Broadband expansion has Ohio House, Senate Republicans at odds

(The Center Square) – Democrats, some Republicans and groups normally in line with Ohio Senate Republicans have issues with a proposed state budget that offers an alternative school funding plan, cuts taxes at a larger rate and eliminates funding for broadband access in rural areas.

To pay for a 5% income tax cut and expanded spending for veterans services, child care and Medicaid, Senate Republicans removed from the House proposal funding for Ohio’s new law designed to expand residential broadband access throughout the state.

“Ohio now has a bipartisan strategy in state law to address this issue. It’s imperative we fund it in a meaningful way to achieve real results,” Reps. Rick Carfagna, R-Genoa Township, and Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, said in a statement. “Both the House and the DeWine/Husted Administration made robust financial commitments in the proposed state budget to expand broadband infrastructure to unserved households, and we call upon the Ohio Senate to do the same.

“Given [Tuesday’s] announcement to remove these funds in totality, I look forward to hearing how they intend to accomplish House Bill 2’s vision of facilitating the expansion of high-speed internet to unserved households across Ohio.”

Gov. Mike DeWine initially included $20 million for internet expansion, but the House budget contained $190 million. That was removed from the Senate’s budget.

“I think people are anxious to spend money on something that everybody thinks is a good idea,” Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said Tuesday at a news conference announcing the budget proposal. “I think it’s a bad idea to just start spending without a plan.”

The Buckeye Institute, a Columbus-based think tank, praised the budget plan for offering a tax cut, enhancing school choice programs and scaling back what it called the potential explosion in overall K-12 costs.

“The Senate also improved the state’s budget by offering Ohioans meaningful tax relief to spur the state’s continuing economic recovery,” said Robert Alt, president and CEO of The Buckeye Institute. “Additionally, though the Senate removed the House’s mandatory expansion of the successful Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison program, it did expand the number of people eligible for the voluntary program, offering greater hope to those suffering from addiction.”

House Democrats believe the Senate’s plan hurts economic recovery efforts and misses opportunities.

“While we’re still looking through the Senate’s latest version of the state budget, we do have serious concerns over a number of changes that stand to hurt our opportunity for a strong recovery, including Republicans doubling down on a tax giveaway for the wealthiest Ohioans and radically changing school funding without a real vetting process,” Rep. Erica Crawley, D-Columbus, said. “We hope that the final version of this budget is something that takes us in the right direction, but today’s announcement looks like more of the same missed opportunities and misplaced priorities that fail to invest in working people, families and the communities they live in.”

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