COLUMBUS, Ohio — Federal and State Republicans are calling out the Ohio Democratic Party for receiving more than $300,000 from the government’s Paycheck Protection Program. The GOP says the Democrats took advantage of the program, however it appears both sides might have some explaining to do.
Steve Faulkner takes care of thousands of dogs a year at his facility Playful Pets in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus. Then came the pandemic.
“I look at the number of dogs that come into our facility. That was cut by half for the daycare side of things. We were down to zero for boarding. People just weren’t traveling,” said Faulkner.
He says federal loan money helped save his business. He went from thinking about closing his doors to bringing back workers, and even hiring new ones.
“They’re my family. I spend more time with them than some of the people I’m blood related to and so, to have that money and bring my family back on board was crucial,” Faulkner said.
The money was crucial for thousands of other businesses, including the Ohio Democratic Party.
Despite criticizing the program in May, a party spokesperson said the $333,867 loan the party received helped keep 20 people on staff.
On Wednesday, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Jane Timken and Congressman Steve Stivers called them out. Timken says any lobbying or political party that takes money from the program is unethical and could be acting perhaps illegally. Congressman Stivers said that this is not what the money was intended to do. It was intended to help small businesses struggling through the pandemic.
“I don’t see how it would be legal for a political party to receive a Paycheck Protection Program loan. It is a huge, huge moral hazard to allow taxpayer money to subsidize one political party against another and I hope they do the right thing,” said Stivers.
“I’m calling on the Democrats in Ohio to ask them to return the money. It’s unbelievable. They’ve been silent. That money was for small businesses and not political campaign activities. They should return the money,” said Timken.
The Ohio Democratic Party released a statement in response saying, “The Ohio GOP is clearly desperate to distract from the coronavirus crisis, which is spiraling out of control, and Donald Trump’s stunning corruption and incompetence. But to throw out baseless allegations — when prominent Ohio GOP lobbying firms and political operatives paid by Steve Stivers have benefited from PPP loans — is just reckless.”
We found two Ohio Republican lobbying and public relations businesses — Strategic Public Partners Inc. and Hicks Partners LLC, both based in Columbus —that also received PPP loans between $150,000 and $350,000. We left messages with both companies, and will share their response if it comes.
When hearing about the two companies, Stivers said, “I don’t uh. I don’t know about uh those. That’s the first I’ve heard of it. So I’ll certainly take a look at those, but a lobbying organization is certainly one thing.”
After reminding Stivers that Timken mentioned lobbying groups, his response was, “I didn’t say that.”
As for Timken, she said, “I have no information about those loans so I can’t really comment on it. There’s a huge distinction between potentially a lobbying organization, which I believe in the guidance, is not right for them to take that money.”
I asked her if she found out those companies did take PPP money if she would ask for the Republican groups to give it back too. She said, “Well look, I’d have to look into it. Can’t comment on something I don’t have all the information and facts on.”
Also, two more groups connected to Congressman Stivers — FLS Connect in Minnesota and The Tarrance Group in Virginia — got PPP between $150,000 and $2,000,000.
“There’s no exclusion for a company that happens to do campaign-type work in the law that I know of,” Stivers said.
As for business owners like Steve Faulkner, he blasted the Democrats for taking money, but would not comment on the Republicans. He just says neither should have a dollar because the pandemic is ongoing.
“We don’t know how long this is going to take. I don’t know if there is going to be a reauthorization of this plan, but putting that money back into the coffer so that small businesses have an opportunity to get that money is important,” says Faulkner.
