Latest news with #HouseBill96
Yahoo
7 days ago
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Ohio Senate budget eyes flat income tax, $600M toward Cleveland Browns
Jun. 3—The Ohio Senate unveiled a plan this week that makes hundreds of tweaks to the state's proposed two-year spending plan, including measures to set a flat income tax rate and tweak how the state would help finance the Cleveland Browns' new stadium. The Senate-amended House Bill 96, released Tuesday, is the Senate's first swing at shaping the state's behemoth operating budget — a gargantuan piece of legislation that sets spending, taxes, and a wide range of other policy. "What we're unveiling today is a bold, transformative and balanced budget," Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, told reporters. "It's something we've spent an awful lot of time on in the last several weeks, something that we entered into knowing that it had to be a pro-growth, positive budget for the state of Ohio." The budget process starts with a draft from the governor (which is the office's biggest opportunity to create a legislative wish-list). That draft is then sent to the Ohio House, which amends the governor's draft and passes it along to the Senate. What the Senate received this year from the Ohio House contained some substantial proposals: A plan to sell $600 million in public bonds to help fund the Cleveland Browns' proposed stadium in Brook Park; a plan to refund property taxes by cutting down on many Ohio schools' financial reserves; a much-contested change to how Ohio funds its public libraries; a late switch from a multi-year funding formula for Ohio's K-12 public schools that has raised alarms for local school districts and much more. Some of the Senate changes would: — Create a flat, 2.75% income tax rate for all Ohioans who earn more than $26,050 annually. The proposal eliminates Ohio's highest tax bracket for earners pulling over $100,000 per year, eliminating over a billion in state tax revenue over a two-year period. — Expand access to Ohio's "homestead exemption" property tax relief program by increasing income threshold from $40,000 to $42,000 and allowing slightly more of a qualifying participants' home value to be tax exempt. — Grant county budget commissions the authority to reduce property tax millage "if the commission finds it reasonably necessary or prudent to avoid unnecessary, excessive, or unneeded property tax collections." — Eliminate replacement and substitute property tax levies. — Cap a school district's financial reserves at 50% of the prior year's operating expenses, as opposed to the House-proposed 30% carryover cap. General funds in excess of that 50% cap would then be portioned back out to the property taxpayers of that district. — Direct $600 million of the state's $3.7 billion in unclaimed funds to the Cleveland Browns new stadium project, instead of issuing public bonds. — Require school boards to obtain a 2/3 vote from members before putting a property tax levy on the ballot. — Add $633.9 million more to the state's K-12 public schools than the current biennium, phased in largely through new "performance-based" incentives that will reward high-performing and improving districts with more cash. — Establish a $100 million set-aside to potentially withhold from state universities that do not come under compliance of the newly-passed Senate Bill 1, which eliminates university-sanctioned diversity, equity and inclusion programs on public campuses. The bill now awaits further hearings before the Senate Finance Committee, which is expected to approve a slate of amendments to the bill in the coming weeks. Senate Democrats said the bill was unveiled to them only shortly before it was unveiled to the public, but that they already took issue with much of it. That includes the Senate's flat tax proposal, which Democrats framed as policy that puts an outsized tax burden on lower earners. "We talk about this every time we have a flat tax discussion," Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, said Tuesday. "They're inequitable in that they fall short of a 'flat' tax — actually what ends up happening is that they pay off the folks at the top of the income brackets and the folks at the lower end are the losers." Local testimony A variety of Dayton-area organizations and residents testified to senators in recent weeks about what they'd like to see in the state budget, particularly regarding education funding. For example, Dayton Early College Academy asked the Senate to maintain the House's provisions that would increase community school funding from $1,000 today to $1,500 per pupil over the biennium. The Senate's proposal lowered the proposed rate to $1,100 in 2026 and $1,200 in 2027. Meanwhile, the Clark Shawnee School District testified merely as an interested party, saying the district wanted the state to enact the third and final round of its so-called fair school funding plan, which would have pumped an additional $1.8 billion into public schools over 2026 and 2027 compared to the previous biennium. Springfield City School District, meanwhile, testified in opposition to the House's budget on the basis of the House's provision that would cap districts from carrying financial reserves greater than 30% of the district's operating cost in the previous year. Superintendent Bob Hill argued that the provision takes away schools' safety net and creates a system "penalizing fiscal responsibility rather than curbing waste." The Senate's proposed change from a 30% cap to a 50% cap would address much of Hill's concerns, but his district today is clocked with carrying a 66.6% year-over-year reserve and could therefore still be docked under the Senate's plan. Miami University encouraged the Senate to maintain House provisions that would route $14 million for the university to create the Ohio Institute for Quantum Computing Research, Talent, and Commercialization in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic. The two institutions will invest $70 million in the program over the next 10 years with the goal of making Ohio the "global epicenter of quantum computing medical research." The Senate eliminated the earmark entirely. ------ For more stories like this, sign up for our Ohio Politics newsletter. It's free, curated, and delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday evening. Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate makes changes to Ohio's budget proposal
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio Senators made several changes to the state's two-year, $60 billion spending bill on Tuesday afternoon. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine introduced an executive budget at the start of the year, which became House Bill 96. The House worked on it, made changes and passed it in April. Since then, the Senate has been hearing testimony on different aspects of the proposal; Tuesday marked the Senate's first round of changes, with another likely coming next week. After that, Senate and House members will have until the end of June to come to an agreement on the multi-billion-dollar spending bill. Some of the Senate's key changes target property tax relief, school funding, Cleveland Browns stadium funding, and iGaming. Ohio Senators added a provision in the budget to create a flat income tax rate. If passed, the flat income tax rate of 2.75% would become effective starting in tax year 2026. Right now, income tax rates are in three brackets. This is the second budget in a row to change the state's income tax structure. 'We are going to continue down that path and finally get to a flat income tax rate here in the state of Ohio,' Senate President Rob McColley (R-Lima) said. The income tax debate has long been had at the Ohio Statehouse, with some even proposing eliminating the tax completely. On the property tax front, Ohio Senate leaders increased a budget carry-over cap for public school districts to 50% as a way to provide Ohioans property tax relief. 'However, there is going to be an ability for school districts to go over and above and beyond that 50% cap, put money into a capital fund that they can use for maintenance of their buildings, they can use for debt service, they can use for a variety of things,' McColley said. This is how it works: if the school district you are living in carries over more than 50% of its budget from year to year, then the excess money will go back to homeowners in a new form of property tax relief. This is estimated to help Ohioans in 292 of the state's 600+ districts. The Ohio House first added this provision to the budget, but House leaders initially wanted the cap to sit at 30%. While Democratic leaders in the Senate said 30% is certainly better than 50%, Ranking Member of Senate Finance Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) said too many school districts have urged lawmakers 'not to impose any cap.' Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) added that this is the legislature 'micromanaging' school districts and punting the responsibility of property tax relief off to public schools. There is another form of property tax relief in the budget, through an expansion of the homestead exemption program. Homestead exemption decreases the total taxable amount of someone's home. If the Senate budget passes as written, the reduction amount goes from $28,000 to $32,000 and increases the income threshold to qualify from $40,000 to $42,500. 'We are taking steps to reduce this trauma that higher valuations are causing,' Ohio Senate Finance Chair Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) said. Public school funding is also a big piece of the budget. Senators decided to reimplement what has become known as the 'fair school funding plan' after House members stripped it, calling it unsustainable. 'That was something that many of our members of our caucus thought was important, they felt it was a deal we entered into years ago and we owed it to the communities to continue with the implementation,' McColley said. In the Senate's plan, K-12 public schools in the state will see an increase in funding of more than $600 million over the next two years. 'There are districts that will get less as they did in 2025, but no one will get less as they did in 2021, as the fair school funding plan was meant to do,' Cirino said. The fair school funding plan was created back in 2021 to be phased in over three budget cycles. Antonio said the Senate bill is following some of the ideas of fair school funding plan, 'but it is very much manipulated.' The Cleveland Browns asked lawmakers for money for a new stadium early on in the process. Senate members gave the greenlight for a $600 million to the Browns through the use of unclaimed funds. The state has $3.7 billion in unclaimed funds. Cirino said $1.7 billion of that will be taken out now, to be used for stadium and other development/culture projects. Out of that $1.7 billion will come the $600 million for the Cleveland Browns. Cirino said the funds will only be removed if and put into that pot of money if they have not been claimed for ten years. About $100 million gets added into unclaimed funds each year, so Cirino said this will always be solvent. 'With the addition coming in every year, we'll be able to support other projects going forward in the state,' Cirino said. 'What this does is it takes idle money and puts it to work.' The Browns will still need to make an investment in order to get that money – a deposit of $50 million to start as well as a $50 million line of credit in case it is needed to make up for lost costs. As for something that did not make the cut: iGaming. Lawmakers have been working on a proposal to legalize iGaming in the state. Despite work in both chambers, no proposal ended up in this version of the budget. Still, McColley said it is not completely out of the picture. 'No expansion of gambling is in the bill; it remains to be seen whether it will be put in the budget at all,' he said. 'We would rather take the time to get this right if we are going to do it at all. It's obviously a big policy shift. We don't need [to legalize iGaming] to balance our budget as it currently stands, so I wouldn't view [this] as an indication one way or another, other than we need more time.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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7 days ago
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Ohio Senate GOP budget increases school funding, gives Browns $600M grant, creates flat tax
Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, speaks at the Ohio Senate Republican Budget Press Conference. Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, stands in the background. Photo: Morgan Trau, WEWS The Ohio Senate has announced its version of the state budget, one that provides a slight increase in public school funding, gives a $600 million grant to the Cleveland Browns for their new stadium and creates a flat income tax of 2.75%. Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) and Finance Chair Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) announced their proposed amendments to the state's biennial operating budget on Tuesday afternoon. House Bill 96, the number for the House's budget bill, passed in April. The senators increased the amount of money going to public schools compared to the House's proposal. The Senate budget gives public schools about $100 million more than the House. Although it follows most of the House's proposed budget – which only gives schools about $226 million for school funding, or $550 million total – the Senate changed the funding 'guarantee' amount. Right now, some districts have guarantees that a portion of their funding will not be reduced, even if their enrollment goes down. However, to be fully funded, based on statistics from the Fair School Funding Plan from 2021, schools would need an additional $666-800 million, compared to the $226 million given by the House. They also raised the House proposal's cap on districts' rainy day funds to 50%, instead of 30%. This would mean that the schools would have to refund anything above that back to the taxpayer in a method legislators want to use to provide property tax relief. The Senate's budget proposal still includes $600 million for a new Cleveland Browns stadium in Brook Park. However, the funding structure differs from what the Browns proposed and what the House approved earlier this year. The House proposed borrowing $600 million by issuing bonds and repaying the debt, with interest, over 25 years, at a cost of about $1 billion. The Senate is proposing a $600 million grant for the stadium using unclaimed funds. That money is property of Ohioans held by the state, things like forgotten bank accounts, rent or utility deposits or uncashed insurance policies. The Ohio Department of Commerce's website says the state is sitting on $4.8 billion in unclaimed funds. The Senate believes the state will more than recoup that investment through sales tax, income tax and commercial activity tax revenues from the 176-acre Brook Park stadium district. The budget also includes a 2.75% flat income tax. This mirrors a bill currently in the House, which would eliminate the separate brackets of the non-business income tax. People making more than $102,400 would have their taxes reduced from 3.5% to 3.125% in 2025 and then down to 2.75% in 2026. The lower bracket would stay at 2.75%. Now, the Senate and House leaders will enter a conference committee, a closed-door negotiation period to create a final budget. Once a decision is made, both chambers must pass the combined bill. If it passes through both sides, it will be sent to Gov. Mike DeWine for review. In the past, he issued dozens of line-item vetoes on operating budgets. Line-item vetoing is the ability for the governor to pick and choose which policies within a larger piece of legislation get to stay or must go. DeWine is adamantly against giving the bond package to the Browns, and we have asked repeatedly if he plans to veto it. He says he hopes it doesn't get to that point. The budget must be passed by the end of June. This is a developing story and will be updated. Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
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State budget drafts limit public schools' choices to get rid of buildings
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — As Columbus City Schools work on the implementation plan to close down several school buildings, the Ohio legislature may change how public schools have to get rid of unused buildings. Ohio is drafting its biennial budget, a more than 5,000-page document that includes some new changes to how public schools can get rid of unused school buildings. The budget, House Bill 96, is still in Senate hearings after being passed by the House, but if left unchanged, public schools will now have to try to sell unused buildings — sometimes at a lower value — before they are allowed to demolish them. See previous coverage of how the budget could effect public schools in the video player above. How lawmakers want to change the teacher pension fund Ohio already requires public schools to offer to sell unused buildings to STEM, college preparatory and charter schools within the district's boundaries before selling them elsewhere or demolishing them. Under H.B. 96, schools would also have to offer sales to private schools. The state defines unused school buildings as any administrative or operational building owned by a public school that has not been used in more than a year, or any academic building operating at less than 60% capacity. In Gov. Mike DeWine's version of the bill, buildings that fall under 60% of the building's highest enrollment over 10 years would also count as unused, although the House removed that provision. Public districts must offer these buildings to other non-public schools first, and have to sell the building for the appraised fair market value of the property. If no one buys it, under current law, the school may then demolish it or put it up for public auction, then private sales. The state budget would invite more potential buyers at lower prices by inviting private schools to purchase them. DeWine's budget would also change how much schools could sell buildings for, adjusting sales prices from fair market value to the 'value of the property for operation as an educational facility.' The House also did not carry this provision over. Ohio lawmakers push for stricter rules on 'obscene' drag queens, indecent exposure Under H.B. 96, school districts would be required to put buildings up for public auction before they can demolish them. School districts would also be required to sell the land to the highest bidder at a public auction, making it more difficult for schools to demolish buildings. Both current law and the budget bill give preference to high-performing charter schools during building sales. However, H.B. 96 redefines a high-performing charter school to determine its performance based on the public schools around it, rather than solely on its achievements. Under current law, a community school must get three stars, or improve their score for three consecutive years in its achievement rating. Under H.B. 96, the achievement rating must be better than the public school district it resides in for two years in a row. The change directly equates charter schools' success with outperforming local public schools. Unused buildings that are located on or adjacent to land still actively used by the school are not required to be sold. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LGBTQ+ advocates condemn Ohio budget plan to defund youth shelters, restrict books
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Advocates took to the Statehouse last week to speak out against 'anti-LGBTQ+' provisions in Ohio's budget proposal, like a measure requiring public libraries to limit access to LGBTQ+ books. The Ohio Senate Education Committee welcomed school district leaders, librarians, parents, students and other residents on May 14 for a wide-ranging hearing on the education funding within House Bill 96, legislation meant to outline Ohio's budget for the next two years. Watch a previous NBC4 report on the budget proposal in the video player above. The more than 5,000-page bill covers a myriad of topics, and includes the following amendments that leading advocacy organizations said would harm the state's LGBTQ+ community: Codify state policy recognizing two sexes, male and female, and that 'these sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.' Require public libraries to place material 'related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression in a portion of the public library that is not primarily open to the view of the persons under the age of 18.' Bar funding to youth homeless shelters 'that promote or affirm social gender transition.' Ohio congressman introduces bill to study 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' 'These amendments are not only discriminatory, but they are also detrimental to the welfare of thousands of LGBTQ+ Ohioans, and legislates harm against some of the most vulnerable members of our society,' said Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio. Steward condemned the provision to defund certain homeless shelters as 'a direct assault on the safety and well-being of Ohio's youth,' citing a 16-year-old student who was recently kicked out of their home in Troy for being transgender. It was only when the student found refuge in a Dayton youth shelter that offered LGBTQ+ services that they began to feel safe, Steward said. 'Stripping away funding from such shelter would leave countless young people without the support they desperately need,' the executive director argued, noting that a report from the Williams Institute at UCLA found 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ+. Dara Adkison, executive director of TransOhio, denounced the measure 'to recognize two sexes,' claiming the language is factually incorrect, contradicts medical, psychological, and legal understanding of sex and gender, and denies the reality of trans, nonbinary and intersex Ohioans. 'The language of this proposed budget rejects their lived experiences and reality. For many trans and intersex Ohioans, legal and medical transition is life-saving,' said Adkison. 'Attempts to erase or deny these rights through budgetary language would almost certainly invite legal challenge, costing Ohio taxpayers both financially and morally.' Ohio bill would cap 'junk fees' on tickets for concerts, sporting events Adkison cited the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Endocrine Society, which recognize that sex and gender exist on a spectrum. The executive director also noted Bostock v. Clayton County, a 2020 Supreme Court case that said sex discrimination includes LGBTQ+ people. Ohio House legislators have long argued the sex provision is need given 'it's accepted science that there are two genders.' In April, Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said, 'This simply ends the discussion in the state of Ohio which I think most voters, most citizens of Ohio agree with, and it also prevents us from having months and months and weeks of arguments.' Cookie Dixon, a trans Ohioan, testified against requiring public libraries to limit access to LGBTQ+ materials, and said such books were a pivotal part of their self discovery. 'Restricting these resources hurts queer children who were in the same place I was; I had no sense of self and was ready to completely give up before I began exploring my gender identity,' said Dixon. 'This also continues to perpetuate the harmful idea that queer people are obscene, something to be hidden from the eyes of children, a thinly veiled attempt at pushing us back out of the sight of the public as our mere existence continues to be illegalized.' How Ohio lawmakers want to make schools safer Sharon Hawkes, a former librarian and head of Right to Read Ohio, submitted testimony that the mandate would force libraries to remove any mention of LGBTQ+ people, and many child and teen biographies, literary fiction, romance, history, and age-appropriate sex education. Hawkes said a similar Idaho law forced at least one library to close to children because it didn't have the resources and space to isolate adult materials away from the children's section. 'This mandate would be very costly, forcing librarians to sift through their collections to find these books and perhaps remove taxpayer-funded books,' said Hawkes. 'It is also hurtful, telling certain minority communities that they should not be read about.' H.B. 96 will continue to be debated in Ohio Senate hearings open for public testimony. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
