Cutting Ohio income taxes a mistake
Posted March 03, 2015 in Press Releases
Kasich plan benefits the wealthiest Ohioans, but won't move the state forward.
For immediate release
Contact, Zach Schiller, 216.361.9801
Gov. John Kasich’s proposed tax plan, with its heavy reliance on income-tax cuts, is a poor prescription for prosperity, according to a new policy brief released today by Policy Matters Ohio.The brief noted that:
- The plan would cut taxes on the top 1 percent and raise them, on average, for the bottom 60 percent of Ohio tax filers;
- The $523 million in tax cuts over two years would be better spent on education and needed public services;
- After a decade of tax cuts, hiring by the smallest businesses and overall Ohio job growth have underperformed the nation, and
- 96 percent taxpayers don’t pay the top income-tax rate. The vast bulk of Ohioans benefit from paying income tax instead of higher levels of other taxes.
“Income-tax cuts have not worked in Ohio,” said Zach Schiller, research director of Policy Matters and author of the brief. “Ohio needs a stronger income tax, not a weaker one.”
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Policy Matters Ohio is a nonprofit, nonpartisan state policy research institute
with offices in Cleveland and Columbus.