Columbus, OH – Rea S. Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute and vice president of policy, issued the following statement regarding Substitute House Bill 110, Ohio’s biennial operating budget, which Governor Mike DeWine signed into law.

“Governor Mike DeWine has signed a budget that expands existing school choice options and creates Ohio’s first-ever education savings account program helping parents afford desperately-needed resources and giving them the flexibility necessary to improve their children’s educational outcomes. These bold reforms are some of the most significant that Ohio’s families have seen in a decade.

“This budget also continues Ohio’s leadership on criminal justice reforms by expanding the population eligible for Ohio’s highly successful Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison (T-CAP) program. The expansion of T-CAP is a meaningful step toward getting more low-level, non-violent offenders the treatment and rehabilitation they need.

“The tax reforms included in the budget—a three percent cut across the board, eliminating income tax liability for Ohioans earning less than $25,000, and simplifying the tax code by reducing the number of tax brackets—will make Ohio more economically competitive, spur the state’s economic recovery, and save Ohio taxpayers more than $1.6 billion.

“Despite the bold reforms in this budget, unconstrained spending presents a danger to taxpayers. This budget spends more than $160 billion—which is only a portion of overall state spending—over the next two years and creates pressure on future general assemblies to continue to simply increase spending on education and Medicaid without looking at reforms that will result in better outcomes and save taxpayer dollars.”

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