Speaker of the House John Boehner made two stops Monday in Butler County, where he talked about the budget and education.

Boehner spoke to about 75 employees at Vinylmax LLC, a vinyl window and patio door manufacturer in Hamilton, after a brief tour of the 150,000-square-foot facility and a private meeting with company executives.

“As you know the economy is kind of limping along, and I think the economy could be doing a lot better,” Boehner said. “The government ought to get back to the basics, and the most basic thing that we should do is what you all do, and that’s do a budget.”

The U.S. Senate has failed to pass a budget bill for nearly four years, Boehner said, while the House of Representatives has approved a budget bill the past two years. He said the sooner the country’s fiscal problem is addressed, the sooner the economy will recover.

“Investors, business people from around the country are looking for some certainty about what Washington is going to do and whether we’re going to get serious about our spending problem,” Boehner said Monday morning. “I think if they see us beginning to make changes in the way we spend and reforms in the way these programs operate, I think it will give them more confidence that they can begin to invest in this economy.”

He said the permanent tax cuts for 99 percent of the country is one thing that’s going to help Americans, but the Speaker said the tax code needs to be simplified “because it will help bring more money back to America and help create jobs here.”

Education is also an important debate happening in Washington, D.C., he said.

“We educate about half of America’s kids and I don’t think we can compete in a global economy long term if we don’t find a way to educate more of America’s kids,” Boehner said.

Boehner also visited Cincinnati State Middletown on Monday morning to talk with area dignitaries about the college and workforce development, said Rep. Tim Derickson, R-Hanover Twp.

Workforce development “is a subject that we’re all talking about, from Washington, D.C., to my office, to (Cincinnati State President) Dr. O’dell Owens,” Derickson said.

“It’s pretty critical for the Cincinnati States, the community colleges, to be communicating and have a relationship with businesses,” Derickson said. “And that’s going to get is out of the slump of our economy.”

Representing Middletown for 28 years between the Statehouse in Columbus and in Congress, Boehner said he’s seen Middletown experience the good and the bad. He likes what Cincinnati State Middletown has done and will do for the city.

“What community colleges do, they tend to put their programming and their education plan together based on what the students in the area need, and what the businesses in the area need,” Boehner said. “It certainly is good for downtown Middletown. Very good.”

The Speaker had a 30-minute closed-door round table discussion with local Middletown area and Cincinnati State officials.

Mayor Larry Mulligan said the Cincinnati State Middletown project — which is a private-public partnership among the city, the college and Higher Education Partners — “shows the innovativeness of this model.”

The model allowed the private sector, in this case Boston-based HEP, to invest millions of dollars into the former CG&E building. The building was one of four bought by the city and then sold for $200,000 which allowed Cincinnati State to open the first community college in Butler County at no capital cost.

“He’s got a lot on his plate and for him to take the morning out and stop by I think it shows the importance of this project and how significant it is and hear first hand of what’s going on,” Mulligan said.