This morning, the U.S. Congressional House passed — by a single vote — a federal budget that cuts health care and food assistance Ohioans depend on. The budget pays for tax cuts that most benefit the richest Americans by making the largest cuts in history to Medicaid and SNAP, alongside
A lose-lose proposal from the Ohio House New analysis from Policy Matters Ohio exposes the flawed reasoning behind a key component of the Ohio House’s school-funding plan. The proposal to tie school-district cash reserves to property tax reductions is neither effective nor responsible, says Bailey Williams, Policy Matters researcher and
1.4M+: Number of students who attend Ohio’s public schools. They need elected leaders on their side — not looking for ways to shortchange them. That’s exactly what the Ohio House is doing with its budget proposal. We’ve reported on the House proposal before, and recently added a new tool for
Federal Medicaid funding supports a crucial program for delivering special education services in Ohio: the state’s Medicaid School Program (MSP). As the state legislature considers a budget that would especially harm students who receive special education services, the MSP is a critical resource. Policy Matters Ohio has released a new
Most common Ohio jobs pay too little to get by Last year, eight of the 10 most common occupations in Ohio paid their median worker less than the cost of living for an Ohio family of three. Four paid so little that that family would qualify for and need food
286K: Number of Ohio students who received special education or related services in the 2023-24 school year. In far too many cases, it takes tireless advocacy by parents and educators to make sure Ohio’s kids get the support they need. Federal threats to special education will only make it harder.
House would increase public cash for private tuition and unregulated religious schools Ohio’s top politicians want to spend an additional $432 million on private school tuition over the next two years, including a new voucher for unregulated religious schools. A new brief from Policy Matters tracks the House’s proposals to
Trump administration targets LIHEAP On April 1, the Trump administration terminated the staff responsible for administering the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), along with 10,000 other federal employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Less than three weeks later, further plans to dismantle the
$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.
State budget gives legislature an opportunity Ohio’s childcare crisis has worsened in the past year, according to Policy Matters Ohio’s update to its 2024 report on the sector. At current rates, a family of four with an infant and a toddler would need to make $352,000 annually for childcare to
Policy Matters celebrates Tax Day with district-specific analysis In 2023, Ohioans were refunded a total of $2.9 billion on their federal taxes through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC). According to new analysis from Policy Matters Ohio, over 818,000 Ohioans claimed the EITC and
Standing up for special education
Advocates hold town hall to fight back against state and federal cuts Over 100 parents, educators, and other advocates participated in a virtual town hall last night, to learn how to take action against federal and state-level threats to special education in Ohio. Speakers addressed national threats to special education