Ohio lawmakers get first look at DeWine’s proposed two-year spending plan
(The Center Square) – Ohio lawmakers got their first look Thursday at Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed budget when the House Finance Committee held its first hearing on the proposed two-year plan.
DeWine unveiled earlier this week a proposed $74.5 billion spending blueprint for the General Assembly that included $1 billion in new spending he expects will help continue the state’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This budget is conservatively forecast, balanced and does not raise taxes,” Ohio Budget Director Kim Murnieks told the committee. “The budget is carefully constructed to allocate one-time resources to one-time expenses and to allocate recurring revenues to ongoing programs.”
The largest allocation in the governor’s proposal goes to Medicaid, where the state expects to spend 41.4% of its budget. The second-largest expense is government (16%). K-12 education represents 15.6% of spending in the plan.
Murnieks said when federal Medicaid money is removed from the budget outlook, the state spends more on K-12 than any other area.
Wendy Zhan, director of the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, told committee members the state’s revenue forecast is strong even with a 4% reduction in income tax rates passed in the last General Assembly.
Zhan’s projections showed nearly a 10% revenue growth in fiscal year 2021, with smaller rises in fiscal year 2022 (1.8%) and fiscal year 2023 (3.1%).
“These are baseline forecasts, assuming no changes to the current Revised Code tax structure throughout the next biennium,” Zhan said.
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce applauded DeWine’s proposal, saying it was pleased with what it called job-creating investments while not making major tax changes or tax increases.
House Democrats argued the state’s budget priorities should center around COVID-19 relief, schools, public health and social services.
“We’re prioritizing coronavirus relief for families and businesses; investment in the health, safety and security of fellow Ohioans like modernizing our outdated public health system and social safety nets; and fully and fairly funding our public schools so that every child has the opportunity to realize their full potential,” House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Akron, said.
Democrats also want to prioritize water and environmental issues, along with what Sykes called tax fairness for low- and middle-income families and tax incentives for small businesses.
“Ohio’s working families, small businesses, schools and local governments are counting on us to get this right,” said Sykes, who added Democrats have a willingness to tap into the state’s rainy day fund. “Now, we have a partner at the federal level in the Biden administration that is committing to push for more aid to ensure this budget is balanced so that we can make the critical investments we need to get Ohio on the right track.”
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