Saturday Stats

$60B: Cost of the two-year state operating budget, H.B. 96, signed into law by Gov. DeWine on July 1. The bill includes massive tax cuts for the wealthy that will require deep cuts to public services that benefit everyone. Ohio’s wealthiest 20% of households will reap nearly all the benefits of a flat, 2.75% income tax. These households, with an income of at least $138,000, will receive over 96% of the $1.1 billion in annual income tax cuts, which Hannah Halbert discussed on America’s Work Force Union Podcast.

67: Number of line items DeWine vetoed before signing the final state budget. Some vetoes made the bill worse; some made it better. Policy Matters’ latest press release provides an overview of significant choices made by the governor.

3: Number of property-tax-related line-item vetoes that lawmakers will attempt to override in a special session later this month. The vetoed items include:

• A provision that grants county budget commissions the authority to unilaterally reduce a levy passed by voters for a school district or other taxing authority under certain circumstances.
• A requirement that certain tax levies are included in the 20-mill floor calculation for school-funding purposes.
• A line that eliminates school districts’ and local governments’ power to levy replacement property taxes and other types of taxes.

40%: Proposed cap on school districts’ carry-over balances, included in the legislature’s final version of the budget but vetoed by Gov. Dewine. Had he not done so, districts with carry-over balances exceeding expenditures by 40% or more would be penalized, with their corresponding county budget commission reducing property tax rates “so as to reduce collections by the amount of the excess carry-over balance.” Bailey Williams wrote about the even worse version proposed by the House. Legislators must have realized how bad of an idea it was, as it’s not among the vetoes reported as targets for an override.

1: Margin by which the federal budget bill passed the Senate. It was cast by Ohio’s own, Vice President J.D. Vance. The Congressional Budget Office hasn’t completed its final analysis of the bill, but we already know — from our friends at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy — that the bill is a massive handout to the wealthiest 20% of Americans. Stay tuned to learn more about the budget’s impacts to critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP as provisions included in the final budget are better understood.

PMO History: Policy Matters Ohio became a member of the State Fiscal Analysis Initiative of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in 2012.  Now known as the State Priorities Partnership, this network of more than 40 nonprofit research and policy organizations in states across the country is working for a just and equitable America through a shared focus on how state governments raise and spend tax revenue. Policy Matters Ohio has always had a focus on the state budget and taxes because the tax code is always the debate behind the debate. The budget is an expression of the state’s collective values, and the same is true for how that budget is funded. Policy Matters has never been afraid to be the lone voice in Ohio calling for increased taxes to build a more vibrant, equitable, sustainable, and inclusive Ohio. The State Priorities Partnership shares this vision, and our partners there offer support and resources to bolster our work. 

Watchlist

H.B. 335 is a poorly targeted, harmful alternative to the property tax circuit breaker proposed in bipartisan bills S.B. 22 and S.B. 190. It should be rejected in favor of those far more responsible, effective proposals.

Action Items

• Add your voice to the Ohio Education Association’s letter urging lawmakers to vote no on veto overrides to harmful property tax provisions.
• Attend the Good Trouble Lives on in Columbus event on July 17, hosted on the anniversary of the passing of Congressman John Lewis in his honor.
• Join Drive to Justice on July 23 to celebrate the passage of last session’s H.B. 29, which puts thousands of Ohioans back on the road!
• Sign the letter-writing campaign  by Building Freedom Ohio to support the current H.B. 29, which would ensure all correctional facilities provide adequate feminine hygiene products free of charge.