Median Income Falling for Ohioans
Dayton Daily News Ohio workers’ median hourly wages fell by nearly a dollar an hour over the past decade, the sharpest decline among the 10 states that saw median hourly wages shrink from 2000 to 2010, according to a report released this Labor Day weekend. At the same time, U.S. nonfarm business productivity grew at an annual […]
Charter Members
The Toledo Blade Ohio’s new two-year budget slashes state aid to traditional public schools, while it authorizes more charter schools. Yet recent research and litigation make clear that state government continues to do a lousy job of regulating the charter schools that already operate in the Toledo area and across Ohio. That doesn’t add up. […]
Ohio Says ‘No’ to $176 Million in Federal Aid for Jobless Benefits
The Cleveland Plain Dealer The state of Ohio says you don’t get anything for free — not even free money, $176.3 million worth from the federal government to expand benefits for jobless Ohioans. Saying it fears long-term entanglements, Ohio let the deadline pass Monday without applying for the money, which could have gone toward offering unemployment benefits […]
Study: Auto Part Makers Squeezing Each Other
WKSU A new study from Case Western Reserve University says auto parts suppliers will have to take the — quote — “high-road” in manufacturing if they expect to survive. WKSU’s Kabir Bhatia has more on the nuts and bolts of what that means for the way one of Ohio’s biggest industries does business… Ohio parts suppliers are getting […]
Ohio Unlikely to get $176M for Jobless Benefits
Associated Press As Ohio faced Monday’s deadline to expand unemployment benefits and receive $176 million in federal stimulus money, state officials had not applied for the money and the General Assembly had not scheduled any sessions to take any action. The federal government set aside $7 billion for unemployment compensation for states that broaden their […]
Charter, Voucher Expansion
Gongwer News Service A new policy brief from nonpartisan research group Policy Matters Ohio reports that the charter and school-choice changes in the biennial budget (HB 153 ) do little to strengthen the quality of privately operated charter and voucher schools that are publicly funded. “State lawmakers have missed yet another opportunity to adopt a […]
The Plain Dealer’s Politi-fact rates statement ‘State Rep. Dan Ramos says loopholes the GOP left in Ohio’s tax laws cost $7 billion a year’
“Gov. Kasich and the Republican-dominated legislature have foregone the popular option of closing tax loopholes that amount to $7 billion annually in this state.” State Rep. Dan Ramos says loopholes the GOP left in Ohio’s tax laws cost $7 billion a year The Cleveland Plain Dealer In a newspaper opinion piece published last month, Ohio […]
The Cliff Ahead
The Toledo Blade Gov. John Kasich and the Republican-led General Assembly have put a for- sale sign on state assets, from the Ohio Turnpike to university dormitories, to raise cash to balance the budget. As they slashed state aid to schools, local governments, and social services, they expanded tax breaks for businesses and wealthy individuals. […]
Congress Looks at IRS Oversight of Tax Preparers
Accounting Today Congress held an oversight hearing Thursday to examine progress on the Internal Revenue Service’s new tax return preparer initiative. The hearing by the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee looked at the new requirements for tax preparer registration, testing and continuing education, along with the related costs and benefits. “We do not yet […]
Liberal Think Tank Questions Tax Breaks in State Budget
Ohio Public Radio A think tank on the political left is questioning why Ohio legislators have OKed millions of dollars in additional tax breaks when the new two-year state budget is the tightest in decades. Republicans who dominate the Ohio House of Representatives say there’s good reason. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen has both sides of […]
State Budget’s Targeted Tax Breaks Draw Criticism
Liberal group cites $400M-plus; Kasich defends policies Columbus Dispatch At the same time that lawmakers were making wide-ranging cuts in the state budget enacted this month, they gave more than $400 million in tax breaks, a public policy group says in a new analysis.“Some of the kind of tax breaks we are generating do not […]
New IRS Database Will Let Consumers Examine Tax Preparers’ Qualifications
Boston Globe Taxpayers will be able to examine the qualifications of paid tax-return preparers in a database being built by the Internal Revenue Service that may be available as soon as 2013. The database is part of the phased-in regulation of tax preparers that began in 2010 with a requirement that they register with the IRS. Over […]