An Ohio House Panel has passed the state operating budget including a $1 billion tax cut, higher income limits for school vouchers, and a ban on TikTok from government devices.
On Tuesday, the plan to spend more than $86 billion over the subsequent two fiscal years contained in the 5,300-page proposal known as House Bill (HB) 33 passed the House Finance Committee with bipartisan support.
The full Republican-led House is expected to vote on and approve the legislation this week. The Ohio Senate will then consider it. A budget approved by both chambers must be reconciled before being sent to Governor Mike DeWine for approval before the fiscal year’s end on June 30th.
The House budget would increase the threshold at which Ohioans are exempt from paying any income tax from the current $25,000 to their first $26,050 of income.
Additionally, the proposal aims to eliminate a middle-class tax bracket. As a result, Ohioans with lower and middle incomes who earn up to $92,150 per year will pay the same reduced income tax rate of 2.75 percent. According to eFile, currently, Ohio levies income taxes at 2.765 percent on earnings between $25,000 and $44,250 and 3.226 percent on earnings between $44,250 and $88,450.
Though the plan somewhat modifies who would be subject to the two top tax rates, they would remain unchanged. Up from $110,650 under current law, income as low as around $115,300 would be subject to the highest income tax rate of 3.99 percent. The second-highest income-tax bracket, which currently applies to income from $88,450 to $110,650, would apply to income from $92,150 to $115,300 each year, at a rate of 3.688 percent.
The budget would somewhat reduce the minimum amount of tax paid, which would result in a modest reduction in income taxes across the board, even though the top rates would not change.
The House budget would maintain efforts to implement a more equitable and dependable school funding formula from the previous two-year budget, but take into account updated costs for expenses like teacher salaries, transportation needs, and technology needs, increasing the state’s allocations for public education by an additional $1 billion or more over the ensuing two fiscal years.
Additionally, House legislators upped eligibility for private school vouchers through the state’s EdChoice scholarship program expanding eligibility to those at up to 450 percent of the federal poverty level or $135,000 for a family of four.
The bipartisan House budget would also mandate that the Ohio Department of Education carry out a performance comparison study between students enrolled in EdChoice and those attending public schools.
Other education-related provisions from the House call for a thorough study of the needs of “economically disadvantaged students,” raise the minimum teacher salary from $30,000 to $40,000, and prevent students from having to repeat a grade under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee.
The budget also includes a salary raise from $16 to $18 for in-home healthcare workers who provide services through Medicaid. Supporters claim that a raise is necessary to enhance recruitment into that field in order to fulfill demand.
The House budget would prohibit using TikTok, WeChat, and other services “owned by an entity located in China” on government devices.
Additionally, the House cut the All Ohio Future Fund from $2.5 billion to $500 million in order to invest in significant economic development projects all around the state.
The House also included a clause that will provide survivors of sexual assault and other “sexually oriented” crimes easier access to data gleaned from rape kits, such as if DNA was discovered and whether that DNA matches someone in a state or federal database.
According to House Finance Chair State Representative Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville), he is satisfied with the House operating budget and says that the committee “landed in a really good spot.”
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
