Date archive for January, 2011

  • Ohio Budget Preview: Taxation

    Despite a looming budget deficit, Republican legislators and the Governor-elect have vowed to balance the budget without tax increases. Further, they have announced interest in expanding certain tax breaks and eliminating other taxes entirely. Tomorrow, look for legislation to repeal the estate tax, a proposal that would increase the budget deficit by $120 million over [...]

    1/31/11 • (0)

  • Ohio Budget Preview: Criminal Justice

    Already overcrowded, with any cuts in funding, prison officials have indicated that closing prisons and/or double-bunking inmates in dangerously crowded conditions would occur. Some, including leading Republicans, have indicated a willingness to look at sentencing reform to reduce the numbers incarcerated in the state prison system. One reform that will be debated is alternatives to [...]

    1/31/11 • (0)

  • In the News: State tax revenue ahead of forecasts

    The Legislative Services Commission released its monthly Budget Footnotes newsletter for January, and reports that for the first six months of Fiscal year 2011, state general revenue fund (GRF) tax revenue is $294 million ahead of estimates. The primary cause is better-than-anticipated performance of the personal income tax and the sales tax, indicating that Ohioans [...]

    1/24/11 • (0)

  • In The News: Voters polled on budget ideas

    Quinnipiac University released a poll today that finds a majority of Ohio voters disapprove of many of the proposals that have been advanced to close Ohio’s budget gap. While the poll finds that voters do not want taxes increased to balance the budget, they are cynical about the ability of incoming-Governor Kasich and the legislature [...]

    1/19/11 • (0)

  • In The News: House GOP Introduces new tax legislation

    On January 11, the Ohio House GOP introduced its list of priority legislation for the 129th general assembly, and included among them are a number of tax proposals that will ultimately impact – and may be amended into – the upcoming state budget. The elimination of the estate tax is receiving all the attention, given [...]

    1/19/11 • (0)

  • In The News: Capital Budget, already delayed, expected to be small

    Gongwer reports that legislative leaders expect to get to work on a Capital Budget in the next few weeks, but indications from the budget office suggest that limited funds are available under the State’s constitutional borrowing limit and the bill will be much smaller than those in recent memory. The capital budget, which funds the [...]

    1/08/11 • (0)

  • In The News: How would YOU find $8 billion to balance Ohio’s budget?

    Today, as part of its state budget coverage, the Dispatch has an interactive game that allows you to choose among options for raising revenue and cutting costs. I recommend everyone play around with it: Can you balance the state budget? In my attempts, I raised what I thought were a reasonable amount of taxes across [...]

    1/02/11 • (0)