Biography: Bob Hackett currently represents portions of Clark, Greene and all of Madison counties. Hackett received a B.A. in Economics at Columbia University. In 1977 Hackett entered the financial service industry, eventually becoming the founder of Central Ohio Financial Management where he has remained for the past 26 years.
Having served as a Madison County Commissioner, he has enacted safeguards to preserve rural traditions which are important to the region. Bob was a driving force behind the County Employee Benefits Consortium of Ohio (CEBCO), which has saved participating and non participating counties thousands of dollars toward their healthcare costs.
Currently, Bob serves as Chairman of the Insurance Committee; and as a member of the Financial Institution, Housing and Urban Development Committee and State Government Committee at the state level.
Bob has served in numerous leadership roles, including positions with the Madison County Hospital Board; Choctaw Lake Property Owners Association; Madison County Farmland Preservation Task Force.
What is the biggest challenge facing the state and what would you do to resolve it?
“As your State Representative for the 74th House District, I helped balance an $8 billion dollar deficit without raising taxes. Even though job creation and wages have increased and our unemployment rate has drastically decreased over the last several years, I think there is more work to be done to increase job creation, lowering our unemployment rate and bringing and maintaining jobs and economic growth to Ohio. This can be done by continuing to transform and reform various tax burdens on Ohioans and business owners.
During my service in the Ohio House of Representatives, I have been consistent in helping to develop, co-sponsor and pass legislation which has helped to improve our state’s economy. This has resulted in Ohio becoming second in the nation for job creation and assisted numerous unemployed Ohioans find and sustain meaning and gainful employment. However, I still believe the biggest challenge facing our state is our economy. As your next State Senator, I will continue to work to improve our economy and lessen the tax burdens on our citizens – thus furthering to help to create additional development and economic growth in our state.”
When it comes to the state’s budget, how would you change spending priorities?
“Over three-fourths of our budget are spent in two areas – education and Medicaid.
First, funding our future leaders should be a top priority for our state, thus I think education funding for Ohio’s children should be a major part of our state budget. Over several years we have passed legislation to increase resources for education, giving parents more choices and to remove certain mandatory testing under common core. In regards to Medicaid, many who currently serve believe that alternative approaches which emphasize paths to employment will yield better and long term outcomes for all Ohioans. As far as how I personally would try to change the state’s budget, I will continue to focus on developing, supporting and co-sponsoring legislation which would be fiscally sound for Ohio and cut state spending.”
