Democrat Candidate in Ohio-19 House Race Mary Lightbody Doesn’t Think Voters There Pay Enough Taxes

Mary Lightbody

According to her campaign website, Democrat Ohio House District 19 Candidate Mary Lightbody wants to “Light up Ohio with Lightbody.” However, if her far left agenda is enacted, Ohio taxpayers may be left simply too poor to afford a lightbulb.

Ohio House District 19 is located in Eastern Franklin County.  The district includes the cities of Westerville, Gahanna and New Albany; Sharon, Blendon, Plain and Mifflin Townships; the Village of Minerva Park and portions of Columbus.

New, higher state income taxes.

Simply put, Mary Lightbody wants to impose billions in new, higher income taxes on Ohio investors and business owners. And she’s not even trying hide her radical views from voters.

According to an online interview conducted by the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network, Lightbody wants to add in two new higher rates to Ohio’s current 4.99% top tax bracket. If she had her way, she would bring back the Richard ‘Dick” Celeste era top tax rate of 7.5% on income in excess of $250,000 and introduce a new 8.5% rate on income in excess of $500,000.

She would also eliminate the Ohio Small Business Tax Deduction.

According to the Ohio Department of Taxation, this business income deduction will enable a business owner who files single or married filing jointly to deduct 100% of business income up to $250,000 from the adjusted gross income they report on their Ohio personal income tax return. This deduction is the centerpiece of a major tax reform package that produced the largest overall tax reduction in the country – $2.7 billion over three years.

Ohio already has one of the highest tax burdens of any state in the nation.

According to the 2018 State Business Tax Climate Index published by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, Ohio ranked overall as the 45th worst state in the nation. Only Minnesota, Vermont, California, New York & New Jersey rank worse.

Much of this high ranking is due to Ohio’s extremely oppressive individual and corporate taxes. In fact, Ohio ranked as the 47th worst state in the nation on both individual and corporate taxes.

Lightbody wants to raise these taxes in order to expand Medicaid and provide free college to every Ohioan. While such a system might be lucrative for a career college professor like Lightbody, for hardworking Ohio taxpayers the benefits simply don’t add up.

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Scott Pullins is an attorney, charter school board member, and a regular contributor for The Ohio Star. Photo “Mary Lightbody” by marylightbody.com

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