COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio House members passed the two-year state operating budget on Wednesday, sending what has become a controversial spending bill to the Ohio Senate for consideration.
“It does not go far enough, and we think there's still a lot of reckless cuts and unnecessary cuts in this budget,” Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said. “It is very consequential, and it is consequential in that it will be extremely damaging, especially to the funding of our public schools.”
All about six new laws in Ohio that go into effect today“I think this is the most consequential budget that I've been [part of],” Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said. “And this is now my 17th year in the General Assembly. It does more things on more fronts than any budget that I've ever had been involved in.”
Property tax relief
House Bill 96, as passed by the House, has a property tax relief effort that will bring Ohioans in nearly every district some sort of cut on their bill.
Here’s how it works: if you live in a school district that carried over more than 30% of its budget from the previous year, your property tax bill will go down. Ohio House Finance Chair Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said that will impact Ohioans living in 486 of Ohio’s more than 600 school districts.
“Our determination is, if this was in effect already this would have constituted a $4.2 billion property tax relief, cumulatively, in the state of Ohio, for all of our residents,” Stewart said.
Why are so many Chick-fil-A’s so close together?Stewart said this both ensures that schools are not “hoarding” taxpayer money while bringing Ohioans much-needed relief on their property tax bills, an issue that has been long debated at the Ohio Statehouse.
But Democratic lawmakers warn against this, calling it “fake” property tax relief.
“[The Republicans'] solution is to rob the schools and give it back to homeowners, so then what happens? The schools are either going to close down, eliminate education opportunities, and/or, probably both, are going to go to the ballot and increase property taxes,” Ohio House Finance Ranking Member Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake) said.
But despite concerns with this being a one-time relief solution, or not true relief, those against the measure said even more, it has not been thoroughly considered.
“It is completely unvetted,” Russo said. “We had a property tax study commission that looked at hundreds of plans. This was not on it. So, no one has fully discussed how this plan actually impacts districts and responsible school funding in practice.”
Supporters said this will send a strong message to Ohioans that their money is theirs, and does not belong to the schools, or government and said it is just the start of relief lawmakers will work to pass.
How tariffs are expected to raise prices for Ohio consumers“This is monumental, and this is one step that we, as a legislature, will be taking this year to address property taxes,” Rep. David Thomas (R-Jefferson) said.
Some of the spending
Stewart said some of the big spending wins in the budget have to do with educating students. Stewart said this budget will increase funding to Ohio’s public schools, spending $20.2 billion over the next two years.
“Those are cold hard facts, this budget increases funding for every single school district in the state of Ohio, period,” Stewart said.
But Sweeney said this will, in the long run, leave schools in the lurch as the state “walks away” from a funding formula founded several budgets ago.
“What we are doing is arbitrarily walking away from that,” she said. “So next year we don't have formula anymore. That should be so concerning to everyone, to every property tax owner, every parent or child in the state and teacher.”
The bill also creates a merit scholarship for high schoolers who graduate in the top of their class and decide to go to one of Ohio’s public universities, while permitting private universities to participate if they willingly follow provisions of soon-to-be law Senate Bill 1.
OSU President seeks legislative clarity after student visas revoked without noticeOne of the more controversial spending portions of the budget is not a direct cost to taxpayers. It is a $600 million bond to help the Cleveland Browns build a new stadium.
“No one in my caucus believes that we need to be funding a Browns stadium at this moment in time when there is so much unmet need in this state,” Russo said. “And this budget already recklessly and irresponsibly cut so many necessary programs.”
The original text of the bill required the Browns to deposit $38.5 million of a “security deposit,” but Stewart offered an amendment on the House floor to increase that amount to $50 million.
As it stands, the Browns will have to invest $50 million, which Stewart said is estimated to grow to $250 million over 25 years and will help cover the bond debt if tax revenues from the new stadium fall short of paying for the bonds.
“This is a significant added security for our taxpayers,” Stewart said. “I believe it will make a good deal even better.”
“The Ohio Statehouse is not a personal piggybank for billionaires,” Rep. Sean Brennan (R-Parma) said.
The amendment was adopted with 55 votes in favor, 15 against and 29 no-votes.
The bill also adds $25,000 each fiscal year to cover costs associated with joining the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact, something that was in the state transportation budget, but ultimately removed.
“We understand that we may have some difference of opinion with our friends in the other chamber, but we thought this is a reasonable thing to tee up again for discussion,” Stewart said.
Dublin eyeing German-inspired holiday market for Bridge Park in 2026The bill also adds $100 million for a childcare choice voucher program, something both Republicans and Democrats agree is a bright spot.
“There's a whole host of good provisions, and I would equate that to this body listening to the people of Ohio and to members across the board, unfortunately, it wasn't enough,” Sweeney said. “I'm still trying to get to a place where we can have a bipartisan vote.”
The budget also puts $150,000 in there to fund the Special Olympics and encourage them to be hosted in Ohio.
“If you look at how states around us have funded the Special Olympics, we're pretty low compared to those other states,” Stewart said. “I love the Special Olympics. I know that a lot of our colleagues do as well. And so, we felt like it was a good thing to do to bump that up and to show more commitment there.”
Policies that don’t spend
While most of the state operating budget spends money, parts of it create new laws or update the Ohio Revised Code, with no price tag attached.
A few of the policies in the budget particularly take aim at the LGBTQ+ community. Those provisions include: policy that Ohio will only recognize two sexes, and they are not changeable; a portion that requires libraries to limit access to LGBTQ+ books; and a prohibition on state agencies from flying certain flags. Those were all added on April 3.
In addition to all of those, the most recent version of the budget prohibits a government entity from placing menstrual products in the men’s restroom of a public building. Some Democratic members call those provisions a “sneak attack” on the LGBTQ+ community, but Republicans call those portions of the budget no brainers.
“Commonsense,” Stewart said. “You know, men don’t need tampons and it is kind of silly that we continue to have certain public entities that want to pretend otherwise.”
“I think we have real problems in this state and that is just not a real problem,” Sweeney said. “So, I will defer to the fact that we have a workforce shortage. We have our chambers of commerce saying we're losing $5 billion in workforce needs. I don't know what problem that solving, and I just wish we would focus to the needs of the state.”
Why Ohio leaders aren’t ‘clawing back’ grants after Intel delaysA policy that does not cost the state anything – but will cost drivers – raises the motor vehicle registration and renewal fee by $5. The revenue from that will be required to be used by the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
“The state highway patrol has been looking for a more stable funding source; there's been a lot of changes over the years of how they're funded,” Stewart said. “We had a lot of members that wanted to see a specific source of revenue and the $5 fee there on your license registration is how we've typically done that. And so, it just kind of expands that by $5 to pay for the Highway Patrol.”
The budget also directs the state to ask the federal government for a waiver that would allow Ohio to restrict what Ohioans can spend their SNAP benefits on, specifically eliminating the ability to use SNAP on sugar-sweetened beverages like soda pop.
“I don't think we should have a policy in the state where we're essentially subsidizing diabetes in children by buying pop with food stamps,” Stewart said. “I think if people are using their own money, they have the freedom to do whatever they want with that money. And you're using the taxpayer’s money to buy your food. Then taxpayers have an ability to say, ‘we're not going to buy junk food with it.’”
“Does this address the realities of food deserts? What if there is no access to healthy foods? Changes like that I don't think should be made in the state budget so we can actually flush [them] out,” Sweeney said. “If the goal is to make sure that people are having healthier alternatives, we all share that goal. Is this the right way to do it? I'm not sure.”
The budget also creates an age verification program in order to watch pornography, a bill that has been worked on in both this and the last general assembly.
Mail carriers say new contract failed union wishes“That's a policy that I think has wide support in the caucus,” Stewart said. “I think, frankly, a lot of people believe that if you’re going to have obscene material on the internet, we should at least make sure that those who are not legally allowed to view it are not viewing it.”
The budget also eliminates the Ohio Elections Commission (ELC). That commission’s enforcement authority and administrative responsibilities shift to the Ohio Secretary of State for certain candidates and campaign organizations and shifts enforcement authority to county Boards of Elections for local candidates.
The Senate will make its own round of changes, before working to find a compromise with the House. The budget must pass and be signed into law by July 1.
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