Ohio estate tax repeal effort clears hurdle

COLUMBUS (AP) — Backers of a movement to repeal Ohio’s estate tax can begin gathering signatures in an effort to submit the proposal to the Legislature.

The Ohio Ballot Board said today the proposed petition language for the repeal effort meets a requirement to deal with only one proposed law.

Americans for Prosperity can now move ahead with plans to collect the 120,693 valid signatures required to present the repeal proposal to the Legislature. Lawmakers could begin considering it as early as January.

If they don’t act on it, the group can gather more signatures to get the proposal placed on the 2010 ballot.

The estate tax is paid on residents’ estates valued at roughly $338,000 or more when they die. Eighty percent of the tax goes to local governments, which have strongly opposed any change.