(The Center Square) – The Ohio Controlling Board ignored Attorney General Dave Yost’s request for a delay and extended a deal that gives the state’s liquor profits to a private, nonprofit group focused on economic development.
The board voted 4-2 late Wednesday to extend JobsOhio’s original agreement to 2053. It had been set to expire in 2038.
The state’s largest business organization applauded the move.
“The Ohio Chamber applauds Gov. DeWine, Office of Budget and Management Director Kimberly Murnieks, the Ohio Department of Commerce, Ohio House and Senate leadership and members of the Ohio Controlling Board for making the 15-year extension of JobsOhio happen,” Ohio Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Steve Stivers said. “My chamber colleagues around the country envy JobsOhio’s performance. We want companies to grow and invest in Ohio, and we believe this extension will ensure that our state remains a national leader in economic development.”
Yost has spent the past week asking the board to delay the vote and require the company to contribute more to the state. JobsOhio contributed $1.4 billion at the beginning of the agreement in 2011, but the state did not require an additional investment for the extension.
Yost had sent letters to JobsOhio and the Office of Budget and Management questioning the proposed extension and asking the Controlling Board to hold off on considering it.
“It appears to me JobsOhio is required to pay nothing for a 15-year extension of this limited, one-time franchise,” Yost said. “How is it in the best interest of the people of Ohio to extend such a valuable franchise under these circumstances?”
Yost, one of the 2026 Republican candidates for governor, said he supported the extension but wanted to funnel $840 million from JobsOhio into day care, return-to-work incentives and job-skills training.
JobsOhio CEO J.P. Nauseef defended the organization and its request to extend a 25-year agreement with the state and the need for an extension with 13 years left on the original deal.
“Since the 2013 purchase, JOBS has operated in growth mode to provide more return than was ever contemplated and continue providing dollars to the state, paying more than $686 million to the state as part of a revenue-sharing agreement,” Nauseef said in a statement. “In the first four years of the revenue share, the state received $90 million; over the last four years, due to sound fiscal management and best-in-class business practices, the state has received $432 million from JOBS. As part of the extension, JOBS is obligated to continue making supplemental payments each year based on liquor profits achieved.”