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The Ohio House made improvements in the governor's spending plan. It also ducked the hard truth: The state needs a tax increase
Published on Sunday, May 03, 2009
Let's also recall a substantial source of the additional money: The House opted to play by the more optimistic revenue projections of the Legislative Services Commission. Voila! Suddenly, the Democratic majority had $622 million in new dollars. Put aside that experience in this recession preaches the value of sticking with more conservative estimates.
The governor applauded his fellow Democrats in the House. He dismissed Republican cries about the $7 billion in one-time money, about the massive budget hole that will greet the governor and lawmakers in two years. ''What do we do in two years?'' Strickland asked. ''I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. My responsibility right now is for the 2010-2011 budget and, you know, it is a difficult budget.''
Yes, it is. So difficult that the responsible course requires raising additional revenue, and not through rosy projections. Rather, the governor and lawmakers must look at a tax increase.
Few at the Statehouse want to utter those words. Practically everyone knows that is the situation they face. Now the state budget travels to the Senate, where Republicans have command and where the pretending will likely continue. Reality will enter the room when the two chambers attempt to reconcile their differences in a conference committee, when each has the political cover of the other.
Ordinarily, the governor and lawmakers could get away more easily kicking the budget troubles down the road. Not so, in this instance. Make no mistake, the federal stimulus money is critically needed, protecting against budget reductions that would deepen the impact of the recession. True, too, is that once the money disappears, along with the rainy-day funds and other dollars generated through budget maneuvers, the state will face a massive deficit, one that will defy addressing in a single budget cycle.
This deficit isn't a mere reflection of the recession. The 2005 changes in the tax code, for businesses and individuals, amounted to a big tax cut — too big in view of the obligations undertaken by the state, from schools to prisons to health care to universities.
The governor and others like to claim that fixing school funding can be achieved through the natural growth of revenues the next 10 years. They are kidding themselves. The House budget plan calls for public schools to receive $845 million in federal stimulus money, and yet overall, districts will see the state share of funding barely increase. The governor rightly champions all-day kindergarten, a longer school year, a residency program for young teachers and other promising changes. These won't be adequately funded if districts start the next budget cycle struggling to make up for lost federal money.
The absence of stimulus cash. A structural deficit. A commitment to improving public education. Ohio needs a tax increase, one that can be crafted to enhance the state's prospects in the long run, one that reflects responsible stewardship of the state.
Get the full article here.
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