Ohio lawmakers agree not to cut pension money

COLUMBUS (AP) — Lawmakers have agreed not to cut the state’s contribution to Ohio’s largest public employee pension fund as a way to help balance the budget.

Keary McCarthy, spokesman for House Speaker Armond Budish, said today that Democrats and Republicans agreed the state’s contribution should not be cut from 14 percent to 8 percent.

But it is unknown how lawmakers plan to make up for the $256 million the state would have saved by reducing the contributions.

Gov. Ted Strickland proposed the cut as part of a framework to erase a $3.2 billion budget deficit.

A disagreement over a proposal to put slot machines at Ohio’s race tracks has stalled the state budget, forcing lawmakers to approve two weeklong temporary budgets.