Accomplishments

Major Commission Initiatives

Mr. Fox is a member of the Board of Butler County Commissioners in Butler County, Ohio. As County Commissioner, he has continued to provide innovative leadership. He has been the driving force behind the construction of the Liberty Interchange, a new interchange at the intersection of the Fox Highway and I-75, a project that a study conducted by the University of Cincinnati predicts will create more than 15,000 new jobs.

Mike believes that government officials should acknowledge the primacy of God, and when he was first elected president of the Commission, Mike initiated the practice of beginning all Commission meetings with prayer. The practice is now a routine part of the Commission agenda.

He provided the leadership to construct a 120-mile fiber optic system in partnership with Miami University. The county’s fiber network is one of the few county public networks in the nation. The network will provide high-speed connectivity to businesses and homes throughout the county and will be a central part of the county’s economic development strategy.

Mike’s program to improve child support collections by publishing the names of those who owe child support in the local newspapers and mailing billing notices has received national recognition and honors. He provided the leadership to establish an alternative school for students who were facing expulsion or suspension in their regular public school. Rather than putting them on the streets, Mike established a program that required their attendance in a strict and disciplined education program. As a result, juvenile delinquency rates involving these kids dropped dramatically.

Under Mike’s leadership, Butler County became the first county in the nation to assist residents unable to afford prescription medications. The program is called the Prescription Relief Program and provides prescriptions to low income residents for $7 per prescription per month, saving Butler County residents hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He wrote and issued a report calling for reform of the county’s family courts, recommending rule changes that would require that all proceedings be open to the parties involved in the dispute, that all proceedings be recorded and the records of the proceedings be easily accessible to parties to disputes, that court orders be aggressively enforced, and that the courts punish those who lie or falsify documents to the court.

Even in the midst of drastic funding cuts from state and federal governments, Butler County has maintained one of the lowest costs per capita for county government operations of any county in the state. Over the past several years, the commissioners have continued to reduce the number of county employees.

Major Legislative Initiatives

Mike's commitment to public service was recognized in the late 1980's when he was one of the few legislators selected to serve, along with former astronaut Neil Armstrong, as a member of the Ohio Public Service Commission. Mike brought back several hundred million dollars to Butler County for community, university and highway projects. During his tenure, he sponsored legislation bringing more than $100 million dollars to Miami University and secured nearly $160 million in state and federal funding for the Michael A. Fox Highway. He was recognized as one of Ohio’s most effective legislators, writing more than 100 pieces of legislation that were enacted into law.

His legislation providing for the creation of Transportation Improvement Districts fundamentally changed the way highways are financed and constructed. This legislation resulted in the construction of the Michael A. Fox Highway, an 11.5-mile connector between Hamilton and Interstate 75, a project that had been under planning for 40 years before the advent of the TID. The legislation also provided for the construction of the Union Center Boulevard Interchange.

Mike’s leadership in bringing together the resources to complete the Interstate connector between Hamilton and I-75 was recognized naming the Highway after him — the Michael A. Fox Highway. Until the highway’s completion, the City of Hamilton was the largest city in the United States without direct access to an Interstate highway.

Mike chaired the first Transportation Improvement District in the state and provided the leadership to complete the construction of the Union Center Boulevard Interchange. This new interchange along I-75 created an economic development engine for Butler County, creating more than 7,000 new jobs.

The Federal Highway Administration recognized the TID as one of the nation’s most innovative highway projects. The Michael A. Fox highway received more national and international awards than any other highway project in the state’s history.

His legislation to reform Ohio’s welfare system, enacted in 1982, required all able-bodied welfare recipients to work in exchange for their benefits. The legislation was the nation’s most comprehensive welfare reform program and became a model for the Welfare Reform legislation that Congress enacted in the 1990s. His work on behalf of Ohio’s medically fragile children and their families established Ohio’s first Medicaid waiver program to assist medically fragile children and dramatically expanded funding to provide health care benefits available to Ohio’s sickest children.

Awards and Honors

2003 - Certificate of Recognition for Efforts to Improve and Protect the Nations Watersheds - United States Environmental Protection Agency

2003 - Outreach Program Awareness Campaign - National Association of Counties

2002 - Certificate of Appreciation - Butler County Care Facility

2000 - Appreciation Award for Forbes Magazine ranking Butler County as one of the Top 100 places to live in the United States - Economic Development Association of Butler County

1999 - Award for Outstanding Support and Devotion for Butler County Fire and Emergency Services - Butler County Fire Chiefs Association

1998 - Certificate of Appreciation - Citizens for Historic and Preservation Services

1998 - Resolution for Contributions made to the Fairfield City School District - Fairfield City Schools

1998 - Telly Award - Producer of Fox.Com video

1997 - Recognition of Long Term Support, Sponsorship and Advocacy - Butler County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.

1996 - Legislator of the Year - Ohio Speech and Hearing Governmental Affairs Coalition.

1996 - Friend of Education Award - Ohio Chapter of the National Schools Public Relations Association and Akron City Schools.

1995 - National Taxpayer Union - Legislative Leadership Award

1995 - Outstanding ALEC Legislative Member for Leadership in Education Policy, ALEC Legislator of the Year

1995 - Certificate of Appreciation - Greater Dayton Public Television

1995 - Certificate of Appreciation - Marketing Education and DECA

1995 - Proclamation for Valuable Contribution in Passage of the 1995 Ohio Anti-Crime Package - Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery

1994 - Certificate of Appreciation - Boy Scouts of America

1994 - The Miami University Presidential Award - Fourth recipient in Miami history

1993 - Resolution for Supporting Education - Fairfield City Schools

1992 - Legislator of the Year - Ohio Academy of Nursing Homes

1991 - President's Award - Ohio State Chiropractic Association

1991 - Contribution to Socially Disadvantaged Black Males - Ohio's African American Males

1991 - Resolution for Legislative Achievements - City of Fairfield

1990 - Recognition for Service to Ohio's Medically Fragile Children - Families for Acceptable Care and Treatment

1990 - President's Award - Ohio Youth Services Network

1990 - Dedication to the Well-being of Ohio Citizens - Ohio Cooperative Extension Service

1990 - Vocational Achievement Award - Hamilton City Schools

1990 - Legislative Leadership Award - Ohio Coalition for the Education of Handicapped Children

1990 - Special Degree of Appreciation - Fairfield City Schools

1990 - Recognition for Dedication to Programs for Handicapped Children - Ohio Association of Supervisors

1990 - Contribution to Education - Southern Ohio College

1989 - Leadership Award - Middletown City School District

1988 - Legislator of the Year - Ohio Vocational Education Association

1988 - Victims of Crime Legislative Honor Roll - Recognized by the Ohio Victims Witness Association for superior work on behalf of victims and victims groups

1987 - Appreciation - One Way Farm

1986 - Support of the Reading Recovery Program - Ohio State University

1980 - Ohio Magazine - One of Ohio's Most Effective Legislators

Paid for the Citizens for Fox Committee, Madge Burton, Treasurer, 3577 Lanes Mill Rd., Oxford, OH 45056