Hicks-Hudson Condemns Senate Republican Budget

Today, state Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) voted against House Bill 96, the Senate Republicans' version of the state operating budget.

“This is not a budget for all Ohioans. This is a budget for the billionaires and the boardrooms. These cuts to essential agencies and programs throughout the state will not discriminately target Democrats, Republicans, or Independents—these are cuts that will be felt by every household across the state of Ohio,” said Hicks-Hudson. "What has been touted as a ‘budget to put money back in the pockets of Ohioans’ will come at the cost of critical programs and services that most individual families cannot supplement on their own.” 

As passed by the Senate, House Bill 96 fails to address the needs of hardworking, everyday Ohioans. The Republican supermajorities in the legislature decimated many of the bipartisan provisions proposed by the governor that would have invested in our children and working families, and have decided to instead:

• Cut taxes for the wealthiest Ohioans by flattening the income tax to 2.75%;
• Underfund our public schools by using outdated inputs and tying performance to school funding, while continuing to invest historic amounts of public funds in vouchers for non-public, primarily religious schools;
• Give away $600 million of Ohioans’ unclaimed funds to the billionaire owners of the Cleveland Browns;
• Threaten health care coverage for 770,000 Ohioans and underfund crucial public health programs;
• Attack already marginalized groups by requiring libraries to censor materials related to “gender identity or sexual orientation” and codifying that the state only recognizes two biological sexes;
• Abandon the state’s partnership with local and county governments;
• Provide no meaningful property tax relief;
• Reduce funding for H2Ohio and lead abatement programs;
• Cut food bank funding; 
• Abolish the Ohio Elections Commission and transfer its duties to the Secretary of State’s office; and
• Politicize education by requiring party affiliation for State Board of Education and local school board races.

House Bill 96 now heads back to the Ohio House of Representatives for concurrence. If the House does not concur with the Senate’s changes, the bill will go to conference committee.