Ohio

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    • Headlines : Ohio

      Study: Most Ohio School Districts Cut Expenses in Face of State Budget Cuts

      State Impact and NPR | by Molly Bloom | January 20, 2012

      Of school districts responding to a survey, 65 percent said their planned spending was greater than their expected revenues, up from 45 percent in 2010.

    • Headlines : Ohio

      More tax income, less spending aids Ohio budget

      The Dayton Daily News | December 5, 2011

      The increase is primarily due to stronger than expected sales tax receipts, according to the state budget office.  Ohio has also spent less during the same period - about $268 million below estimates laid out in the two-year budget adopted in June.

    • Solutions : Ohio

      Solving Our State Fiscal Challenges

      The Buckeye Institute | by Matt A. Mayer | November 29, 2011

      Advocating for collective bargaining reforms because unless base compensation adjustmentst happen, taxes will have to go up.

    • Solutions : Ohio

      Legislators should add an umbrella to

      The Buckeye Institute | by Greg R. Lawson | June 14, 2011

      Ohio would be well advised to give itself more cushioning that it currently has for economic hardship.  After all, when it rains, it often times pours. It's much better to have an umbrella on hand than to stand by and get soaked.

    • Headlines : Ohio, California, Illinois

      States sell bonds to repay jobless insurance to feds

      Stateline.org | by Pamela Prah | November 28, 2011

      Altogether, states still owe $37.6 billion to the federal government that they borrowed when their unemployment insurance trust funds sank to zero.

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    John KasichGov. John Kasich
    Office of Governor John Kasich
    77 South High Street
    30th Floor
    Columbus, OH 43215-6117
    Phone: (614) 466-3555
    Fax: (614) 466-9354
    http://governor.ohio.gov/

     

     

    Ohio OBM Dir. KeenTimothy S. Keen , Director
    Office of Budget & Management
    30 E. Broad Street, 34th Floor
    Columbus, OH 43215-3457
    Phone (614) 466-4034
    www.ohio.gov/obm
    obm@obm.state.oh.us

     

     

     

    2012 Legislative Calendar: Regular Session convenes January 3, meets throughout the year.

     

    Legislative Budget Leaders:

    Rep. Ron Amstutz (R), Chair, House Finance and Appropriations Committee, district3@ohr.state.oh.us (614) 466-1474

    Sen. Chris Widener (R), Chair, Senate Finance Committee, SD10@senate.state.oh.us (614) 466-3780

    Sen. Shannon Jones (R), Vice-Chair, Senate Finance Committee, SD07@senate.state.oh.us (614) 466-9737

    Rep. Peter Beck (R), Chair, House Ways and Means Committee, district67@ohr.state.oh.us (614) 644-6027

    Rep. Mike Dovilla (R), Vice-Chair, House Ways and Means Committee, district18@ohr.state.oh.us (614) 466-4895

    Sen. Tim Schaffer (R), Chair, Senate Ways and Means and Economic Development, SD31@senate.state.oh.us (614) 466-5838

    Sen. Bill Beagle (R), Vice-Chair, Senate Ways and Means and Economic Development, SD05@senate.state.oh.us (614) 466-6247

     

    The current state budget can be found here.

     

    ohio budget trends graph

     

    Ohio's "balanced budget" requirements come in the forms of a limit the issuance of debt and an appropriations cap that is tied to the actual revenue raised during previous years. Section 107.33 of the State law creates a cap on appropriations that is the previous year's revenue, adjusted for inflation and population growth, or the previous year's revenue plus 3.5%, whichever is greater. Article 8, Sections 1 and 2 of the 1851 Constitution permit the state to contract debts, to supply casual deficits or failures in revenues, or to meet expenses not otherwise provided for as long as those costs do not exceed $750,000. Title 1, Section 126.05 of the State law requires the director of the budget to notify the governor each month on the status of available revenue receipts and balances. The governor must then prevent expenses of state agencies from exceeding those revenue receipts. Ohio law forbids the carrying over of a deficit from one year to the next.

     

    Even though Ohio has specific balanced budget requirements, the State's Budgetary Comparison Schedules indicated budget deficits (negative net transactions) for the three years studied.

     

    Budgetary information within the Ohio CAFR is presented in a consistent manner all three years and easy to locate. Specific information is also presented efficiently (inclusion of "total" columns). The State's governmental funds include the General Fund and 15 special revenue funds, 23 debt service funds, and 10 capital projects funds. The State budgets on a modified cash basis of accounting. The General Fund, and 11 out of 15 special revenues funds, 9 out of 23 debt service funds, and 9 out of 10 capital projects funds are budgeted. Most but not all funds are budgeted. Revenues are budgeted only for the General Fund. This results in very large gap between actual and budgeted figures.  [from the Institute for Truth in Accounting]

     

    Find the state's bond ratings here.

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    • Solutions: Ohio

      Solving Our State Fiscal Challenges

      The Buckeye Institute | by Matt A. Mayer | November 29, 2011

      Advocating for collective bargaining reforms because unless base compensation adjustmentst happen, taxes will have to go up.

    • Solutions: Ohio

      Legislators should add an umbrella to

      The Buckeye Institute | by Greg R. Lawson | June 14, 2011

      Ohio would be well advised to give itself more cushioning that it currently has for economic hardship.  After all, when it rains, it often times pours. It's much better to have an umbrella on hand than to stand by and get soaked.

    • Solutions: Ohio

      Ten Ideas to Fix Cleveland's Schools

      Reason Foundation | by Lisa Snell | September 23, 2011

      Schools should receive revenue in the same way that the district receives revenue, on a per-pupil basis reflecting the enrollment at a school and the individual characteristics of students at each school.

    • BLOG : Ohio

      Group Urges Ohio to Release Public Employee Pension Information

      by Andrew Guevara | February 16, 2012

      Ohioans deserve to know where and how their tax dollars are being spent, as well as the burden the pension system is placing on the state budget and taxpayers.

    • Ohio

      Survival of Contentious Collective Bargaining Bill Will Be Decided by Ohio Voters

      by Andrew Guevara | November 7, 2011

      Tomorrow, Ohio voters will decide on Issue 2, a veto referendum on the state's Nov. 8 general election ballot. The measure would repeal Senate Bill 5 (SB 5), the Public Employees' Collective Bargaining Law, which limits collective bargaining rights for about 360,000 public employees in the state.

    • Ohio

      The State Teachers Retirement Funds (STRS) Misleads Taxpayers and Teachers

      The Buckeye Institute | by Adam Schwiebert | September 14, 2011

      By using the State Teachers Retirement System's own data, reading their own admissions, and even following their own assertions, it is evident that Ohio taxpayers are far from off of the hook when it comes to potentially bailing out the pensions.

    • BLOG : Ohio, Wisconsin

      Bargaining for a Solution

      by Bob Williams | March 3, 2011

      With pension liabilities and health care benefits out of control and unions asking for more, states are finally taking action. Here's a look at some of the effort-within and beyond Wisconsin-that are underway.

    • BLOG : Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Florida

      New Sherriff in Town

      by Bob Williams | February 11, 2011

      Someone should tell the unions (in Wisconsin, at least) that there is a new sheriff in town.  And he's not afraid to call in the National Guard to quell unrest among state employees.

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