State Senator Bob Peterson (R-Sabina) announced the rollout of the Senate's version of the state’s two-year operating budget today, including substantial new funding for education and more than $1.7 billion in tax relief for hardworking Ohioans and small business owners.

“I am proud of the Senate budget: we’ve lowered taxes across the board, put a priority on our student’s education and boosted Ohio’s saving plan, all while maintaining a balanced budget," Senator Peterson said. "I look forward to the budget process continuing over the next few weeks.”
 
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
   


• Removes a proposed $264 million tax on senior citizens receiving Social Security benefits
   


• Boosts Ohio’s savings account goal, setting 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)
   


• Freezes college tuition over the biennium for two- and four-year institutions
   


• Makes 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, breast and cervical cancer screenings for women and provides a significant boost in police training programs

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.
 

 

 Budget Highlights

 
Providing Tax Relief: Ohioans Keep More

• A 6.3% across the board income tax cut returns $1.26 billion to Ohioans.


• As part of the tax relief package, the Senate plan also eliminates taxes on the first $250,000 of net income for small businesses (or $125K for individual filers) and establishes a 3% flat tax rate on income above that amount. Small businesses make up roughly 98 percent of all Ohio businesses and employ nearly one-half of the state’s private-sector workforce.


• The Senate plan also eliminates a proposed state tax on Social Security benefits, saving senior citizens $264 million.

 
K-12 Education: Continuing our Strong Investment

• The Senate bill provides predictability and sustainability for the state’s K-12 funding formula, driving additional dollars to low-wealth, low-capacity districts while ensuring more districts are on the funding formula.  


• More than $935 million new dollars will be invested in primary and secondary education over the biennium, increasing the per pupil formula, and special education, career-technical education and K-3 literacy amounts ($351.5 million in FY16 and maintains that additional funding in FY17 and adds $233 million more).


• The Senate Plan holds all districts harmless to their FY15 funding amounts and continues the phase-down of the TPPT supplement as proposed by the House.

 
Higher Education: A New Era of Affordability and Support

• The Senate makes the largest state investment in SSI (state share of instruction) for higher education in eight years with $240 million of new funding over the biennium ($81.9 million in FY16 and maintains that additional funding in FY17 and adds $76.2 million more), while instituting a two-year freeze on tuition rate increases and requiring Ohio’s public universities and colleges to find ways to reduce student costs by five percent.


• The Senate proposal will provide $100 million for need-based student aid through the Ohio College Opportunity Grant program by the end of the biennium.

 
Health Care: Fiscal Responsibility with Better Care

• The Senate plan lowers per member, per month cost and rolls back needless spending in Medicaid, saving more than $1 billion on Medicaid spending overall and reducing health care costs statewide.


• The Senate plan restores funding for Medicaid coverage of pregnant women up to 200% of the poverty level and restores coverage for breast and cervical cancer screenings for women on Medicaid.

 
Essential Services: Investing in Priorities

• Police training programs and increased training hours, in response to recommendations made by the Police-Community Relations Task Force and the Ohio Attorney General


• Revolving loan programs to help businesses affected by lakes in economic distress, such as Buckeye Lake


• Nearly $13 million for a state-local partnership to provide new digital electronic pollbook technology to support Ohio’s voting process


• Local government support fund specifically targeted to townships


• Health care programs, such as Alzheimer’s care, Help Me Grow and others designed to decrease Ohio’s infant mortality rate


• Ohio School for the Blind and School for the Deaf


• School lunch and other youth programs, such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Children’s Wish and autism assistance scholarships


• Various arts programs across the state


• Largest investment in nearly a decade for tobacco cessation efforts