Ohio leaders repeatedly cut the income tax (the only progressive tax in the state) and raised the sales tax (which requires a larger share from people with the least to spare). A targeted sales tax credit is one of the four tax policies for the people we proposed on Tax Day in a new brief from Tax Policy Researcher Bailey Williams.

1.4M: Number of children who would benefit from the Thriving Families Tax Credit proposal also included in Bailey’s brief. On our Tax Day press call, Matthew Tippit, policy associate with Children’s Defense Fund, described that large-scale impact. He was followed by Patrick Russell, a Zanesville father of three, who explained how such a credit could stabilize his family’s finances. Matthew and Patrick joined Bailey, Research Director Zach Schiller, and Larry Bresler from Northern Ohioans for Budget Legislation Equity, all of whom talked reporters through the four planks in our tax plan. Watch a video of the event using the passcode K8*Lh6R^

59%: Share of parents not currently working full time who would do so if childcare was more affordable, according to a 2023 poll we cite in Ohio’s childcare crisis, our recent report from Kathryn Poe and Ali Smith. That’s the type of figure that gets the governor’s attention. In his State of the State address last week, Gov. DeWine proposed a temporary program that will help 8,000 kids access affordable childcare for one year — but the legislature needs to take bold action towards permanent solutions. Click here to read our full response to the governor’s speech.

$600M: Size of a grant made to Intel Corp. by the state last year to support building two semiconductor fabrication plants. (The full cost to Ohio is expected to top $2B.) Although the Intel project has been Gov. DeWine’s signature economic achievement, he didn’t mention it in the State of the State. We wish he had, if only to clear up some unanswered questions, such as the ones Zach posed in this recent statement.

3.8%: Ohio’s unemployment rate in March, according to the latest JobWatch from economist Michael Shields. He chalks that up to an increase in new job seekers — a positive indicator: More people see opportunities to find a job and come into the market to look for one. The quality of jobs might also be changing for the better: Federal climate and infrastructure funds could ensure more good jobs, and that workers have the training to get them.

395K: Estimated drop in the number of Ohioans enrolled in Medicaid from April 2023 through February 2024. That big reduction is likely due in large part to the post-COVID “Medicaid unwind” Kathryn warned about back in October of last year, and again in November. That’s one of the salient details in March’s financial report from the Office of Budget and Management. If you’re a glutton for fine-grained budget content, you can check out OBM’s Monthly Financial Reports here.

$500: Monthly amount provided to families participating in St. Paul, Minnesota’s basic income pilot program, depicted in the new documentary, It’s Basic, which screened at the 48th annual Cleveland Film Festival this month. After the screening, Executive Director Hannah Halbert joined a panel discussion with, among others, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and the film’s director, Mark Levin. Hannah stood up for the central tenet of basic income programs: The solution to poverty is money — without restrictions, for everyone who needs it. (It’s Basic is available to stream through tomorrow, April 21. Use the code POLICY for $1 off each ticket.)

PMO staff (Bree Easterling, Ben Stein, Hannah Halbert and Michelle Unangst) after the screening of It’s Basic.

Action items
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