More wanted from Ohio House’s passed budget

(The Center Square) – Both liberal and conservative policy groups believe the General Fund budget recently passed by the Ohio House doesn’t go far enough and are looking to the Senate to make changes.

Seventeen of the 19 no votes came from the GOP majority, while only two Democrats voted against the plan that easily passed Thursday afternoon. The Senate has yet to pass its budget, and the two need to be reconciled and signed by Gov. Mike DeWine before becoming law.

As previously reported by The Center Square, the $88 billion budget contains tax cuts, an expansion of private school vouchers, more money for public education and a bump in teacher starting salaries.

For some, though, that wasn’t enough.

The Buckeye Institute, a Columbus-based policy group, called on the Senate to take tax changes and school choice further with the state’s $6 billion budget surplus as a backdrop.

“The Ohio Senate now has a golden opportunity to enact reforms that will further expand school choice, flatten Ohio’s income tax, reduce government spending and close tax loopholes,” Rea Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center and vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute, said. “These bold reforms will strengthen Ohio’s education system, allow Ohioans to keep more of their hard-earned money, and lead to greater prosperity.”

Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, said Wednesday during debate the tax cut passed means all Ohioans making less than $92,000 a year would pay a flat income tax of 2.75%, despite the House Finance Committee removing the controversial flat tax proposal.

The budget also exempts baby products from sales and use tax, increases the homestead exemption, creates a $1,000 tax credit for volunteer first responders and creates a low-income housing tax credit program.

Americans for Prosperity-Ohio also called on lawmakers to enact the full flat tax and universal school choice before the June 30 deadline for Gov. Mike DeWine’s signature.

“Ohio cannot delay in implementing these bold reforms. The 2.75 percent flat personal income tax rate proposed in the GOP House majority’s priority legislation (HB1) is the right goal. Expanding school choice should also remain a top priority for lawmakers, with the goal of funding students instead of systems.,” AFP-Ohio Director Donovan O’Neil said. “We believe that every child in Ohio deserves the opportunity to seek an education that best meets their unique needs, and universal school choice accomplishes that. Tax reform and expanded education opportunities are widely supported by Ohioans and, together, these reforms will move Ohio from middle in the mid-west to number one in the nation.”

Rep. Tracy Richardson, R-Marysville, called the increase in school vouchers historic.

Substitute House Bill 33 increases the income limit for the program from 250% to 450% of the federal poverty level. According to Richardson, a family of four making $135,000 would be eligible for private school vouchers, representing nearly 75% of children ages 6-18 in the state.

The budget also includes fully funding the fair school funding plan for the next two years and moves starting salaries for teachers to $40,000 annually. It contains the largest appropriation for K-12 public schools in state history.

“The decision to offer private school vouchers to households making up to 450% of the federal poverty level is bad policy that uses public funding to pay private school tuition, in many cases for families that already send their kids to those schools, even without vouchers,” Ohio Policy Matters Executive Director Hannah Halbert said.

The Senate has not announced movement on its budget proposal.