State Sen. Sandra O’Brien, a Republican whose district includes all of Trumbull County, introduced legislation requiring JobsOhio to comply with open records and meetings laws.

O’Brien, R-Lenox, said, “JobsOhio was created by the government and is funded with public dollars. If we’re using public dollars to create jobs, shouldn’t the public know what jobs were created and if the money was well spent?”

The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

JobsOhio was created in 2011 during the gubernatorial administration of Republican John Kasich as a private nonprofit agency to provide incentives to companies to locate and remain in Ohio. The agency is funded through state liquor profits.

JobsOhio has been the subject of scrutiny because of the secrecy it is granted under state law. It doesn’t have to disclose how deals are made, and the agency doesn’t meet in public session and is exempt from the state’s public records law.

The explanation for the secrecy is to protect the privacy of potential business deals and proprietary information being disclosed.

It recently admitted paying $60,000 to Krisanthe Vlachos for a podcast at the recommendation of The Ohio State University President Ted Carter. Carter admitted to an extramarital affair with Vlachos and resigned last month as OSU president.

JobsOhio posted online last month that it was “reviewing clawback options in our contract.”

“JobsOhio’s involvement in this scandal shows they are not who they say they are,” O’Brien said. The $60,000 payment “hardly qualifies as proprietary information.”

She added, “Hiding public dollars from the taxpayers’ view always ends badly.”

O’Brien’s bill also would require the state auditor to conduct performance audits of JobsOhio every two years. Currently, JobsOhio is audited annually by an outside firm, which is then reviewed by the state auditor. Those audits are posted at jobsohio.com. O’Brien introduced the bill without any co-sponsors, which she said was her decision.

O’Brien said her fellow Republicans, who have a supermajority in the Senate, are sometimes “a little reluctant” to back bills, “but a lot of times that happens with legislation.”

O’Brien said Kasich’s proposal “has run its course, and we need to make sure the funding is being spent responsibly and efficiently with the results to show for it.”

Kasich posted online last month that he “was extremely disappointed by the sponsored podcast, which struck me as a misguided and weak attempt to deal with workforce issues.”

He added, “What concerns me the most is the possibility of mission drift,” and JobsOhio must watch “every nickel of money that flows into the organization.”

State Reps. Tristan Rader, D-Lakewood, and Justin Pizzulli, R-Franklin Furnace, introduced a similar bill last month in the Ohio House.