An Ohio House committee on Monday approved a two-year, $72 billion budget plan after boosting funding for school districts, removing anti-union education measures, and adding cash for absentee ballot mailers.
Before sending the budget to the House floor on a party-line vote, the House Finance Committee directed another $101 million to school districts to offset losses due to the phase-out of tangible personal property taxes and a utility tax.
With the new funding, no school district would lose money during the next two years because of the phase-out, said Finance Committee Chair Ryan Smith, a Gallia County Republican.
They also scrapped provisions that would exempted many college faculty from collective bargaining and prevented charter school teachers who join a union from receiving state retirement benefits.
Lawmakers also added $1.25 million for Secretary of State Jon Husted to mail absentee ballot applications to every Ohio voter next year, as promised by House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, a Clinton County Republican, last week.
Committee members also stripped language that would have banned state Auditor Dave Yost from conducting audits to see whether lawmakers and other state officials are following state public-records law.
In a statement, Smith said more time was needed to study the issue. However, he stated, lawmakers will likely introduce separate legislation to strip Yost of such authority.
The changes made Monday did not touch $1.2 billion in net tax cuts proposed in the budget — $700 million more than Gov. John Kasich originally proposed in his budget plan.
The full House will vote on the budget bill Wednesday, Smith told reporters. If passed, the legislation would then head to the Ohio Senate for consideration.
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