Ohio House votes to waste an additional $2 million
on National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Brinkman amendment would have stripped funding

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Ohio House of Representatives voted to give the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center an additional $2 million in taxpayer life support, even after the Freedom Center made a solemn promise to never to ask for additional dollars. The Freedom Center has already received and wasted $51 million in taxpayer subsidies in its two years of existence. The Ohio Senate votes on the bill next week.

The Brinkman Amendment received 12 votes in favor, including that of House Speaker John Husted. Particularly disappointing was that Brinkman was the only member of the Hamilton County delegation to support the amendment stripping the funding. Michelle Glass Schneider, who received $2,500 in funding for her most recent campaign from the Pepper family, supported the wasteful spending. Those included in favor of the Brinkman Amendment were Clermont County representatives Danny Buhp and Joe Uecker, Butler County Representatives Bill Coley and Shawn Webster, Diana Fessler from New Carlisle, Randy Law from Warren, Ron Hood from Ashville, Linda Reidelbach from Columbus, Jeff Wagner from Sycamore, John Widowfield from Cuyahoga Falls, and John Husted from Kettering.

COAST Chairman Jim Urling declared that the vote "was the ultimate act of treachery" by Republicans in the House. "It was a betrayal of the Republican principles they claim to espouse. When Republicans lose the Ohio House two years from now, they can blame only themselves for the continuing abandonment of Republican principles and any semblance of fiscal responsibility for the loss. Good riddance."

COAST thanks Tom Brinkman, Jr. sincerely for his courageous leadership on this issue. You may send Tom Brinkman an e-mail congratulating and thanking him for his courage at Tom@gobrinkman.com.

Below is the text of Brinkman's speech opposing the Freedom Center's additional taxpayer financing:
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Speech of State Representative Tom Brinkman, Jr., December 12, 2006:

I am here today to oppose the line item in the proposed capital budget to provide an additional $2 million in funding for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Since its conception, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center has been a feel-good, politically-correct project built on a foundation of lies, misrepresentations, false hopes, false premises and false promises.

I am here today to set the record straight before the Ohio legislature on the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, as you certainly will not hear the facts from its boosters.

First, however, the history - in the words of Representative Tyrone Yates - of the "overselling" of the Freedom Center.

1) In 1996, we were told the Center would be built for $70 million. The reality is that it cost $110 million to build, operating on taxpayer-donated prime riverfront real estate in Cincinnati.

2) In 1996 we were told that it would have a $10 million endowment raised from private dollars. In 1998 we were told it would have a $20 million endowment. Depending on whom you believe at the Center, the endowment is either $1 million or "nominal" today.

3) In 1996, we were told that the Center would have an annual operating budget of $3 to $4 million. In reality, its operating budget for the first year was $12 million, and today it has been scaled back to only $9 million.

4) In 1996, we were told the Center would attract 1 million visitors per year. In September of 2000, the Center provided a formal study presenting revised estimates of 450,000 the first year and 250,000 per year thereafter. The reality is that, stabilized, the Center is attracting fewer than 125,000 visitors per year and many of those are school children forced there on buses by their respective school districts. In fact, we believe this number is grossly inflated.

5) In 1997, we were told that 75% of the construction costs would come from private sources. In reality, 51% of the costs have come from government and only 49% from private sources. This $2.0 million sought would raise that ratio to nearly 54%.

6) In 1997, we were promised that the Center would have an economic impact on the Cincinnati economy of $17 million per year. The reality is that it brings in fewer than $1 million in new dollars to the community on a $9 million annual operating budget.

7) Most importantly, voters and taxpayers were promised that once the facility was built, it would stop seeking tax subsidy and become self-sustaining. Today, the Center has announced that it will need a $3 million per year perpetual taxpayer subsidy.

Now, what the Center is and is not. Please do not be misled.

A) The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is not an important part of the Cincinnati economy. While shortsighted politicians did give it a prime piece of Riverfront property, it is not attracting enthusiastic crowds to its doors. The majority of its visitors are school children bused involuntarily from local schools.

B) On any given day, the place is a tomb. Other than the occasional corporate special event, there are not throngs of visitors at its doors, and it certainly is not attracting a significant number of new visitors to our community.

C) The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is not a research institution. No new ground is being plowed on historical research there.

D) The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is an enormous waste of money founded upon false premises and promises.

There are only a few clearer instances of a waste of public moneys than the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Other than the political contributions it generates for its elected benefactors, the capital dollars invested there give little to no return to the taxpayers of Ohio.

Finally, the voters know of the lack of value being provided to them by the so-called Freedom Center. A May 2006 survey of Cincinnati-area voters by nationally-respected pollster Public Opinion Strategies asked Hamilton County Taxpayers wanted additional tax dollars going to support the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Here's what they said:

I. Fully 68% of all county voters interviewed oppose additional funding, with 56% strongly disapproving.

II. Moreover, opposition is evident both inside (55%) and outside (76%) the city, as 65% of suburban voters strongly oppose providing additional moneys.

I ask you to please heed the voters' wishes and stop this enormous waste of tax dollars before it goes further.

Thank you for your time.