Saturday Stats
Posted April 08, 2023 in eNews
Numeric news from Policy Matters
$1,000: Our proposed Thriving Families Tax Credit would send on average an additional $1,000 each year to households with incomes under $85,000. Contrast that with the absurdly disproportionate benefits of flat tax proposals, including those in H.B. 1, of which the rich take home the lion’s share.
7.5%: There are more than enough resources in Ohio to make our state the best in the nation to put down roots and raise a family, to learn, work and retire. But the wealthy wield their influence over legislators to ensure they continue paying a smaller share of their income in taxes than the rest of us. Ohio should raise taxes on annual income over a quarter million dollars a year to the rate we had under Republican Governor George Voinovich: 7.5%.
8.99%: While we’re at it, Ohio should tax income over a $1M a year at a rate of 8.99%.
Executive Director Hannah Halbert covered all of the above in last week’s testimony to the House Finance Committee — and a lot more! You can read Hannah’s full testimony here, or watch it here:
$11 billion: The number of tax credits & loopholes in Ohio’s tax code continues to grow: from 138 to 154 in the past two years. The money forgone by our state because of those policies will soon reach $11 billion annually — more than the state spends in general revenue on K-12 education. Research Director Zach Schiller dug into the newest tax cuts proposed by Gov. DeWine in the executive budget.
$216M + $346M: Although Gov. DeWine’s budget proposal comes up short in some ways, its proposed investment in the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG) is one of the bright spots. The executive budget calls for an increase in OCOG spending (which will be around $112.5 million this fiscal year), to more than $216 million in FY24 and $346 million in FY25. Senior Researcher Piet van Lier highlighted this positive move — and recommended others — in his recent testimony to the House Finance Subcommittee on Higher Education.
46 out of 50: After decades of calculating school funding with a formula so inequitable it’s against the law, Ohio now ranks 46th in the nation for K-12 funding equity. State Policy Fellow Tanisha Pruitt, PhD, joined fair school funding allies on Leading Edge, from Dayton’s WTOL-11, to talk about progress we’ve made in the past two years, and how to ensure we continue on that path. (If you’d prefer, you can listen to the podcast.)
$929M: H.B. 1 isn’t just a handout to the wealthy; it’s also an example of blind devotion to ideology gone awry. In their eagerness to slash state revenues, authors of the bill failed to account for other state laws that would, when combined with H.B. 1, raise residential and agricultural property taxes by an estimated $929M. State Policy Fellow Guille Bervejillo, PhD, explained how on Cincinnati Edition this week.
Action items:
- TODAY: Help your family & friends (and yourself) fight wage theft. Check out the Northeast Ohio Worker Center’s Wage Theft Clinic, where you can get individualized advice on your wage-theft case and learn more about your rights in the work place. Saturday, April 8th from 12:00 - 3:00 at CornUcopia Place: 7201 Kinsman Rd. in Cleveland.
- Contact your representatives. Ohioans know: “Flat tax” = a giveaway to the wealthy. Email your representatives here. (As of this writing, we have sent 399 letters, with a goal of 400! Will you be the one to get us across the finish line?)
- Understand S.B. 83 & how to testify against it. Join our friends Honesty for Ohio Education and Save Ohio Higher Ed to learn about the latest effort by extremists to take control of Ohio’s universities & colleges — and how we’re going to stop S.B. 83 in its tracks. Details & registration are here. Thursday, April 13, 6:00-7:30 on Zoom.
- Do something fun and sign the petition for reproductive rights. This list of signature-gathering events from Protect Choice Ohio includes some of the coolest places to go and most-fun things to do this weekend and beyond. Plus, you get to stand up for bodily autonomy! Use this map to find an event near you.