$2.75B: Amount by which legislators in the state House of Representatives want to shortchange Ohio’s kids in the state budget. That means abandoning the Fair School Funding Plan, which for the past two budgets has had Ohio on the path toward a funding formula that wouldn’t violate the state constitution. By stopping short before the plan is complete, House legislators would free up cash for handouts to their biggest campaign contributors, including $600M to help Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy & Dee Haslam move the team to Brook Park. There is still time to tell your legislators to protect public education for all our kids.
$50: Amount by which the House’s budget would increase funding per student in 323 Ohio districts over the next two years. That is more than a third of all districts in the state. See how legislators want to treat the kids in your district, with our latest set of district factsheets — and check out All In for Ohio Kids’ Fair School Funding Explorer to see the difference we could make by basing school budget on the actual costs of educating every student.
$2.9B: Amount of tax dollars refunded to working Ohioans and families with children thanks to the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC). We celebrated Tax Day with a webinar and three new sets of district-specific factsheets about the credits’ impact in each Congressional, state Senate, and state House district — and recommending ways to improve the Ohio tax policy to complement the federal credits and do even more good for Ohio families.
1.75%: Share of state income-tax revenue that the House budget would direct to the Local Government Fund, an increase from 1.70%. If legislators pass a budget that’s free from income-tax cuts (as the House version is), that seemingly small increase will make a big difference for cities, towns, and communities around the state. The absence of income tax cuts and the bump for local governments are bright spots in an otherwise lousy budget bill. Fortunately, the Senate still has time to clean it up and implement some (or all!) of our 40+ recommendations to make the budget work for all of us.
$352K: Minimum annual income that would make childcare affordable for an Ohio family of four with an infant and a toddler—an increase of more than $100K since we first reported that figure in our 2024 report “Ohio’s Childcare Crisis.” It’s among the more striking changes we found when updating the data for this year’s report. Legislators have done little to address the growing crisis, but advocates — such as our friends at the Care Economy Organizing Project — won’t let up. They’ve succeeded in getting state Senators Blessing and Timken to introduce SB 177, which would pilot a Free Childcare for Childcare Workers program. We’ll be joining them at the Statehouse for their 4th Annual Day Without Child Care.
PMO history: Policy Matters was instrumental in establishing an Earned Income Tax Credit in Ohio in 2013 through the budget bill that year. Since our early days, Policy Matters has been advocating for and publishing research on the benefits of a state EITC. From the moment the EITC was established, Policy Matters has called for making it stronger. Momentum has been building to do just that, including the introduction of SB 256 last year that included a measure to make part of Ohio’s EITC refundable, based in part on our recommendations. At our press event this past week on Tax Day, we focused on refundable tax credits for working people, including a continued call to modernize Ohio’s EITC.
Action Items
Join our friends at the CEO Project to demand living wages for childcare providers, an equitable childcare system built on racial justice, and affordable childcare for all families at the 4th Annual Day Without Child Care. Monday, May 12, 9am – 5pm, at the Statehouse.
Tell your state legislators to protect public education for all our kids!
Add your name to the call for a People’s Budget, and let our leaders know what we demand from them.
Follow r/OhioBudget to keep up with all the latest state budget news.
Northeast Ohioans: Check out all these Fair Housing Month events being promoted by our friends at the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless:
Housing Now! Rally at the Cuyahoga County Administrative HQ, 2097 East 9th St., Tuesday, April 22 at 3:30pm. (Part of the 2025 Housing Now! Day of Action.)
Homeless Stand Down at the Cleveland Public Auditorium, 500 Lakeside Ave. Saturday, April 26, 10am – 2pm
Building Pathways Home: Housing Summitt at the Cleveland State University College of Law 1801 Euclid Ave Monday, April 28, 9am – 3pm.
A Community Conversation at New Era Clubhouse 11713 Buckeye Rd. Tuesday, April 29, 5:30pm – 7:30pm.
City of Cleveland presents Fair Housing Month at the MetroHealth Opportunity Center at Via Sana 3335 West 25th St. Wednesday, April 30, 1pm – 3pm. For more info, contact Dulce Sanchez at dsanchez@clevelandohio.gov.
International Worker’s Day (May Day) Mobilization at Willard Park (The Free Stamp), Saturday May 3rd, 11am-3pm
Lame duck is an opportunity for legislators to act on data centers (and more)