Posted on 03/16/17 by Wendy Patton in Economic Development
Initial analysis shows local governments, the Great Lakes, seniors and children at risk
President Trump’s budget plan contains many policy changes which will affect our public services and our daily lives across Ohio. For one thing, the state budget is closely linked to the federal budget. Ohio’s proposed, two-year budget for 2018-19 is about $136 billion: about $67 billion in 2018 and $69 billion in 2019. Federal funds make up 37 percent of the Ohio budget, a larger share than the national average of 31 percent.
Figure 1. Federal funds in Ohio’s All-Funds budget in the current (2016-17) budget
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Source: Policy Matters Ohio,... read more
Posted on 10/24/16 by Wendy Patton in Basic Needs + Unemployment Insurance
Food aid kept 741,000 Ohio children from being hungry in 2014 – more than a quarter of our babies and toddlers, nearly a third of our elementary school kids and about a fifth of our... read more
Posted on 10/05/16 by Wendy Patton in Democracy & Government
Senate Bill 329, which would give legislative committees the power to eliminate whole agencies in the executive branch, streaked through the Senate in two days. It is a blitzkrieg attack on public services. It would... read more
Posted on 07/21/16 by Wendy Patton in Revenue & Budget
The Ohio Department of Medicaid is asking the federal government for permission to change Ohio’s Medicaid program in ways that will make it far less effective. Medicaid provides health care to those who can’t afford... read more
Posted on 03/03/16 by Wendy Patton in Revenue & Budget
Prices at the pump have plummeted and some oil- and gas-producing regions are seeing their economies slow, but Ohio’s Utica region saw growing production in 2015. Fiscal problems of other areas show that Ohio should... read more
Posted on 02/11/16 by Wendy Patton in Revenue & Budget
Growing use of temporary workers has benefitted corporations at the expense of workers, who often earn low wages and have no benefits or job security. Yet instead of trying to help workers get ahead, Ohio... read more
Posted on 12/23/15 by Wendy Patton in Education & Training
Ohio is underinvesting in higher education. We’re behind where we were during the recession, adjusting for inflation. We have not put enough into classroom instruction and operations. We spend $309 million less in this budget... read more
Posted on 10/22/15 by Wendy Patton in Revenue & Budget
When it comes to making plans important to building a strong economy, Ohio has a short attention span.
Some states take a long-range view. When drawing up a state budget, for example, they include analysis of... read more