Taking Back Ohio — and Its 'Coins'

COLUMBUS, OHIO

The jingling you hear in the background of this state's November elections comes from "Coingate," the nickname for the disappearance of millions of dollars in state workers' injury-compensation funds. AFSCME's Ohio affiliates are prominent among the angry organizations making sure the jingling grows louder.

Highlights to date: the diverting of some $50 million of workers' compensation monies to Republican fundraiser Tom Noe, who invested in rare coins, and allegedly treated Ohio Republican Gov. Bob Taft to golf outings and assorted other goodies — which the Guv failed to disclose in his annual financial statement. Noe has pleaded no contest to four misdemeanor counts. He has also been indicted by a federal grand jury for illegally channeling contributions to President Bush's re-election campaign.

But all that may be only the tip of the iceberg. Recent FBI and ethics probes uncovered hundreds of millions more workers' comp dollars lost in high-risk schemes. The scandal has encompassed Taft's chief of staff, who vacationed at Noe's Florida retreat, and the attorney general and state auditor.