Beagle Announces Senate Budget, Lowering Tax Burden By $1.7 Billion For All Ohioans

“I believe we have found a good landing spot given the competing priorities,” said Beagle. “We are trying to balance keeping government as lean as possible while at the same time investing in those areas that need it.”

Among some of the major highlights in the bill, the Senate plan:

• Reduces Ohio’s income tax rate by 6.3 percent, saving taxpayers $1.26 billion over the next two years
• Eliminates the entire state tax burden on small businesses with income up to $250,000 and creates an innovative, new flat tax for small businesses above that income level
• Protects senior citizens by removing a proposed $264 million tax on Social Security benefits
• Boosts the goal for Ohio’s rainy day fund, which will set aside nearly $2 billion for emergencies
• Reduces proposed overall Medicaid spending by more than $1 billion
• Spends less than any previous state budget plan introduced this year to date ($1.7 billion below the House plan and $1.1 billion below the Governor’s plan)
• Invests more than $935 million new dollars into students and schools over the next two years ($351.5 million in FY16 and maintains that additional funding in FY17 and adds $233 million more)
• Keeps college affordable by freezing tuition over the biennium for two- and four-year institutions, while making the largest state investment in SSI (state share of instruction) for higher education in eight years
• Restores funding for essential services, such as pregnancy care and, breast and cervical cancer screenings for women

The Senate Finance Committee will begin hearings on the new budget bill on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.  Live streaming of the committee is available on the Senate’s website or at OhioChannel.org.