Ohio Senate Unanimously Passes Biennial Spending Bill

 

The Ohio Senate unanimously passed its budget plan Thursday in a vote of 33-0. All nine of the state’s Democratic senators voted in favor of the bill. The Senate and House of Representatives now have until June 30 to agree on a budget and finalize a biennial spending bill.

A major disagreement between the two budget proposals centered on tax cuts. The Senate’s version would give more tax breaks to Ohioans than the House’s proposal.

As The Ohio Star previously reported, the Senate’s plan would save Ohioans an average of $300 million in annual tax cuts compared to the House’s $100 million in yearly tax cuts.

Tax breaks for businesses is another point of contention. The Senate wants to keep Ohio’s current tax breaks, which allows businesses to not pay taxes on the first $250,000 of income. However, the House wants to lower the threshold down to $100,000.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine did not include any tax law changes in his budget proposal.

Furthermore, both chambers’ budgets differed on how to spend on education. The House’s version had a $125 million spending plan to focus on support services for rural students. However, the Senate’s plan focuses on education areas like private school vouchers and fast-growing schools.

Greg Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, testified before the Senate Finance Committee Monday to warn about the Senate’s budget proposal. In his testimony, he called their bill “too large” and incapable of weathering “anything other than the sunniest economic conditions.”

Also, he noted that the Senate’s proposal outspent the House’s proposal by more than $205 million.

“As I said when I testified before the House Finance Committee, this budget arrives during an economic expansion of historic duration,” Lawson said. “Indeed, should the current economic growth persist until July, it will be the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. Now is the time to pursue meaningful, sustainable reform and take full advantage of this opportunity to make Ohio more prosperous, while avoiding missteps that could lead to greater pain during any downturn in the economy.”

Senate President Larry Obhof believes both sides can come to an agreement on a bill.

“I think we’re going to work well together, and I fully expect a quality bill that is satisfying to both chambers by the end of next week,” Senate President Larry Obhof told Cleveland.com.

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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Battleground State News.

 

 

 

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