Senate leader wary of income tax cut
Niehaus fears federal Medicaid cuts could hit state
By Jim Siegel
Gov. John Kasich’s plan to trade higher taxes on shale drilling for an income-tax cut took on more water yesterday when Senate President Tom Niehaus said he is not sold on giving Ohioans a tax reduction.
Niehaus said he generally favors income-tax cuts, “but the economic climate in the state and the country is still uncertain enough for the next year or two ... that I would be a little more cautious about committing that money at this point.”
As part of his extensive mid-biennial review, Kasich proposed raising severance taxes on the state’s emerging shale-drilling industry and using those proceeds for an across-the-board income-tax cut that could climb to an estimated 5 percent by 2016. The administration has argued that Ohio’s current drilling rates are too low, and that the benefits of the state’s drilling boon should be shared by all Ohioans.http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/03/23/senate-leader-wary-of-income-tax-cut.html
House committee passes CMHA bill
Witnesses call it discriminatory
10:20 PM, Mar. 22, 2012 |
Written by
Paul E. Kostyu
COLUMBUS — Controversial legislation aimed at changing the makeup of the board of the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority is headed for a House vote.
Three witnesses, all from Cincinnati, testified at a hearing Thursday that House Bill 408, sponsored by State Rep. Louis F. Terhar, R-Green Township, is discriminatory.
“This bill will only fan the flames of racial antagonism in Cincinnati and is not needed,” said local attorney Robert B. Newman in prepared remarks. “The opposition to public housing at nearly every turn has had a racial component.”
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120322/NEWS010801/303220115/House-committee-passes-CMHA-bill?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120322/NEWS010801/303220115/House-committee-passes-CMHA-bill?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
House Passes Capital Budget
Hannah Report 3/22/12
The House passed capital budget bill HB482 (Amstutz) by a near-unanimous vote Thursday after Republicans tabled a Democratic amendment that would add community projects to the bill.
Bill sponsor Rep. Ron Amstutz (R-Wooster) noted the leanness of the bill, saying it only includes funding for higher education, primary and secondary education, and the Ohio Public Works Commission.
"We are in a time where we are rebuilding our state's fiscal house." He said while the state's budget situation and economy have improved, it isn't time to have a full capital budget. http://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=188922
The House passed capital budget bill HB482 (Amstutz) by a near-unanimous vote Thursday after Republicans tabled a Democratic amendment that would add community projects to the bill.
Bill sponsor Rep. Ron Amstutz (R-Wooster) noted the leanness of the bill, saying it only includes funding for higher education, primary and secondary education, and the Ohio Public Works Commission.
"We are in a time where we are rebuilding our state's fiscal house." He said while the state's budget situation and economy have improved, it isn't time to have a full capital budget. http://www.hannah.com/DesktopDefaultPublic.aspx?type=hns&id=188922
Batchelder, In Support Of Preemptive Repeal, Says HB194 Referendum Would Unduly Detract From Presidential Election
Gongwer 3/22/12
Speaker Bill Batchelder (R-Medina) reiterated Thursday that he has come around to supporting the Senate GOP's plan to repeal a controversial package of election laws that is the subject of a referendum this fall, in part because the ballot issue would detract from the more important debate over the presidential election.
The speaker's comments come a day after the Senate delayed a committee vote on the repeal measure (SB 295
Among the testimony delivered to the Senate Government Oversight & Reform Committee were continuing complaints that the Senate's moves were more about political expediency rather than policy. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, March 21, 2012)
Speaker Batchelder previously expressed concerns about running afoul of the Ohio Constitution's referendum provisions, but he told reporters after Thursday's session he had changed his mind and noted there was no case law on the issue.
MBR Hearings: Speaker Plans In-Depth Hearings On Bank, Insurance Taxes With ‘Expert Witnesses'; ‘Loophole' For RV Purchases Questioned
Gongwer 3/22/12
Lawmakers continued on Thursday to review various components of Gov. John Kasich's mid-term budget package amidst signals from the House speaker that his chamber will be putting a private sector microscope to the details - especially tax provisions impacting banks and insurance companies.
Speaker Bill Batchelder (R-Medina) said the House would be bringing in "expert witnesses on some of these matters," such as members of the Ohio Society of CPAs, and indicated the financial institutions tax plan and the insurance tax proposals could be split out of the main package for more lengthy, in-depth deliberations.
"I would think that would be probably so," he said.
He said some of the outside input would also come from "a couple of accountants who have specialized in oil and gas."
Gongwer 3/22/12
Both the House and Senate introduced legislation Thursday to further institute the independent enterprise JobsOhio as the primary entity in charge of economic development in Ohio.
The bill that has been generally referred to as "JobsOhio II" should complete the legislature's work in moving responsibility away from the Department of Development and into the private entity.
The General Assembly enacted its first piece of legislation for the session (HB 1 ) in February 2011 that created JobsOhio, the concept of which came out of a campaign pledge by Gov. John Kasich.
Democrats later filed a lawsuit saying JobsOhio is unconstitutional because it creates a joint venture between the state and a private corporation, among other charges.
State lawmakers and members of the public leading a review of Ohio's constitutional provisions need to be committed to working on the project over an extended period of time, panelists said at a seminar on the subject Thursday.
The comments came during a colloquium (event materials) organized by Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law that drew several current and former state officials, lawmakers and others interested in the process.
Robert Williams, a Rutgers University Law professor, said state constitutions are generally low visibility documents that contain more specifics than the U.S. Constitution, and address more issues tied to the public's day-to-day life.
While the federal document reserves rights for the national government, he said state documents are more political, and more subject to changes.
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