"I didn't grow up in Steubenville, but when you're from an ethnic town along the river, you're all family," Governor John Kasich told a joint session of the Ohio Legislature Tuesday at Steubenville's Wells Academy.

Kasich, who was from a western Pennsylvania town not unlike Steubenville, highlighted his address by saying Ohio was in an economic upswing: the unemployment rate is falling, although it rose for a while last year before declining again, and the state is making business agreements with the automobile industry, and to bring hamburger giant Wendy's back to its original Columbus headquarters.

"That's remarkable. We're alive again," Kasich said. "We're out of the ditch; we're growing. It's happening in our state. It's not me, it's the people in our state. I'm just thrilled to be a part of it."

And some demonstrators apparently wanted to be a part of the governor's address as well. They were there to protest the practice of fracturing used in reaching shale deposits during oil and gas drilling.

Ohio House Democratic leader Armand Budish took issue with the governor's comments about job creation and the unemployment rate.

Budish said Kasich "stood up and spoke out against policies such as protecting the auto industry, which saved over 8,000 manufacturing jobs in Ohio alone."

Budish went on to say almost all jobs created in 2011 were created in the first six months, before the governor's policies took effect.
The state's unemployment rate has declined again during the past two months.

Democratic State Representative Debbie Phillips, whose district includes western Washington County, issued this response:

“Actions speak louder than words. Governor Kasich’s speech today contained a lot of rosy talk, but what has he actually accomplished?

Governor Kasich talked about the importance of education, yet his budget slashed funding to Ohio schools by $2.8 billion, and scrapped the school funding formula and replaced it with nothing, leaving Ohio’s children facing deep uncertainty about their future.

The Governor talked about the importance of investing in infrastructure, yet his budget cut funds to local governments, curtailing their ability to actually do the work of making improvements.

The Governor talks about needing to bring jobs to our state yet he chose to add a new layer of bureaucracy through JobsOhio rather than getting to work and focusing on job creation. Our state needs to rebuild schools, rebuild communities and create jobs—not just talk about it.”