Tax reform, education and cuts to local government funding are among the top priorities of Ohio senators debating what changes, if any, should be made to the two-year, $51 billion 2006-07 budget, passed April 13 by the House.
Though the Republican-controlled Senate is in the early phases of analyzing the more than 2,000-page budget, it probably will not make significant changes, said Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland.
Probably most of our members will be supportive of what the House has done
Harris said. We may want to tweak it a little bit for various reasons.
Some Senate Republicans have suggested raising a proposed permanent half-cent sales tax increase, originally intended to finance tax reform, to a whole penny in order to fund a variety of programs, Harris said.
But raising the tax is sure to generate controversy. The legislature recently raised the sales tax by one cent to help balance the current budget, but only temporarily -the increase is set to expire June 30. Critics could view raising the new sales tax increase to an entire penny as disingenuous, Harris said.
When we passed the one-penny sales tax in the last biennium budget we said it was a temporary tax Harris said. We want to make sure we do what we promise.
Education has taken center stage in the discussions since the Ohio Department of Taxation announced that statewide property values -on which the local share of education funding is based -might be lower than initial projections. Earlier this week, Susan Zelman, superintendent of public instruction, told senators she fears primary education needs more funding, Harris said.
While Zelman's concerns have sparked Senate interest, exact numbers concerning the amount of the shortfall -or if there even is one -are not yet available, said Sen. Joy Padgett, R-Coshocton.
This has just popped up its ugly head in the past couple of days
Padgett said. It's going to take some re-looking at this.
Higher education is on the agenda as well; college officials from across the state have promised the Senate that if they receive more funding, the state will get more taxpaying graduates. While universities have been lobbying for more funding for years, this time officials have formed a concrete plan -Ohio's Return on Educational Investment, Padgett said.
University officials, lead by University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher, are pushing for the plan. According to the university of Cincinnati's Web site, the plan calls for graduating 120,000 at Ohio's public colleges by 2015.
The proposal will be considered, but Harris said universities should be efficient with their resources.
Whether funding is increased, the proposed plan is a step in the right direction, Padgett said.
Padgett, whose district includes Athens and other areas of economically depressed southeast Ohio, said she is especially concerned about the proposed cuts to state aid for local governments.
Many Senate Democrats also are unhappy about the proposed local government cuts, said Tom Roberts, D-Trotwood, who is the ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee.
Senate Democrats also will challenge Medicaid cuts, the proposed 21 percent income tax reduction and the new corporate franchise tax on businesses, Roberts said.
This budget is far from something we believe we can support right now
he said.
17
Archives
Matt Danford
