Bipartisanship necessary for solving budget crisis

At a time when Republican President George W. Bush recognizes the wisdom of reaching out to Democrats in Congress in dealing with the current national crisis, we are mystified that Ohio's Republican governor, Bob Taft, would completely ignore Democrats in the state legislature as he tackles Ohio's own crisis -- an operating budget that's bleeding red ink.
By briefing only Republicans in the House and Senate on his plan to overcome a projected $1.5 billion deficit in the current two-year budget, the governor not only shut out experienced Democratic legislators who could have offered important suggestions, he hardened the opposition to his plan.
Given that the recovery blueprint Taft has proposed would result in state colleges and universities taking a major hit, at least one state prison and a state mental hospital being closed and an increase in taxes for some businesses, the administration should have built bipartisan support before going public with it. Instead, the governor met privately with the GOP caucus in the General Assembly and then held a news conference on Tuesday to detail his spending cuts and revenue enhancement initiatives.
"This is the most significant budget crisis Ohio has faced in more than a decade," Taft conceded. "I believe that we are making the best of a bad situation by using this balance of cuts, closing tax loopholes, and the rainy day fund. I am asking the Ohio General Assembly to pass this package quickly so we can avoid further cuts to our departments and agencies."
Tax loopholes: Ohio's rainy day fund has about $1 billion in it, and Taft proposes using $192 million in the 2001-02 fiscal year and $87 million in 2002-03. On the question of taxes, the plan calls for closing several business-related tax loopholes that would raise $110 million for the next fiscal year.
Other revenue-generating proposals include borrowing $100 million in tobacco settlement money and having Ohio join a multi-state lottery that could bring in $41 million a year.
Each of the initiatives is controversial, which is why the governor should have fashioned a broad-based political coalition to sell the plan to the people of Ohio. Not only doesn't he have such support, he doesn't even have the backing of the GOP leadership in the legislature.
Senate President Richard Finan all but announced that the proposed tax increases were dead on arrival, while House Speaker Larry Householder would only say that his members are more receptive to the overall plan than their Senate colleagues. In other words, Republicans aren't sold on their party leader's cure for what ails Ohio economically, and Democrats are making political hay with it.
"You have the head of the Republican Party in this state advocating for increasing taxes and expanding gambling," Democrat Dean DePiero, House minority leader, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "These are not the kinds of things that will get us out of a recession."
The leading casualty of the spending cuts will be higher education, which could be hit with a $220 million funding reduction in the biennium. While all state colleges and universities will be affected, institutions like Youngstown State University will suffer more than, say, Ohio State University. That's because OSU can raise its tuition without being concerned about a decline in enrollment.
Enrollment: The state's flagship university had to turn students away this year. Youngstown State, on the other hand, had to scramble to record a 4 percent increase in enrollment. Trustees had to increase tuition after the state provided less money for the biennium than YSU had expected.
If the university has to absorb an additional cut in financial support from Columbus, trustees and the administration may have to choose between raising tuition again and layoffs -- or they may be forced to implement both.
The net result could be a reversal of YSU's enrollment fortunes.
The governor and Republicans in the legislature must not ignore such realities, which is why they must seek the input of as wide a constituency as possible.