COLUMBUS - A secret plan to destroy the political career of Ohio's secretary of state was the work of overzealous staffers frustrated with the secretary's proposal to roll back a penny sales-tax increase, House Speaker Larry Householder said yesterday.
Householder, R-Glenford, said he asked staff members to put together a plan after they repeatedly questioned how to respond to the proposal by Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell.
Staff was overzealous
but I understand their frustration Householder said. He said he dismissed the plan after about 10 minutes of reading it.
I pushed it back and said 'We're not going to implement any of it
' Householder said. That was the end of it until this week.
Householder said staff members felt the rollback would have made budgeting very difficult and didn't take into consideration the effect on social services.
Blackwell, a Cincinnati Republican, said he will turn the results of a private investigation over to authorities if he finds evidence of a crime.
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