Vorys Partner Randal Teague Discusses Ohio Economics and Job Creation Efforts in Focus Washington Interview

Ohio’s congressional delegation, including Speaker John Boehner, is leading the effort to bring new jobs to Ohio, Randal C. Teague, a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, said in an interview with Focus Washington.

“The jobs agenda here is one that’s going to be successful because Ohio has members of Congress on the Appropriations Committee, the Ways and Means Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee,” Teague said during an interview in Washington. “It’s achievable because it has specifics. Specifics tied to trade, tied to education, tied to transportation as a hub within the eastern United States and there’s much that’s being done and can be done.”

Teague said that companies are working in Washington to bring energy jobs to Ohio. He highlighted Ohio’s ongoing natural gas developments as a source of potential job growth. “There is so much natural gas underlying the state of Ohio,” he said. “You can easily recover it, you can transport it, you can take these coal-fired plants that everyone wants to eliminate because of their environmental contamination and convert them to natural gas power plants.”

Teague also discussed his work in Washington on behalf of clients from the Buckeye state.  He noted that a good lobbyist is successful for clients, no matter what party is in control of government.

“It requires you to do the hard work of completing the project, but I do not know any member of Congress from the state of Ohio, Republican, Democrat, liberal or conservative who is not open to hearing arguments for jobs creation, environmental contamination reduction and so forth,” Teague said.  “The door is open. We just have to work hard at it, and we have to work persistently at it.”

Teague discussed Ohio’s political state.  He told Focus Washington host Chuck Conconi that Ohio Governor John Kasich has come into office and worked on the hardest issues first.

“He went into this office believing that his hardest battles he should do first,” Teague said. “He rolls out these very controversial issues in the first year … and if he succeeds in that he’s off and running for the next three years.” He also noted that “if he fails in that, he still has three years to repair the damage and move ahead with what it is he still needs to get enacted.”