House GOP Huddles on Kasich Budget (OH)
April 6, 2011
Medicaid cuts, school funding and Gov. John Kasich’s attempt to broaden his privatization powers are among the issues raising questions for House Republicans, who met in private last night to discuss the budget at length for the first time.
Earlier on the Statehouse lawn, a few hundred people protested Kasich’s proposed budget cuts to schools, local governments and social services. The group, One Ohio Now, is pushing for a “balanced” approach to the budget that includes spending cuts and increases in revenue through closing tax loopholes and more “equitable” income and corporation taxes.
“Cuts will mean less teachers in the classroom and less resources for students like this,” Justin Hons, a teacher at Ginn Academy in Cleveland, told the crowd while pointing to the two dozen students behind him.
The House Finance Committee continues to hold daily hearings on Kasich’s $55.5 billion two-year budget. Amendments are due to the chairman’s office by April15.
“I’ve been here a long time. I do not remember this much policy previously in a budget,” said House Speaker William G. Batchelder, R-Medina.
Asked about the tough questions and comments from some of his members on the House Finance Committee regarding the budget’s proposed 7.8 percent cut in funds for nursing homes, Batchelder said he met Friday with nursing-home owners.
Nursing-home patients “are senior citizens; many of them obviously are not in good health,” he said. “We want to make sure there is adequate funding for that part of the budget. On the other hand, over time, there has been a considerable concern about how much we expend in ratio to other states around us.”
Kasich’s proposed budget would cut basic operating funding for schools by more than $850 million over the next two years, imposing particularly deep cuts on wealthier suburban districts.
“That’s a subject of great concern, frankly,” Batchelder said. “The suburban districts in recent years have not necessarily had an equal treatment to the Big 8 and rural districts. That may be justified.”
Rep. Andrew O. Brenner, R-Powell, noted on his blog this week that the Olentangy school district could lose half its state funding, despite being cost-effective. “It is my opinion that we should quit subsidizing bad schools in other parts of the state and allow for more of the funding to stay here in Delaware County,” he wrote.
But Rep. John Carey Jr., R-Wellston, vice chairman of the House Finance Committee, said those wealthier districts don’t rely as much on state aid, and the state spends a lot of money in those districts because it pays 12.5 percent of every property-tax levy.
“I think the funding formula is a pretty good attempt at being fair, as far as distributing resources that are available,” he said.
House Republicans also are examining budget language that would allow the state budget director to enter into contracts that outsource public services to private entities.
“In most cases, the language needs more work before we’d be comfortable with giving” that authority, said Rep. Ron Amstutz, R-Wooster, chairman of the House Finance Committee. “We’re not going to cede our responsibilities.”