In the last four years, it’s been reported numerous times that Lt. Governor Mary Taylor has often failed to effectively fulfill her responsibilities as lieutenant governor and as the Head of the Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI). Governor Kasich appointed Taylor to lead ODI, but Taylor has frequently gotten important facts surrounding insurance costs to Ohioans wrong.
FitzGerald Press Secretary Lauren Hitt released the following statement on the reports:
“It’s clear that, for years, Lt. Governor Taylor has lacked the ability to properly supervise her staff, repeatedly failed to live up to her responsibilities and engaged in questionable behavior. Holding Mary Taylor accountable falls squarely on John Kasich, and he has failed Ohioans by allowing this behavior to largely go unchecked.”
Lt. Governor Taylor’s Long History of Incompetence
As Auditor, Taylor Failed to Even Hold Herself Accountable: “The fact that she admittedly spends as much time working away from her main Columbus office as she is there has only fueled speculation that Ohioans had elected a slacker. She doesn’t document her work hours…And she can’t tell you how much time she spends working here or there. Her work schedule is almost untraceable, and that’s how Taylor seems to like it.” [Plain Dealer, 3/7/2010]
Taylor Used State Plane for “Courtesy Flights:” “But on three of Taylor’s four trips this year (for appearances at businesses and to give speeches to chambers of commerce in Ohio) the plane flew to Akron-Canton Airport to either pick her up or drop her off…Last week, aides to Kasich and Taylor said the lieutenant governor did nothing wrong but that she wrote the checks to ‘remove any doubt.’ They also said changes would be made to her scheduling patterns so she would be able to avoid courtesy flights to or from Akron-Canton.” [Columbus Dispatch, 12/19/2011]
Taylor Grossly Overestimates Insurance Cost Increases: “But insurance experts and advocates for more comprehensive coverage counter that the Ohio Department of Insurance used confusing and misleading information to arrive at that conclusion. They say the department’s data make it impossible to even tell the price of actual premiums for Ohioans.The department is headed by Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, a Republican critic of the law known widely as Obamacare. She said last week that her department estimates the cost to cover health care insurance will rise an average of 88 percent in Ohio for 2014…Outside groups trying to replicate or better understand Taylor’s figures said they found it impossible and questioned some of the figures in the study.” [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/8/2013]
Taylor Produced Another Questionable Insurance Report That Was Then Used Immediately in Campaign Materials: “Just a few days after Ohio Lt. Gov. and state Insurance Director Mary Taylor issued a controversial report claiming Obamacare would increase some Ohioans’ insurance costs by 41 percent, the Kasich-Taylor re-election team was using that same report to bolster their campaign. Entitled “Stand Up Against Obamacare,” the material from Gov. John Kasich’s campaign cites the much-challenged cost increase figures from Taylor, which includes a projected 18 percent increase for small businesses, and urges supporters to “sign our petition right now.” [Columbus Dispatch, 8/6/2013]
Taylor Lied About Insurance Premium Increases Against Just Two Weeks Ago: “Affordable Care Act premiums for Ohio’s biggest and most popular health insurers will rise on average by only single digits in 2015 if Ohio insurance regulators approve them, according to newly filed rate requests and Plain Dealer interviews with insurers. While almost no one is pleased with price hikes, these would be relatively moderate when compared with double-digit premium hikes in years before the act took effect. This runs counter to an announcement Thursday by Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor that individual rates would go up by 13 percent on average and small-group business rates by 11 percent.” [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 5/30/2014]
Lt. Governor Dolled Out $216,000 in Political Patronage Jobs: “While most Governors employ ‘regional liaisons’ around the state, few if any Lt. Governors have ever done so. Ms. Taylor, however, has employed at least four such ‘regional liaisons’ at a cost to taxpayers of over $216,000 per year in salaries alone. Since liaisons are often described as a Governor’s ‘political eyes and ears’ around the state, it is unclear why a Lt. Governor would need or think she was entitled to ‘her own’ political patronage jobs.” [Innovation Ohio, 12/20/2011]