Senate should override Kasich MCO veto
New Policy Matters report analyzes strong case for lawmaker’s fix The fate of more than $200 million a year in funding for Ohio’s transit agencies and county governments is now in the hands of the Ohio Senate. The federal government told Ohio to bring the Medicaid Managed Care provider tax (MCO tax) into compliance by […]
Trump $4.8 trillion tax cut plan stiffs most Ohioans
The Trump tax plan reduces federal revenues by $4.8 trillion over 10 years and overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest Americans and large corporations, according to a new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). For a state like Ohio with few super-wealthy residents, few people will receive large tax cuts while many will […]
$15 an hour minimum wage would give 1.8 million Ohioans a raise
Increasing Ohio’s minimum wage from $8.15 to $15 an hour by 2025 would give 1.8 million Ohio workers a raise. This would boost the economy and help low-wage workers make up lost ground, according to a new report by Policy Matters Ohio. While the Ohio economy has grown more than 65 percent in a generation, […]
House budget strips trillions from everyday Americans, gives huge tax cuts to wealthiest
Congressional Republicans’ 2018 budget, released yesterday, would strip trillions of dollars from middle class and working families in favor of tax giveaways to the very wealthy and profitable corporations. The budget also creates a special fast-track process that would allow Republicans to force through their agenda without bipartisan support. Underlying the budget proposal are assumptions […]
Ohio tax break review needs to begin
Committee is to evaluate exemptions, but hasn’t been named Last December, the Ohio General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a bill that for the first time set up a permanent process to review the $9 billion-plus in annual exemptions, deductions and credits in the state tax code. House Bill 9, which was to create a committee to […]
No Medicaid expansion freeze a win for Ohioans
Policy Matters Ohio also lauds House for overriding veto on funds for counties, transit agencies The Ohio House of Representatives today overrode 11 of Governor John Kasich’s vetoes to the recently approved state budget bill, but the overrides did not include the freeze on Medicaid expansion that would have deprived hundreds of thousands of Ohioans […]
Policy Matters lauds veto of Medicaid freeze, critiques veto of local revenue provision
Governor Kasich did the right thing in vetoing the freeze of enrollment in the Medicaid expansion. Ohio‘s successful expansion of Medicaid means most Ohioans – 94 percent of us – now have health coverage. Protection of health insurance for all makes people and families healthier, happier and more productive. It supports a strong health care […]
Ohio’s Medicaid expansion must be protected
Policy Matters weighs in on state budget sent to Governor Kasich The budget bill the General Assembly sent to the Governor would reduce health care coverage with harsh new restrictions on Medicaid expansion eligibility and a freeze in enrollment. Policy Matters Ohio has asked the Governor to veto these measures. The legislature failed to raise […]
Ohio maintains workers comp protections for undocumented workers
The Ohio legislature voted yesterday to set aside a controversial provision in the Bureau of Workers Compensation budget bill (HB27) that would have put undocumented workers and those who work with them at risk. Last month, the state House of Representatives passed the budget with an amendment that would have barred undocumented workers protection under […]
Ohio and federal lawmakers move in parallel, threatening health care access
Ohio’s House and Senate have each passed budget bills that would narrow eligibility and freeze Medicaid expansion, mirroring federal bills that also reduce health coverage, according to a new report from Policy Matters Ohio. “The American Health Care Act and its counterpart in the U.S. Senate would dismantle both traditional and expanded Medicaid,” said Wendy […]
Another budget forecast confirms: Ohio’s tax-cutting strategy hasn’t worked
Tim Keen, Ohio’s budget director, predicts that Ohio will underperform the country over the next two years in all major measures that “summarize the broad economy or are key drivers for the revenue estimates for major taxes.” Testifying on June 22 before the six-member House and Senate conference committee, Keen outlined that compared to the […]
814,700 Ohioans would lose Medicaid coverage under AHCA
Both House and Senate versions of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) make steep cuts to Medicaid and effectively end Medicaid expansion. With 25 percent of its population on Medicaid and more than 723,000 people covered by expansion, Ohio would be especially harmed by the American Health Care Act (AHCA), according to a new report […]