Saturday Stats
Posted August 03, 2024 in eNews
Budgetpalooza!
110965: Technically not a stat but an Appropriation Line Item (ALI) number in the state budget. (In this case it’s the ALI for Ohio’s Public Library Fund — one of our favorites!) We have been talking a lot about ALI’s lately, especially in Policy Matters Ohio’s Guide to the State Budget, in which Kathryn Poe explains how to use them to track funding changes over time and advocate for your own state budget priorities.
92: Number of individual line items we’re currently tracking in our People’s Budget Spreadsheet, a public tool for understanding recent funding trends and, when the budget bill starts moving early next year, tracking changes as it moves through the process. Be forewarned: Although it looks like a tool for only the wonkiest budget fans, it can quickly become engrossing, even for mere dabblers. Enjoy!
$25,820/yr: Federal Poverty Level (FPL) for a family of three in 2024. The FPL is used to determine eligibility for a variety of programs, each with its own qualifying threshold. For example, to enroll children ages 0-5 in Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC), Ohio families must have annual income below 145% of the FPL. That’s $37,439 for a family of three in 2024. (FPL changes every year.) That’s the lowest such eligibility threshold in the nation — which means a lot of families who could use the help don’t qualify.
$77,460/yr: Our recommended income threshold for PFCC enrollment. That’s 300% FPL for a family of three. Such an increase would dramatically improve access to childcare throughout the state, easing the burden on families, providers, and employers alike. Raising PFCC enrollment eligibility is among recommendations in A Moral Document: How the budget can bring out the best in Ohio, our comprehensive report on our state budget priorities for the FY2026-27 budget.
50: Number of recommendations included in that report. It’s our most ambitious budget platform ever, based on months of research, analysis, and relentless spreadsheeting by our whole staff. If the full report is a little daunting, you can skip straight to dessert: our full list of recommendations. To learn more or add your own priorities to our list, set up a meeting with Budget Researcher Kathryn Poe.
10: Number of departments whose funding we analyze and advocate for in A Moral Document. We separated them all into their own PDFs, for folks who want easier access to our work on their favorite agencies. Download department-specific sections here. (There’s also a special section on the State Revenue Distribution Budget, for fans of the badly neglected Local Government Fund and the aforementioned Public Library Fund.)
Watchlist
Read this bipartisan endorsement of SB 37, one of the bills we're watching.
Our running list of legislation to watch is available here. With the legislature out of session, the bills' statuses have not changed, but you can still call or email your state legislators and tell them to support, oppose, or amend these bills.
Action items
Friends in NEO should check out LegalWorks’ “In the Neighborhood” free legal clinic series. Catch them in neighborhoods all around Cleveland providing low and no-cost legal services like record sealing, expungements, license reinstatement, traffic violations, and more.
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