COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two months after Gov. Mike DeWine unveiled his budget proposal, we’re getting a better idea of how Ohio lawmakers hope to spend our tax dollars during the next two fiscal years.
The Ohio House is introducing a budget plan set to outline ways the state can invest in families and the future without raising taxes.
In fact, lawmakers say they are hoping to offer some immediate property tax relief — to property owners in school districts — that carry over more than 25% of their funds from the prior year.
State Rep. Brian Stewart, R-District 12, chair of the Ohio House Finance Committee, said it would essentially be a refund to property tax payers.
“We believe that those moneys are better in the taxpayers' pocket than in the school district's bank account, just accumulating, just sitting over time," he said. "This is a direct and much needed relief for Ohio's property tax burden”
The House’s budget allocates an additional $226 million to public schools compared to what they’re receiving right now, which far exceeds the $38 million increase DeWine proposed over the next two years.
Meanwhile, the proposal from the house also pitches a pilot program to help expand access to child care by splitting the cost between the employees, employers and the state.
The House is also passing on DeWine’s plan to tax the companies behind sports betting to help finance stadium projects and kids sports in Ohio.
Instead, it wants to issue $600 million in bonds for the Cleveland Browns and the construction of a new stadium facility in Brook Park.
Stewart said it will be a huge economic driver for the state and a once-in-a-lifetime project.
“We're going to have multiple Super Bowls, you know, played in the stadium," Stewart said. "Hopefully an Ohio team is playing in one of them. We'll see. We're going to have the national championships. We're going to, you know, this is going to be a destination center. And I really do think, you know, when the ribbon is cut here and people walk through the door, I think people are going to be happy that this is in Ohio”
"We've sent it to the treasurer's office," said Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-District-78. "We've sent it to OMB. We've sent it to lots of people and everybody, but their calculation is that all of this money will come back to the state. And in fact, the money that the state will be paying out, that there will be a positive back to the state target starting in 2029."
Huffman said he hopes to see the Budget Bill brought to the chamber floor for a vote by the April 9 session, and the entire bill needs to be signed into law by the time the next fiscal session starts, which is on July 1.
Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-District 7, issued a statement alongside State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeny, D-District 16 regarding the bill. Russo said the budget does not address citizen's everyday needs.
“Ohioans deserve a budget that benefits our children by properly funding public education, necessary programs to help our communities succeed and grow, and well overdue property tax relief we know Ohioans want," she said. "We’re not there yet. Hopefully, we can find bipartisan solutions in this budget to the problems Ohioans truly care about.”
Sweeney said, in her statement, that the proposed budget would cut essential services at an already-difficult time as families struggle with property tax and an increase cost of living.
“The state cannot continue to neglect its most basic responsibilities to Ohio residents while doing nothing to fix the unprecedented increase in property taxes," Sweeney said.
In addition to not including a tax hike on sports betting, the House’s version also passes on the governor’s proposal to raise taxes on cigarettes and marijuana.
