I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, so this is personal.
Ohio used to have one of the lowest tax burdens in the country. Now it has the third highest. And, yes, that sucking sound is all the jobs going to other states.
After more than a decade of mismanagement and malfeasance under the control of an unprincipled tax-and-spend Republican Party, Ohio finally gave up and tried the other party last year. They elected Democrat Ted Strickland as their new governor. (His opponent, Ken Blackwell, actually believes in and acts on the fiscal conservatism he ran on, but who can blame the voters for not buying it?).
Gov. Strickland laid out his budget plans in a speech yesterday, claiming he wants to do something the Republicans never did: cut spending! (Of course the speech laid out some big new spending items, so I’m sure Ohio can look forward to more ballooning budgets and higher taxes, anyway).
Unfortunately, Gov. Strickland also proposed paying for this by gutting Ohio’s tiny voucher program. Strickland is of course confused, because vouchers actually save money. No matter, I’m sure that .08% of the budget will cover the Medicaid expansion! Strickland also wants to put a moratorium on new charter schools and ban for-profit education management companies from running them. (Andrew Coulson reviewed some of the reasons why killing educational freedom is such a demonstrably bad idea yesterday.)
If the Ohio Republican Party finds its principles and its spine, this just might be a time of great opportunity.
They can hold Strickland to his budget cuts, push for tax cuts, and pick a big fight over the Governor’s attempt to kill what little educational choice exists in Ohio.
The Republicans could even try to expand school choice by proposing education tax credits, which have received bipartisan support in other states. The Democratic Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, just proposed an education tax deduction in his budget proposal. Last year, the Democrat-control Rhode Island legislature passed an education tax credit program, Democratic Governor Ed Rendell expanded Pennsylvania’s program, and the Democratic Governor of Arizona signed a new tax credit program into law.
Education tax credits can save a lot of money, because the scholarship organizations provide just what a family needs to move their child from an expensive failing school to a better, more efficient private school. So tax credits will help Gov. Strickland get control over the bloated Ohio budget.
Education tax credits are a bi-partisan win-win-win-fest! I hope Ohio makes me proud to be a native son once again by passing them.
