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Kasich Budget Calls For Income Tax Cut, Other Tax Increases, Fee For Medicaid Services

Ohio Public Radio

Ohio Governor John Kasich released his two year, 66.9 billion dollar state budget proposal yesterday. Under the plan, childless, non-pregnant Medicaid beneficiaries would be required to pay a new 20 dollar monthly premium that would generate 200 million dollars in revenue. Ohio will seek federal approval for the plan, which would cap monthly premiums at 2 percent of household income. The proposal also makes prescription-drug changes to Medicaid.The Governor proposed a 17-percent income tax cut funded with a sales tax hike and increases in taxes on alcohol, tobacco and natural gas drilling. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow has further details.

The biennium budget proposal from Governor John Kasich doles out $144 billion in appropriations over the next two years. The plan includes a slight increase to education funding, investing in new technologies and another income tax cut.

To pay for his 17% income tax cut, Kasich is bringing back a proposal to increase the sales tax by half a percent and attach that tax to more things, such as cable TV and other services.

Kasich says, besides balancing a federal budget, achieving tax reform is the hardest sell.

Kasich: “Because any time you propose a tax reform whoever’s being effected hires a bunch of people and then they -- or else they work over the members of the Legislature or the Congress and they block it.”

The income tax reform proposal would increase the personal tax exemption for people making $80,000 or less. It would also increase the low income tax credit. According to Kasich’s office, this would mean 350,000 more low income Ohioans would be exempt from paying any income tax.

However, the budget proposal attaches increased taxes to other things. A hiked alcohol tax would result in about one penny per can of beer or glass of wine. And a 65 cent tax increase on cigarettes would bring the total tax to $2.25 a pack.

Kasich says these numbers can be up for negotiation.

Kasich: “So you ask for a lot and you get a little but a little is better than none.”

But when it comes to getting approval from the Ohio House and Senate, there’s one proposal for which Kasich isn’t holding his breath. He says it’s unlikely the Republican-controlled Legislature will approve his severance tax increase.

Ohio has one of the lowest taxes on oil and gas drilling in the country. Kasich fears that someday someone will put the issue on the ballot and at that point it would be out of their control how to appropriate that revenue.

Kasich: “At some point somebody’s gonna do it. I don’t know where they are. I don’t know why they haven’t done it yet. Frankly, I don’t like that approach because then the tax gets to be too high. But a reasonable increase that puts us in the sweet spot makes all the sense in the world.”

In what seems to be a first in the nation, Kasich’s budget would require public universities and colleges to pay for student textbooks. The institutions could recover up to $300 a student through tuition.

And along with increasing K-12 education funding by nearly $200 million, Kasich’s plan would also cut funding to schools that are dropping in enrollment.

Kasich: “If a school district has fewer students, they should get fewer dollars. You don’t want to fund a school district that’s losing students, and to say that whether they’re in the seed or not we just have to give them a certain amount of money, you have to do it in a responsible way.”

Liberal groups have already come out to criticize Kasich’s budget, especially the tax restructuring formula. Advocates argue the income tax cuts don’t make up for the amount of money low and middle income Ohioans will pay in increased sales taxes.

Hearings for Kasich’s budget proposal begin in the Ohio House this week.

The Statehouse News Bureau was founded in 1980 to provide educational, comprehensive coverage of legislation, elections, issues and other activities surrounding the Statehouse to Ohio's public radio and television stations. To this day, the Bureau remains the only broadcast outlet dedicated to in-depth coverage of state government news and topics of statewide interest. The Bureau is funded througheTech Ohio, and is managed by ideastream. The reporters at the Bureau follow the concerns of the citizens and voters of Ohio, as well as the actions of the Governor, the Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio Supreme Court, and other elected officials. We strive to cover statehouse news, government issues, Ohio politics, and concerns of business, culture and the arts with balance and fairness, and work to present diverse voices and points of view from the Statehouse and throughout Ohio. The three award-winning journalists at the bureau have more than 60 combined years of radio and television experience. They can be heard on National Public Radio and are regular contributors to Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace. Every weekday, the Statehouse News Bureau produces in-depth news reports forOhio's public radio stations. Those stories are also available on this website, either on the front page or in our archives. Weekly, the Statehouse News Bureau produces a television show from our studios in the Statehouse. The State of Ohio is an unique blend of news, interviews, talk and analysis, and is broadcast on Ohio's public television stations. The Statehouse News Bureau also produces special programming throughout the year, including the Governor's annual State of the State address to the Ohio General Assembly and a five-part year-end review.
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