COLUMBUS – Senate Republicans are proposing an even deeper income tax in their version of the upcoming state budget.
The Senate wants a 5% income tax cut, as opposed to the 2% cut in the House-passed version of Ohio’s two-year, $75 billion budget, Senate president Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said Tuesday.
Huffman calls it a stimulus in the best sense of the word.
The Senate budget plan also boosts funding for schools over the House plan by $223 million over two years.
“The Senate took a deep dive, peeling back the layers of the current funding mechanism, to determine a base cost of education. This plan provides a new foundation formula that provides reliability to districts and accountability to taxpayers,” Huffman said.
Minority Democrats criticized the plan for ignoring the proposals put forth by a committee that studied the school funding issue and made its own recommendation.
“Twenty-four years after the Ohio Supreme Court declared our school funding formula unconstitutional, it is very unfortunate that the Senate is trying to pass on the opportunity to fix it,” Sen. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) said.
The spending plan includes an expansion of Medicaid coverage for new mothers from 60 days to one year and increases funding for childcare services.
“Today, the Ohio Senate adopted a balanced, fiscally responsible budget that prioritizes the working men and women of Ohio, as well as our state’s at risk children and new mothers,” Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard) said.
The Senate and House must reconcile their competing versions of the budget this month.
“It is imperative that we lift up all Ohioans by ensuring fair wages and employment opportunities, in addition to equitable and affordable access to quality childcare, education and health care for all families,” said Sen. Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus), who called the plan a “moral” document.
Hearings on the budget proposal begin Wednesday before the Senate Finance Committee.