Update: Governor Signs Budget, Helps Working Families Read more
State Budget Priorities
House Bill 119 Support Governor Strickland’s Proposals To Help Working Families
Governor Strickland has made it clear that a major shift in priorities is needed for Ohio. In the budget bill (HB119 – Rep. Dolan) the governor is calling on the General Assembly to redirect past funding priorities, close unjustified corporate tax loopholes and utilize tobacco settlement funds. These moves would free up millions of dollars to fund local government services, public education and health care as well as provide property tax breaks for senior and disabled citizens. This is policy that will help all Ohioans and move us away from the narrow-serving interests of past administrations.
Support Public Education Moratorium for Charter Schools, End Vouchers
The Governor’s budget proposal would stop the growth of charter schools and private school vouchers which have lacked proper oversight and accountability and have siphoned off needed dollars for students attending public schools.
Given the failing performance record of Ohio’s charter schools – half of the 307 charter schools are rated as failing – the Governor’s moratorium on new charter schools and forbidding for-profit companies from operating them is justified. His move to eliminate the EdChoice voucher program is also in the best interest of all students.
We’ve seen that vouchers don’t help kids learn—study after study has shown little or no difference between the academic
performance of voucher students and public school students. Instead, vouchers divert money that could be going to help improve public schools.
Support for Firefighters
A bi-partisan amendment to HB119 has been introduced which would give firefighters equal protection under the law. Due to an unintended oversight in the collective bargaining law, there are 489 firefighters serving in a dozen different townships that are in a state of limbo regarding work rules and collective bargaining.
The collective bargaining law defines townships as public employers only when the township has an unincorporated
population of greater than 5,000. The problem is that some townships have a population of less than 5,000 in the unincorporated area, but have well over 5,000 in the city or village served by the township.
The bi-partisan approach to correcting this loophole in the amendment would change the population requirement of 5,000 to include those within the taxable property for which the township provides service. This change would give all firefighters serving these populations the same rights and also prohibit them from engaging in work stoppages as defined by law.
Tax Fairness and Funding Priorities
We agree with the Governor’s operating principles of being fair and standing up for Ohio’s working families. We believe this means that both individual Ohioans and businesses should pay their fair share to make the state work for all of us.
The biennial state budget provides a great opportunity to help working Ohioans by fully funding the state and local services
upon which we all rely. We believe this can be accomplished through careful examination of the tax loopholes, inequities and
exemptions that have been built into the system. We applaud the elimination of one such unjustified tax break contained in the transportation budget – the gasoline evaporation tax break.
Support HB 119
Place a moratorium on charter schools
Prohibit for-profit businesses from running charter schools
End the EdChoice voucher program
Support township firefighters collective bargaining
Provide for tax fairness by ending unjustified corporate tax exemptions, credits and deductions
