COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Senate passed the new two-year state budget bill, but not without making some major changes to the version it received from the Ohio House of Representatives and Gov. Mike DeWine.
What You Need To Know
- The Ohio Senate passed the two-year budget
- Party lines were followed with a 25-8 vote
- More than 100 amendments were added to the budget by the Senate
- The next step is to remedy the difference between the Senate’s and House’s versions before being signed by Gov. Mike DeWine
The Ohio Senate approved the latest budget proposal along party lines Wednesday, 25-8, a day after more than 100 amendments were added to the bill.
The Republican-controlled Senate signed off on a $74 billion, two-year state budget.
“This Senate budget focuses on the Ohio citizen,” said Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls.
Atop the focuses is a 5% income tax cut across the board, an increase from the House’s proposal of 2%. But Democrats argued at that rate, those making more than $500,000 would see a tax cut north of $1,700 per year while most working class people would save just $22.
“The majority is again prioritizing income tax cuts for the wealthiest Ohioans depriving our state of resources that could and should be used to improve our unconstitutional school funding system,” said Sen. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron.
Another point of contention in the bill’s passing, the Senate passed its own remodeled funding plan for K-12 education and not the Fair School Funding Plan researched for years and passed by the House.
The Senate’s plan gives a little more than $6,000 per year per student over a two-year period. The House’s version had set aside more than $7,000 per student over a six-year period.
“We have the responsibility to fund our schools now,” Dolan said. “This budget deals with fiscal year ‘22 and fiscal ’23, and any other attempt to say we shouldn’t fund our schools now because six years from now we’ll fund them then is irresponsible and not our responsibility.”
The legislature’s responsibility is now to work out the differences between the Senate and House’s versions of the budget in conference committee. The budget must be signed into law by DeWine by the end of the month.
