reports. Moreover, the justices said the court is “powerless to grant” a declaratory judgment and dismissed the action because “parties who seek an advisory declaratory judgment” have “adequate remedies in the ordinary court of law,” namely the lower courts, that must be exhausted before proceeding to the high court, the article said.
