State lawmakers have been busy with new legislation, and some clearly demonstrate the parties’ position on important issues. For instance, there are two opposite bills being introduced on sanctuary cities - communities that want to shield undocumented immigrants from prosecution based on their illegal status. Lawmakers will also see a bill that would add the photos of food stamp recipients to their electronic benefit transfer or EBT cards to stop food stamp fraud.
Gov. John Kasich has warned this will be a difficult budget process, but has also touted the progress Ohio has made under tax reforms he wants to continue in his final budget. He's also said that wage and salary growth is increasing in Ohio faster than the national average. But Office of Budget and Management Director Tim Keen testified an opposite point of view before the House Finance Committee. And this isn't the only time the governor and his budget director have disagreed on these important facts.
There’s a proposal in the budget that would have businesses file their net profits taxes through the state, which would charge a fee and send the money back to municipalities. Tax commissioner Joe Testa says it would streamline the process for businesses working in more than one municipality, which most do. But the Ohio Municipal League has a lot of concerns about how and whether this plan would work.
The House is drafting its version of the budget, and Gov. Kasich will spend the next few weeks defending his budget. But people on both the left and the right have found things they approve of in Kasich’s spending plan, and things they can’t support. Matt Mayer is the President of the conservative economic and policy research group Opportunity Ohio. Keary McCarthy is the President/CEO of the progressive policy think tank Innovation Ohio.