Budget of the State of Ohio

  March 18, 2019 "It's Time to Invest"   With these words, Governor Mike DeWine released details of his first operating budget last Friday.

The Fiscal Years 2020-2021 budget calls for nearly $70 billion in General Revenue Fund spending, an increase from $65.5 billion in the current two-year biennium budget. When all funds are included, total appropriations rise to $150.4 billion, compared to $132.8 billion. The state’s fiscal year ends on June 30th.

While more details of the budget will become known when legislative language is released in a few days, the Governor’s budget makes good on many of the promises he made during the campaign. With a focus on at-risk children and families, early childhood education, protecting Lake Erie, workforce development and stepping up the fight against the opioid epidemic, the proposal offers a balanced approach to take on some of Ohio’s thorniest problems. Below are a few highlights of the Governor’s proposal.

• Create a new $550 million fund to help schools provide students in need with additional mental health counseling, health care, wraparound services, mentoring and after-school programs
• Provide $22 million in new funding to county mental health and recovery boards for crisis stabilization across the upcoming budget biennium
• Create a special H2Ohio Fund that would be used to protect Ohio’s water quality over 10 years and could amount to approximately $900 million
• Increase funding for the Local Government Fund to make up for $17 million that was diverted from the fund last year to pay for local crisis services related to substance use disorders
• Provide a new 10 percent, a nonrefundable income tax credit to those who invest in the state’s Opportunity Zones
• Increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21
• Continue Medicaid expansion
• The budget does not include any funds from legalized sports betting, although, the Governor indicated he may be open to that if the legislature decides to act
• The budget does not call for the use of any monies from the state’s rainy day fund, nor does it add to the fund
• No new taxes are proposed

   Governor DeWine inherited a growing economy and a stable budget. Thus, he is able to invest considerably more in the priority areas he outlined during the campaign. Legislative hearings are set to begin in the Ohio House tomorrow, and budget deliberation will dominate much of the legislative agenda until June.