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House Dems get budget passed

Republican-controlled Senate now gets the $54 billion state spending plan.

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By Laura A. Bischoff, Staff Writer Updated 11:22 PM Wednesday, April 29, 2009

COLUMBUS — For the first time in 16 years, House Democrats got to call the shots on Ohio’s all-important two-year state budget bill.

In the majority for the first time since 1994, Democrats pushed through a $54 billion budget plan, 53-45 along party lines Wednesday, April 29. The centerpiece of the plan is an overhaul to K-12 funding the Democrats call “phenomenal.”

Now, the GOP-controlled Senate will take a whack at it.

“I think they will do some damage,” said House Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Sykes, D-Akron.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Carey, R-Wellston, said he is concerned the budget bill expands the powers of the governor, increases state spending and promises big changes in school funding without sufficient money over the long haul.

State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said the economy is in trouble because Americans lived beyond their means. “That’s exactly what this budget does,” he said. “It ties us to a spending plan we can’t possibly afford in the future.”

The centerpiece of the 4,086-page budget proposal is a move to distribute school funding based on what a child needs, not on what money the state has available. Over 10 years, the state would increase annual spending on K-12 education by about $2.5 billion once all aspects of the plan are phased in.

“I don’t think that’s realistic,” Carey said.

The education plan calls for eliminating four of five calamity days, studying ways to add another 16 days to the school calendar, requiring all-day kindergarten starting in fall 2010, and distributing state money based on the demographics and needs of the students.

State Rep. Ron Amstutz, R-Wooster, warned that the budget relies too heavily on one-time money that won’t be available in future years.

Strickland said he decided to take one-time federal money to help pay for roads, bridges, health care and education.

“I’ve chosen to take the resources and it’s helping us greatly. Now does that mean that all of our problems have been solved? Absolutely not,” he said.

Other proposals in the bill call for:

• Freezing tuition at public colleges and universities next year and through 2011 at community colleges and branch campuses.

• Doubling funding for the state public library fund to $5 million a year.

• Increasing fees, including boosting the price of birth certificates and other official documents to $12, up from $7, charging cable companies licensing fees that will amount to $400,000 a year, and nearly doubling tipping fees at construction debris landfills to $4.40 per ton.

• Reducing the enrollment waiting period for children in low-income families to sign up for Medicaid health care coverage from six months to three.

• Requiring insurance companies to cover diagnosis and treatment for autism, up to $36,000 a year, and requiring coverage for dependent children up to age 29.

Staff Writer William Hershey contributed to this report.

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