Lawmaker: Ohio cuts could be ‘painful’
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D-Lisbon)
By Marc Kovac
Lawmakers haven’t backed tax increases or expanded gambling options to bring in more revenue.
COLUMBUS — Thousands of job cuts, closed state parks and prisons and severe reductions to programs and agencies.
Those are among the scenarios described in spreadsheets released to Statehouse reporters by Gov. Ted Strickland’s office, outlining how additional cuts would affect state agencies over the next two fiscal years.
The Republican-controlled Senate and Democrat-controlled House are haggling over a final biennial-budget bill, which they hope to pass before the end of the month and the start of the new fiscal year July 1.
Strickland’s budget director told lawmakers last week that revenue projections were off by $2 billion to $3 billion, meaning they have to cut that much out or find additional revenue sources to balance the budget.
So far, lawmakers aren’t supporting tax increases or expanded gambling options to bring in more revenue. Senate President Bill Harris, a Republican from Ashland, and House Speaker Armond Budish, a Democrat from Cleveland, said they’re focused on cutting spending to fill the gap.
“I believe that can be done, yes,” Budish said. “It would be extremely painful for the people of Ohio if that is the approach. [But cuts] would be my current preference.”
Late Wednesday, Strickland’s office released spreadsheets that outlined the number of jobs and services and programs that would be affected by 10 percent to 30 percent cuts over proposed spending.
Among the potential impacts:
- The Ohio Department of Natural Resources projected that it would have to close seven to 10 state forests and mothball up to 35 state parks, with reduced mowing and maintenance.
- The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation said it would have to cut more than 2,800 employees and potentially close two prisons to meet the spending cuts.
- The Adjunct General said National Guard units “cannot function under [the 30 percent cut] scenario, and it places the force structure and assets in serious jeopardy.”
But lawmakers and Strickland’s office emphasized that no final decisions on cuts have yet been made.
“We have asked for information from the administration, from agencies,” Budish said.
“We’re trying to determine for ourselves what would be the best of the worst — the best approaches to take given the serious financial problems that we have. And I think it’s still too early to be speculating as to specific cuts that have to be made,” he added.
mkovac@dixcom.com