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Only Democrats back budget-balancing plan

Finance Committee approves bill along party lines, which is expected in House.

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By William Hershey, Staff Writer 10:25 PM Tuesday, October 20, 2009

COLUMBUS — Ohio House Democrats may have to go it alone today, Oct. 21, when the House is expected to approve a budget-balancing plan that postpones the fifth year of state income tax cuts.

The Finance Committee on Tuesday approved House Bill 318 along party lines, 17-13, with all Democrats voting “yes” and Republicans voting “no.” The measure postpones the tax cut for two years and includes 5 percent pay cuts for legislators as soon as the Ohio Constitution would allow it, which is in 2011.

State Rep. Ross McGregor, R-Springfield, voted against the bill in committee but said he could go along with postponing the income tax cuts if it was coupled with an “honest and sincere effort” to reduce the cost of state government. Republicans failed to convince Democrats to include such a provision in the bill.

The plan, needed to fill an $851 million budget hole, next goes to the Republican-controlled Senate where it faces an uncertain future. Without being specific, President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, has said the Senate is considering all options.

Before the committee vote, members got an earful of criticism from Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks.

Gov. Ted Strickland and Democratic House leaders have said the plan is needed to avoid big spending cuts to K-12 education.

Hamler-Fugitt said more money — through higher taxes — is needed to pay for what should be other state priorities, including after school programs for needy youngsters.

“Somehow, I can’t reconcile how funding education at the peril of critical after school programs will help improve test scores or lower high school dropout rates,” she said.

Rep. Stephen Dyer, D-Green, an architect of the school-funding overhaul in the current budget, defended making education the top priority, calling it “the greatest human service” that governments provide.

Hamler-Fugitt’s tax-hike proposals included rolling back state income tax rates to 2005 levels.

Majority Democrats easily tabled several Republican amendments, including one from Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, to keep the legislative pay cuts but remove the delay in tax cuts.

The bill will delay tax cuts that would have seen a family of four earning $60,000 paying $85 less in income taxes this year than in 2008.

The budget hole was created when the Ohio Supreme Court last month ruled a plan to put video lottery terminals at Ohio’s racetracks was subject to a vote of the people in 2010, delaying expected income from the VLTs for schools.

Contact this reporter at

(614) 224-1608 or

whershey@

DaytonDailyNews.com.

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