Governor cuts $730 million from budget

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Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D-Lisbon)

Gov. Ted Strickland on Thursday announced more than $730 million in budgetary adjustments to counter an expected drop in tax intake through July 2009, the end of the current biennium. A state-run keno game for bars and other venues is expected to boost Ohio Lottery profits by $73 million on the revenue side, but most of the shortfall would be made up in significant employee reductions and other agency spending cuts.

Along with restricting travel, hiring and contracting expenses moving forward, the plan entails state staff reductions of 1,500-2,700, the governor announced at a Statehouse news conference.

Among the spending cuts are about $31 million at the Department of Mental Health, which will close facilities in Dayton and Cambridge, the administration said. Some residential cottages at MR/DD developmental centers would also be shuttered under that agency’s directive to reduce more than $17 million in costs.

As many as 574 positions are to be eliminated by attrition or other methods at the Department of Job and Family Services, which has been ordered to slash more than $67 million over the next 17 months of the spending blueprint enacted last year.

Prison spending for adults and youth would be spared along with most program allotments for the poor. The package also preserves the tuition freeze throughout the biennium while changing the administration of the new scholarship program.

Strickland will need legislative approval to move some funding around within his budget, delay a planned increase for PASSPORT service providers and other aspects of the package. However, much of the plan, including the lottery expansion, can be done administratively

For more on this story, see Friday’s Vindicator or vindy.com.