Ohio House Democratic Caucus Votes Against Concurrence on Senate Operating Budget Amid Ongoing Concerns for Ohioans

COLUMBUS — The Ohio House Democratic Caucus today voted against concurrence with the Ohio Senate’s version of the state operating budget, House Bill (HB) 96. House Democrats remain deeply concerned about the budget’s failure to fully fund public education, healthcare, childcare, and property tax relief.

“Democrats in the Ohio House remain committed to fighting for Ohioans because you deserve quality education, accessible healthcare, affordable childcare, and real property tax relief,” said House Minority Leader Russo (D-Upper Arlington). “The Senate’s budget retains many damaging provisions from the House version, including cuts to vital programs and giveaways to wealthy special interests, which is why our caucus voted against concurrence to ensure the budget process continues, with the goal of making critical improvements in the coming weeks.”

The Senate’s budget also lowers the top income tax rate from 3.5% to 2.75% over the biennium, resulting in a $1.4B cut to state revenue. Under the proposal, the overwhelming majority of Ohioans who make less than $100,000/year won’t see a change to their tax bill. Meanwhile, someone who takes home at least $1M next year will get an additional $7K.

“The Senate’s budget proposal caters to the political donor class at the expense of everyday Ohioans,” said Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake), ranking member on the House Finance Committee. “Instead of a billion dollar give away that will only benefit the wealthiest few, they could have cut property taxes for Ohio homeowners who are being taxed out of their homes. They could have cut taxes for family caretakers who choose to stay home to care for an aging parent or sick loved one. They could have cut taxes for Ohio families with children, like Governor DeWine proposed in his budget. The Republican Majority could have prioritized Ohio families & workers in this budget, but they chose not to.”

The Senate budget continues to:

• Undermine the bipartisan, constitutional fair school funding formula;
• Limit school district financial reserves, forcing more local tax levies;
• Increase taxpayer-funded vouchers for private and charter schools without adequate accountability;
• Fail to provide targeted and state-funded property tax relief for Ohio homeowners;
• Slash childcare funding, fails to invest for working families and hindering economic growth;
• Threaten Medicaid expansion for nearly 800K Ohioans;
• Upends Ohio’s best in the nation system for funding public libraries and cuts funding for important environmental programs;
• Include policies harmful to LGBTQ+ Ohioans, minority-owned businesses, and workers’ collective bargaining rights; and 
• Allocate $600M in unclaimed funds for a new Browns stadium opposed by local leaders.

By a vote of 84-1 Wednesday the Ohio House of Representatives voted against concurrence of HB 96. The budget will now head to conference committee.