Hello Chair Manchester, Vice-Chair Brenner, Ranking Member Weinstein, members of the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee. My name is Bailey Williams, and I am a tax policy researcher at Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization with the mission of creating a more vibrant, equitable, sustainable, and inclusive
The Fair School Funding Plan (FSFP) is a bipartisan approach to school funding based on how much districts must spend to educate every child, including those who need different or additional support. The FSFP works because it is based on the actual cost of educating kids, sharing that cost between
Testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee on H.B. 96 Good morning, Chair Roemer, Vice-Chair Thomas, Ranking Member Troy, members of the House Ways and Means Committee. My name is Bailey Williams, and I am a tax policy researcher at Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization with
Tax policy for the people *Where indicated, this report has been updated to correctly describe the change in revenues generated by the sales & use tax from FY 2023 to FY 2024 as a 1.5% increase. The budget is an expression of state’s collective values and the same is true
In 2023, over two million Ohioans voted to legalize marijuana[1] sales and to use tax revenue from those sales to benefit communities where dispensaries are located (called “host communities”), fund substance-abuse research, and create restorative justice programs to remediate some of the harm done by the war on drugs. Gov.
Ohio families deserve a tax system that supports the public goods and services that all households need to thrive and where everyone pays their fair share based on their ability to contribute. Unfortunately, that is not the system we have today. After two decades of tax handouts to corporations and
Through the state tax system, Ohio can ensure every child gets a world-class education, every community is vibrant and healthy, and every Ohioan, of every race and gender, has a secure economic foundation on which to build our futures. But for a generation, lawmakers have instead used tax policy to
Funding for Ohio’s childcare system is complicated, even to the most seasoned advocates. It became even more so in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25 budget, when House Bill 33[1] created a new Department of Children and Youth (DCY), changing federal and state funding streams for Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) and
This piece was previously published on Cleveland.com and is reprinted here with permission. At the end of July, Ohioans will be bombarded with ads promoting a newly-expanded tax gimmick that has been panned by experts across the political spectrum. Both the Tax Foundation, a conservative research group, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy,
Chair Blessing, Ranking Member Smith and members of the committee: My name is Bailey Williams and I am the tax policy researcher at Policy Matters Ohio, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute with the mission of creating a more vibrant, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable Ohio. We urge you to approve Senate
Ohioans deserve an equitable tax system that supports the public goods and services that enable all of us to thrive. Unfortunately, that is not the system we have today. After two decades of tax handouts to corporations and the rich, our upside-down tax system increasingly perpetuates inequality while failing to
We’ll be keeping an eye on the Ohio Supreme Court
This piece was previously published on Cleveland.com and is reprinted here with permission. The Ohio Supreme Court has a responsibility to check unconstitutional, extremist legislation and uphold the will of voters. Justices will have ample opportunity to live up to that responsibility in 2025: Preemption and local control State and local governments