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Budget plan includes 5 percent pay cut for Ohio lawmakers

Hearings start Monday on postponing tax cut, reducing lawmakers' pay

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By William Hershey, Staff Writer Updated 11:54 PM Friday, October 16, 2009

COLUMBUS — State legislators would feel the pain from a House plan to balance the state budget, but they wouldn’t see salary cuts until 2011, according to a budget-balancing plan announced by Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, on Friday, Oct. 16.

The plan embraces Gov. Ted Strickland’s proposal to fill an $850 million budget hole by postponing for two years the final year of cuts in personal income tax rates and coupling this with a 5 percent pay cut for legislators. Their base salary is $60,584 a year. The annual cut would be $3,092.

The 5 percent cut also would apply to higher salaries for legislative leaders and supplements for committee chairmen.

The pay cut couldn’t take effect until 2011 because the Ohio Constitution prohibits salary adjustments during lawmakers’ terms.

“We need to make sure that people understand that everyone has to share in this pain,” Budish said. Democrats control the House 53-46, and Budish said he hoped for bipartisan support. That appeared doubtful.

Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, proposed the legislative pay cut in June but no hearings have been held. “I would say all (Budish) is doing is playing politics with it to try to embarrass Republicans,” said Morgan.

Morgan said he couldn’t support the proposal because postponing the tax cut amounts to a tax hike, which Budish denied.

Keep reading: Hearings start Monday on postponing tax cut, reducing lawmakers' pay

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