Stivers visits Pickaway County in district tour

Originally from Ripley,  Stivers attended The Ohio State University before joining the Army National Guard, through which he served as a Unit Commander in Iraq, with more than 400 soldiers, sailors and airmen under his command.

Stivers worked in banking for 14 years before becoming a State Senator in 2003, during which time he addressed issues such as economic development, jobs initiatives and lowering taxes.

"We need more certainty on taxes, health care and energy reform," said Stivers. "We need to help small businesses on a federal level; we need to make things more fair and balanced versus big businesses, which get a lot of breaks and deals. We also need to look at regulatory structure: what's working and what isn't working? The federal government needs to focus on reducing spending; 40 percent of the money we spent last year was borrowed."

Stivers said much of the debt the federal government finds itself in is being imposed on tomorrow's American people. He pointed out that he and his wife have a 2-year-old daughter who is already $45,000 in debt as her share of the national debt.

Stivers also said that the U.S. has spent less in the last two years than it has in each previous year, which is "history-making."

He said that while this is a start, spending reductions need to be stepped up even more in the near future.

"The farming and agriculture industries are big in Ohio," said Stivers. "I can't choose which committees I'm on, but I can give my preferences, and I will definitely try to become a member of any committees that focus on agriculture. Regardless, I will continue to support agriculture in the 15 District. Any committees that I request to be a member of will be in the interests of the district and the counties within it."

Stivers said he would also love being a member of the Energy Commerce Committee, stating that it is involved with healthcare. He said that about 50 percent of the bills that go through the House of Representatives go through the Energy Commerce Committee.

"This redistricting has been a partisan process," said Stivers. "It always is. Ohio lost two senators in the last census; this isn't because of loss of population, it's due to lack of growth. Ideally, partisan issues wouldn't come into effect within a redistricting, but traditionally states with independent commissions can get just as 'ugly' as partisan ones. The American people have a lot of choices to make this year."

Stivers said he is tired of government bailouts and that in his opinion the federal government should never have done them. He said that, in no small part because of the bailouts, taxpayers are "on the hook" for about $1 billion because of the national debt. Responding to the need for the debt ceiling to be raised again, Stivers said that he was a co-chair of a "Cut, Cap and Balance" debt bill that was never passed. He said he plans to continue to try getting a balanced budget amendment.

"Another issue that's important to me is the unemployment rate for veterans, which outweighs the unemployment rate for all other people," said Stivers. "I've been working with Ohio legislation to fill the shortage of truck drivers throughout the state. Many veterans are qualified, whose primary job overseas was to drive trucks and deliver supplies in Iraq; the only problem is that many of them aren't yet 21 years old, which is a requirement in Ohio for a commercial driver's license."

Stivers said he is diligently working with Steve Austria, congressman of Ohio's current 7th District (of which Pickaway County is a part, prior to the restructuring). He said with the help of Austria, he hopes to make the restructuring a smooth transition. He said he believes getting to know the people of the district is what's most important, and he plans for the new 15th District to be more accessible to residents.