A day of hearing amendments to Gov. Bob Taft's budget ended at 9 p.m. yesterday when the Ohio House of Representatives passed its version of the tightest budget in 40 years -a budget Athens County will benefit from.
The GOP-controlled House approved the $51 billion budget largely along party lines, sending it to the Senate. Taft must sign a balanced budget by June 30.
The budget overall was a mixed bag
with things I fought for very hard to get in some things I would rather not be in there and things that didn't get in there at all said state Rep. Jimmy Stewart, R-Athens.
The budget reduces personal income taxes across the board by 21 percent and cuts a temporary penny sales tax increase in half. The House version also guarantees no school district would receive a cut in state funding, though 166 would see zero additional dollars in each year of the two-year budget.
We have to grow our economy
and we're going to be able to do that with this spending package
said House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering.
It also keeps most of Taft's tax recommendations, including eliminating the tax on business equipment and inventory. The corporate franchise tax under the current system that favored Ohio's largest corporations with paltry taxes received an overhaul.
Corporations with sales made in Ohio ranging from $1.5 billion to more than $5 billion a year now will pay millions of dollars in taxes as opposed to $1,000 under the old tax plan, Stewart said.
Democrats said the tax cuts favor the wealthy, pushing more taxes on the middle class through electricity and sales taxes. They also said the budget harms the poor through cuts in medical programs and does not do enough for schools and universities.
We can choose to make Ohio work for all of us rather than just some of us
said state Rep. Chris Redfern, D-Port Clinton. Redfern is the house minority leader.
About $4 million of funding during the next two years will be restored to Ohio University because of a change in the formula that determines how money is distributed among institutions, Stewart said.
The House plan would continue the 6 percent cap on tuition increases in current law, despite opposition from the governor.
Taft's proposed budget cut dental and vision benefits from Medicaid, the largest budget item at about $10 billion. The House restored full vision benefits and partial dental benefits.
About 10,000 adults and children in Athens County receive Medicaid benefits, said Tracy Galway, Athens County Department of Job and Family Services spokeswoman, in a January interview.
The Coalition for Ohio Appalachia Development, an Athens-based organization, has about $600,000 earmarked in the budget. The organization is the only weatherization-training center in Ohio that teaches people how to weatherize and insulate homes, Stewart said.
Also, a new headquarters for the Hocking. Athens. Perry Community Action Program and space for a health clinic were secured in Glouster. The building originally was built as a camp for juvenile offenders, but was never opened, he said.
-The Associated Press contributed to this article
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