Ohio's revenues continue running above estimates for the year-to-date by over $200 million, but February revenues came in nearly $20 million below estimates. A total of nearly $1.6 billion was collected in February -- $10.6 million more than was collected in February 2017. The total so far for FY18 is nearly $14.7 billion, nearly $222 million more than had been collected at this time last year.
Read ReviewLawmakers introduced the $2.6 billion capital budget for FY19-20 Monday, highlighting a $222 million portion dedicated to addiction and other health and human services purposes. Both chambers held hearings this week on their respective measures -- SB266 (Oelslager) and HB529 (Ryan) -- as the General Assembly looks to make quick work of the bill. To that end, Budget Director Tim Keen briefed both committees, reviewing in greater detail major spending proposals for prisons, schools, dam safety, and health and human services facilities. Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina) told reporters Monday he hopes to finish work on the bill in the third week of March. The House version is expected to be the final vehicle.
Read ReviewThe Ohio Ballot Board Tuesday unanimously approved the ballot language for a congressional redistricting reform amendment passed by the General Assembly in SJR5 (Huffman-Sykes) -- now Issue 1 -- for the May ballot. That language states that the proposed amendment would "end the partisan process for drawing congressional districts, and replace it with a process with the goals of promoting bipartisanship, keeping local communities together, and having district boundaries that are more compact." The Ballot Board also unanimously approved the explanation and arguments for and against Issue 1.
Read ReviewSenate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina) told Hannah News Monday that he expects a capital appropriations bill will be introduced by the end of February. It will be smaller than in years past, with Obhof saying he expects to have about 10 percent less funding available than in the 131st General Assembly.
Read ReviewWhile Office of Budget and Management (OBM) spokesman John Charlton attributed the January spike in revenue for the state to the federal tax reform passed in December, he cautioned that that "overage now will be balanced by refunds that are greater than we expected or return payments in April and May that are less than we expected." He also noted that OBM believes "taxpayers may have filed quarterly estimated payments early," thus affecting January's totals. Specifically, the state saw a $204.0 million increase in revenue for the month over and above estimates for January 2018. That was almost exclusively driven by a nearly $222.6 million or 24.9 percent increase over estimates for the personal income tax.
Read ReviewDrawing on a Wall Street Journal op-ed by White House senior advisor Ivanka Trump as an appeal for Republican support, Reps. Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights) and Kristin Boggs (D-Columbus) announced forthcoming legislation on paid family leave in a Wednesday press conference. A similar bill will be introduced in the Senate by Sen. Charleta Tavares (D-Columbus). The program would provide 12 weeks of paid family leave for eligible recipients who need to care for a newborn, child, parent, spouse or themselves due to a serious medical condition, Boggs explained.
Read ReviewElectronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) shut down Friday, Jan. 19 after its sponsor, the Educational Service Center of Lake Erie West, decided to sever ties. On Wednesday, Judge Michael Holbrook of Franklin County Common Pleas Court appointed Myron Terlecky of Strip, Hoppers, Leithart, McGrath and Terlecky as the interim master, and Richard Kruse of Gryphon USA Ltd. as assistant interim master for compliance. ECOT leadership cast the closing as the result of vindictive state officials. The Ohio Department of Education (ODE), meanwhile, said it was focused on helping thousands of ECOT students find new schools.
Read ReviewSchool districts have left as much as $11.5 million from the state's Lead Plumbing Fixture Replacement Assistance Grant Program on the table, state communications officials told Hannah News. Only about $500,000 of the $12 million made available in 131-HB390 (Schaffer-Retherford) has been reimbursed as of Dec. 31, 2017, according to a document from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC).
Read ReviewTax revenues lagged slightly in December but are still a hair above expectations for the year so far, the Office of Budget and Management reported in its preliminary release of monthly budget numbers Friday. Non-auto sales taxes were the biggest driver of December's underperformance, coming in 1 percent or about $8 million below estimates, yielding $809.7 million versus an expected $817.8 million. Auto sales taxes trailed by a lesser amount, generating a quarter million dollars less than expected, a 0.2 percent drop from projections.
Read ReviewThe capital-area economy will continue to grow faster than the nation in 2018 at a pace of 1.8 percent, resulting in more than 19,000 new jobs and total employment of over 1.1 million in central Ohio, Regionomics economist Bill Lafayette announced Wednesday. The Columbus region will remain the outlier in the state as a whole, which he said should continue more sluggish performance from 2017.
Read ReviewYou have come to the right place for what you need to know about available jobs, our fantastic local employers, and our great community!