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Joe
Uecker
State
Representative
07/03/07
Budget Recap
It took six months but House Bill 119, the State
biennial budget is finally finished, signed, and put
into action. It preserves and expands on all the tax
reforms from the last General Assembly, and defends
school choice in those areas of the state where the
public education system is failing to adequately educate
our children. We also instituted the largest property
tax cut in Ohio history allowing one in every four Ohio
homeowners to take advantage of the new Ohio homestead
exemption. Through this tax relief, approximately
775,000 seniors will pay no tax on the first $25,000 of
their home’s values.
HB119 is among the most fiscally conservative budget in
a generation. It places a focus on the state’s economic
future by continuing the phase-in of a 21 percent income
tax cut and the overhaul of state business taxes to make
Ohio more competitive for attracting jobs while making
strategic investments in higher education.
We had to make some tough choices, but in the end this
is a budget that is good for Ohio. We can all be proud
that a philosophy of fiscal discipline and government
efficiency is the driving force in Columbus. The
unanimous support from across the political spectrum is
a remarkable endorsement of our conservative ideals.
“School Choice” and the voucher program was a big issue.
We have some areas of the state where the public schools
are not living up to their commitment. I am happy to say
the schools in my district are among the most successful
in terms of overall achievement of their students.
Mostly the problems lie in the big cities. But students
in any school in Ohio that is rated as failing or in
academic emergency are eligible for a voucher to help
pay the tuition at a private school. If anyone is
interested in learning more, I suggest they look to the
Cleveland school district voucher program which I
believe was the first and to day most successful of the
programs in terms of student achievement.
There is no better endorsement of school choice in Ohio
than for the Ohio House and Senate to vote
near-unanimously in support of a state budget that
continues the school choice programs that have provided
essential educational options for nearly 100,000 Ohio
children
This budget even brought Democrats around to embracing
Republican tax cuts they once condemned. Our tax cuts
and business tax reform from two years ago are working.
We see businesses that were looking to leave Ohio are
now staying and re-investing in their companies. We see
out of state companies looking at and in many cases
choosing Ohio. This year Ohio was ranked #1 in a
national magazine “Site Ready” for having the most, and
best, site ready locations for businesses to come to
Ohio.
Did I like everything in the two year $52.4 billion
dollar state spending bill? Frankly – no. This budget
does not violate any of my personal “lines in the sand”
philosophies. A wise legislator once told me about the
percentage of good vs. bad in any given bill. Do you
vote no for 10% in a bill you don’t like and by doing
so, you say no to 90% good? How about 80/20? Or 70/30
and so on. I’d have to say this one is a 95/5.
Could we have done more in this budget? In a word,
yes. I fought for an additional tax cut issue that
would have cut an additional $200 million from the
budget but I could not get enough support. This and
several other issues I will continue to work on during
the remainder of this General Assembly’s term. It will
be a very busy summer as I have many meetings already
set up with interested parties to talk about this issue
and two others that deserve a lot of attention; school
facilities and school transportation.
As always, if there are any additional comments you
would like to make, or questions to ask, please feel
free to contact me.
Joe
Uecker
State
Representative
Ohio’s
66 District
Representing
Batavia, Goshen, Miami and Union Townships as well as the
Cities of Loveland and Milford and the Villages of Batavia
and Amelia.
Columbus Phone:
614-466-8134
Local Phone:
513-532-0912
Email:
Joe@JoeUecker.com
Website:
http://JoeUecker.com |
