Kasich signs $71B budget that further cuts income tax

June 30, 2015 at 9:14p.m.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Gov. John Kasich says the $71.2 billion, 2-year state budget he signed helps people without getting “loose” with the spending.

The Republican governor Tuesday didn’t immediately release details of line-item vetoes he made to the spending blueprint.

The bill continues Kasich’s expansion of the Medicaid health program and provides a 6.3 percent state income-tax cut beginning in tax year 2015 as a part of a roughly $1.9 billion net tax reduction.

That lowers the top income-tax rate to just below 5 percent. Kasich says he still wants it lower. The bill also provides tax relief for small businesses and funds public schools.

In his first appearance since formalizing plans to launch a 2016 presidential bid, Kasich joked that he had a big announcement to make, then added: “It stopped raining.”