I was never a fan of Ohio’s Third Frontier program, which guaranteed low-interest loans and reserved chunks of land for research and industrial development, paid for by selling bonds.

An editorial in the Dayton Daily News seems to indicate that Governor Ted Strickland doesn’t like the program either, but he likes the money:

In the last state budget, Gov. Strickland — with the Republican Legislature going along — siphoned off 20 percent of the $379 million that is supposed to go into the Third Frontier initiative over the next two years. Most of the diverted money — $56 million — is slated to go to the Board of Regents to lure researchers and to support research projects that have been blessed by the regents.

Another $20 million is going to promote broadband access in rural areas, and $2 million is earmarked for an economic development initiative being promoted by the Dayton Development Coalition.

A bad idea just got worse. Sometimes you don’t get what you pay for.