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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2011 > April > 27
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Kasich to Obama: butt out
President Barack Obama says that he strongly disapproves of new laws restricting public employee unions in Ohio and Wisconsin and says states should not use the financial crisis as an excuse to erode bargaining rights.
Gov. John Kasich says the president should mind his own business.
“Why doesn’t he do his job? And when he does his job and gets our (federal) budget balanced and starts to prepare a future for our children, then maybe he can have an opinion on what’s going on in Ohio,” Kasich said at an unrelated press conference on Wednesday.
The Associated Press reported that Obama said in a White House interview with a Cleveland TV station that public employees should not be blamed for a financial crisis and that sacrifices should be shared in tough economic times.
Ohio adopted Senate Bill 5, which restricts collective bargaining rights for the state’s 350,000 teachers, firefighters, cops, prison guards and other public employees. Unions are seeking a referendum on the November ballot to block the new law.
Wisconsin’s law covers 175,000 workers, but not police and firefighters. It’s temporarily blocked by a court order.
Information from the Associated Press is included in this report.
Tax study: Ohio has third-lowest tax burden for new business investments
Only two states - Maine and Oregon - have lower tax burdens for new business investments than Ohio, according to a new study released by the Council on State Taxation, a business-backed group, in conjunction with Ernst & Young, the professional services firm.
“Competitiveness of State and Local Taxes on New Investment” found that Ohio has an effective tax rate of 4.4 percent on new investment, lower than all states and the District of Columbia, except Oregon, with a 3.8 percent rate, and Maine, with a 3.0 percent rate, the lowest nationally.
The findings contrast with some other studies such as those done by the Tax Foundation, which has issued negative findings about Ohio’s business tax climate. The Tax Foundation in a report last year - 2011 State Business Tax Climate Index - rated Ohio 46th nationally in terms of a favorable tax climate.
The new study, released Tuesday, focuses on capital investments in industries that have location choices for factories and headquarters, not on investments tied to specific locations such as hotels and restaurants.
Tom Zaino, a former Ohio tax commissioner, said the new study reflects the changes made in the 2005 overhaul of the Ohio tax code and which finally have been fully phased in.
“This is now proving out,” said Zaino. “We are well positioned among other states.”
States with lowest effective tax rates on new investment
*Maine, 3 percent
*Oregon, 3.8 percent
*Ohio, 4.4 percent
*Wisconsin, 4.5 percent
*Illinois, 4.6 percent
*Virginia, 5.4 percent
*New Hampshire, 5.4 percent
*Delaware, 5.7 percent
*Wyoming, 5.8 percent
*Minnesota, 6 percent
States with highest effective tax rates on new investment
*West Virginia, 9.7 percent
*Alabama, 9.7 percent
*Mississippi, 10.2 percent
*Tennessee, 10.3 percent
*Hawaii, 10.8 percent
*Louisiana, 11.1 percent
*Kansas, 11.2 percent
*Rhode Island, 11.5 percent
*District of Columbia, 16.6 percent
*New Mexico, 16.6 percent
