Ohio Senate Finance Chairman Chris Widener's ties to nonprofit questioned

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A newspaper investigation has found a western Ohio state senator authored a 2009 budget amendment that financially benefited an agricultural nonprofit he co-founded and financially backed.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Senate Finance Chairman Chris Widener's ties to the Ohio Equine and Agricultural Association Tuesday. The nonprofit was launched to build a livestock exposition center in Clark County, a project Widener's architecture firm designed and managed.

The Springfield Republican told the newspaper he quit the nonprofit's board and canceled a loan guarantee he provided for its start-up before introducing his amendment. The legislation allowed the local convention facilities authority to charge a 3-percent bed tax that helped pay the nonprofit's expenses.

The newspaper reported $529,000 in back taxes were under investigation by the local prosecutor at the time.