Fowler Arthur Votes in Support of House Budget Bill, Approving Billions in Property Tax Relief for Ohioans

COLUMBUS – State Representative Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula) voted Wednesday in support of House Bill 96 – the House’s version of the State Operating Budget. This forward-looking, fiscally responsible budget plan invests in Ohio families and the state’s future – approving over $4 billion in record property tax relief for Ohioans and ensuring that every school district in the state receives an increase in school funding in fiscal years 2026 and 2027. 

“We are fulfilling our commitment to reduce unfunded mandates on public schools by eliminating many new mandates proposed by the Governor, including: the requirement for local districts to employ a universal diagnostic assessment for K-3 and to carry the accompanying cost burden, the shift to statewide ERSS teams from Educational Service Centers, the statewide school bus driver training mandate, the requirement for districts with 25% or more students in poverty to use the Community Eligibility Provision and the many new model curricular and standards mandates,” said Fowler Arthur.

Additionally, the House version of the budget will bridge school funding to protect all districts from funding loss, including the more than 342 districts expecting funding cuts under the Governor’s proposed budget. 

Fowler Arthur supported the creation of a school transportation workgroup and a flexible Principal Apprenticeship Pathway and the use of Federal funding to be used for focused intervention on student success and wellness, literacy and numeracy, and it provides additional options for completion of Financial Literacy graduation requirements, including a grant to Junior Achievement.

The Houses proposed budget expands provisions focusing on K-12 education funding back to teachers, classrooms, and students and increases the teacher tax credits for classroom supplies. Additionally, the budget will cap district administration cost at 15% of operations and returns property tax dollars to taxpayers if the district’s operating budget is greater than 30% of annual operating expenses. 

“Despite less funding in this biennium’s operating budget, the House was able to ensure all public schools are receiving more state funding than the last budget,” said Fowler Arthur. “We are also ensuring school district funding is appropriate by creating district budget carryover caps to help with increasing property taxes.”

In addition to the public-school funding support, Fowler Arthur also voted in favor of the following budget items:

BOOSTING FUNDING FOR OHIO’S SCHOOLS

House Bill 96 prioritizes the education and well-being of students, ensuring that every school district in the State of Ohio receives an increase in funding over the next biennium. Compared to today, this budget provides public schools with $207.6 million more in FY26 than they received in FY25, and in FY27, that increases to $347.6 million above their FY25 support. This equates to a $555.2 million increase in state aid for public schools over the coming biennium. Under the House plan, every student in Ohio will receive more per-pupil funding from the state.

DELIVERING BILLIONS IN PROPERTY TAX RELIEF TO OHIOANS

In an effort to provide much-needed property tax relief to Ohioans, the bill implements a process for schools that carry forward more than 30 percent in unspent cash at the end of each year to be distributed back to Ohioans in the form of property tax relief, totaling more than $4 billion. District cash carryovers have increased year over year since tracking began in 2012, from $3.6 billion then to $10.5 billion today. In FY24, 486 traditional school districts carried over cash greater than 30 percent of their expenditures for that year.

REVITALIZING LOCAL COMMUNITIES

House Bill 96 will continue and enhance various state initiatives that help solidify Ohio as the best place in the nation to live, work, raise a family and start a business. The bill increases funding for Brownfield Remediation, further improves the Welcome Home Ohio program, and addresses the housing shortage across our state. 

SUPPORTING OHIO FAMILIES

To help families who need assistance paying for childcare, the budget establishes the Child Care Choice program, providing $100 million each fiscal year for eligible families, helping more Ohioans cover the cost of needed childcare services. House Bill 96 also increases funding for the Help Me Grow program, which helps pregnant women, caregivers with new babies, and families with young children and children with developmental delays and disabilities have access to early intervention, developmental screenings, and more. 

PRIORITIZING WORKFORCE READINESS AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN OHIO

This budget makes a marked effort to prioritize workforce readiness in Ohio, investing in various higher education programs such as the Governor’s Merit Scholarship, the Choose Ohio First Scholarship, and an increase in the State Share of Instruction by 2%, helping lower costs for students at Ohio’s state institutions of higher education. The bill also continues support for Ohio’s TechCred program, which allows employers to upskill current or future employees at no cost to them.

EMPOWERING SCHOOL CHOICE 

House Bill 96 continues the state’s commitment to school choice by increasing the maximum award for the Autism Scholarship and Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship while also establishing an option for parents whose children attend a non-chartered non-public school to utilize an education savings account to help with the cost of their education.  

PROMOTING MEDICAID TRANSPARENCY

In an effort to promote transparency in the Medicaid program, the bill works to protect taxpayer dollars and eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse through a number of provisions, creating a variety of new reporting requirements that the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) must provide to the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC) for review. 

House Bill 96 now goes to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.