A measure before the Ohio House Ways and Means Committee proposes to eliminate the state income tax over ten years.
The Committee recently heard testimony from educators on the potential funding impacts of House Bill 400, sponsored by Representative John Adams and co-sponsored by 30 House Republicans.
Education Officials say the measure could reduce state aid to schools by more than 2-billion dollars, once fully implemented.
State Senator Jason Wilson says he disagrees with the proposal.
Wilson Comments:
Wilson says it’s important for the state to have a stable form of income for a variety of issues and circumstances, that require regular funding.
Wilson Comments:
Wilson says the state needs to continue to collect income taxes, in order to keep moving forward…
Wilson Comments:
Wilson says if State Officials were to move forward with plans to eliminate the state income tax, he would like to know what programs Officials would be looking at cutting.
Wilson Comments:
A number of educators and Officials from across the state have submitted testimony in opposition of the bill.
Testifying on behalf of the Ohio School Board Association, Jennifer Economus noted that quote, "since the income tax makes up a significant portion of the State’s general revenue fund, we are concerned that the elimination of this revenue source will cause a major shift in tax burden to local residential property taxpayers," end quote.
An analysis, prepared by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, at the request of the Committee Chair, also provides a district by district breakdown of the potential loss of state and federal aid to Ohio schools if HB 400 were enacted, and estimates that schools could lose as much as $663 million (10.2 percent) in the first year and over $2 billion (31.2 percent) once fully implemented.
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