Columbus, OH – The Buckeye Institute issued the following statements reacting to Governor Mike DeWine’s State of the State address.

Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer, The Buckeye Institute
“Governor DeWine spoke about several new priorities for his administration, which will be reflected in the governor’s first budget proposal. While we appreciate the governor’s willingness to tackle some of the state’s most challenging issues, such as mental health and addiction, fixing Ohio’s road and bridges, and helping Ohio’s children, we are concerned to hear little on how the governor intends to pay for many of these new priorities or how he plans to lower government spending and reduce the tax burden on Ohio’s families and business.”

Greg R. Lawson, research fellow, The Buckeye Institute
“Maintaining Ohio’s roads is a core function of government. However, as the debate on the gas tax continues, policymakers need to ensure that Ohioans do not pay more in taxes than they do today, and ensure that taxpayer dollars are stretched as far as possible. Any increase in the gas tax should be offset with a reduction in other taxes and policymakers should eliminate Ohio’s costly prevailing wage law that increases the costs of public construction projects.

“While Ohio’s gas tax is a true user fee—with all moneys going toward Ohio’s roads, highways, and bridges—it is a declining source of revenue, and indexing it to inflation, which is little more than taxation without legislation, is not a long-term solution or good public policy.”

Daniel J. Dew, legal fellow, The Buckeye Institute’s Legal Center
“We look forward to working with Governor DeWine and his administration to focus on how to best address mental health and addiction treatment in our criminal justice system and as they seek to expand specialty dockets, such as drug courts, which focus on getting Ohioans the help they need rather than shuffling them through our overburdened prison system.”

Andrew J. Kidd, economist, the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute
“While today’s speech outlined some laudable priorities for the state, policymakers must follow sound fiscal policy when considering increases to government spending. This means that any new spending should be matched with cuts in other areas of the budget while, at the same time, returning any budget surpluses to taxpayers. If policymakers adhere to these principles and return Ohio’s current $210 million surplus to taxpayers—through permanent lower taxes—it would lead to 2,100 more jobs annually while encouraging more economic activity and business investment.”

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