No answers to budget crisis

COLUMBUS

Ohio’s next governor — whether it’s a re-elected Ted Strickland or a new-to-the-office John Kasich — and lawmakers will face a multi-billion-dollar hole in the next biennial budget.

Depending on whose numbers you use, the amount of one-time monies in the state’s current two-year spending plan equals roughly $8 billion.

And, again, depending on whose numbers you use, the state will face a deficit of somewhere between $4 billion and $8 billion or more in the next budget.

That’s a lot of money, and people, naturally, are wondering how the state is going to deal with the situation.

Will they raise taxes and fees? Will they close more state facilities? Will they drill for oil and natural gas in state parks? Will they push slot machines into horse racing tracks? Will they reform prison sentencing laws and released thousands of inmates?

Possibilities

There are a lot of possibilities. But the governor, his challenger and lawmakers aren’t offering a whole lot of specific ideas about what they plan to do.

This is where the Ohio Budget Planning and Management Commission is supposed to enter the scene. The six lawmakers on the panel are supposed to create “a strategy for balancing the state budget for fiscal years 2012 and 2013.”

It took about a year from the time the commission was created until members met for the first time, and they’ve had a couple of meetings to date. There’s another one scheduled for next week.

But this week, Bill Batchelder, the House Minority Leader (and potentially next session’s Speaker, should the Republicans win back control of the House), didn’t offer much hope that the commission would provide much in the way of answers to the looming budget drama.

“I don’t think that commission will cast much more light on the subject than a firefly at high noon,” Batchelder told Statehouse reporters. “I think we’re in a situation where nobody wants to get out in front on that one.”

He added, “You know, when you run around holding onto a grenade, and there’s all kinds of pressure on you, every so often somebody holds the grenade and throws the pin. I think everybody’s afraid they’re going to do that. And so I think that’s where we are.”

The commission doesn’t have to submit its report until after the November election, so don’t expect any word about tax and fee increases or service cuts until after Nov. 2.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.