Governor Kasich unveiled his state budget this week that continues to shift Ohio’s tax burden to middle and lower income families and away from the rich and corporations.
The budget calls for an increase in Ohio’s sales tax from 5.75% to 6.25% and a decrease in the number of tax brackets from 9 to 5, to flatten the income tax. The budget document also provides large tax breaks to those at the higher end of the pay scale and smaller ones for middle and low income folks and increases taxes on cigarettes and alcohol as well as other goods.
The Kasich budget makes the lowest investment in public education in many years and does little about some of Ohio’s most pressing issues, like the opioid epidemic and the falling jobs rate.
The budget continues Kasich’s goals of providing big tax breaks for the wealthy while minimizing investments in public services.
OCSEA activists are pouring over budget documents right now to determine how agencies fared under the Governor’s budget. So far, there are no surprises such as any institutional closures, but more work needs to be done to drill down to figure out what is really going on.
Go here to see the current budget documents:
Budget Recommendations
Tax Expenditure Report
Budget Highlights