Ohio GOP leader: Release tax forms

Associated Press

Updated: Jul 20, 2012 1:47 PM

One of Ohio's top Republican leaders says GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney should release more tax returns because it's become a distraction in the campaign.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Romney has faced repeated criticism for refusing to release several years' worth of tax returns. Several Republicans have joined in the call for more transparency, including several U.S. senators and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Ohio House Speaker William Batchelder said in a taped television interview that the issue has become a problem for the candidate, and that Romney should release the forms so he can move on to other topics.

Batchelder has been a state lawmaker in the presidential battleground off and on since the 1960s.

The interview for "In the Spotlight" is slated to air Monday night on Time Warner Cable's Northeast Ohio Network.

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