Tuesday, March 16, 1999
Taft budget asks more for schools
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Taking advantage of Ohio's prosperity, Gov. Bob Taft proposed a nearly $40 billion, two-year state budget Monday that would share the good times with schools, prisons and welfare recipients.
While the Cincinnati native's first budget proposal contained no tax increases, individual Ohioans would pay higher state taxes next year if the new governor persuades legislators to raid a tax cut fund to finance additional school construction.
Conservatives already are vowing to block that plan. But Mr. Taft made it clear his grab bag of new programs and budget increases is intended to sway a different audience: the Ohio Supreme Court.
By pumping 48 cents of every new dollar the state will spend into education, and by forgoing tax cuts in favor of funding school construction, Mr. Taft contends the state would be complying with a land mark ruling that struck down Ohio's school funding system.
“I want to underscore that this budget confirms my commitment to providing adequate funding for students, wherever they may live in the state of Ohio,” Mr. Taft said during a briefing packed with reporters, lobbyists and government workers. “That's why we've funded education first.”
The high court's March 1997 ruling ordered lawmakers to revamp an unconstitutional school funding system.
Mr. Taft would set aside $13 billion for school operations during the next two years, most of which is required under a school funding law enacted last year.
About $10.6 billion of that would come from general state revenues. Most of the rest would come from state lottery
proceeds and an anticipated surplus during the budget year ending June 30.
The education budget includes more money for teacher training, rewards for good schools and assistance for those with academic problems. There also is money for all-day kindergarten and smaller class sizes in urban and rural districts.
Moreover, Mr. Taft included $25 million to support his OhioReads program, to boost the reading skills of youngsters with volunteer tutors, and $1 million for “character education” grants.
The state would guarantee all schools spend at least $4,226 per student during the year beginning July 1, 2000. Critics, though, noted the amount falls short of the $4,269 per student guarantee a national expert recommended to comply with the court decision.
“The governor can say this is constitutional all he wants, but he isn't the judge,” said Senate Minority Leader Ben Espy, D-Columbus.
Indeed, Mr. Taft's budget ignores a trial judge's Feb. 26 ruling that legislators start over in their attempt to overhaul the way public schools are funded in Ohio. The new governor and leaders of the Republican-controlled General Assembly are banking on their attorneys to persuade the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn the decision by Judge Linton D. Lewis Jr. of Perry County Common Pleas Court.
Judge Lewis ruled the state hasn't done enough to finance $16.5 billion in school repairs and construction, or narrow the gap between rich and poor schools by decreasing their reliance on local property taxes.
Overall, Mr. Taft proposes spending $19.45 billion in 1999-2000, a 6.1 percent increase, and $20.53 billion in 2000-2001, a 5.5 percent increase.
Mr. Taft's proposal includes 5.9 percent increases in each of the next two years to pick up a portion of a homeowner's property tax bill paid directly by the state. An undetermined portion of those increases can be attributed to school districts that won voter approval for higher property taxes.
“Obviously Judge Lewis didn't understand what we did,” Senate President Richard Finan, R-Evendale, said of the funding increases proposed by Mr. Taft. “This isn't cheap.”
Hearings on the inch-thick budget document begin today in the House Finance Committee, where conservative legislators and their allies have promised to challenge Mr. Taft's plan to favor schools over tax cuts for individuals.
The money for additional school construction and technology would come from a special fund state officials have used to return $1.4 billion to taxpayers during the past three years.
If Mr. Taft wins support to divert at least $400 million that otherwise would finance another round of tax cuts, a family of four earning $55,000 a year would lose a tax break worth $85.45 on next year's state tax return.
“That's a great idea if you're a fan of big government,” said Scott Pullins, president of the National Taxpayers Union of Ohio, an anti-tax group. “Under this budget, everybody is happy except taxpayers.”
Almost 17 percent of the new money Mr. Taft wants to spend — about $296 million — would be set aside for social welfare programs.
The proposal would allow an additional 27,000 children to participate in a free health care program. Subsidized child care — another key service for the working poor — would be provided for families earning up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level ($16,450 for a family of four).
Hamilton County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus praised his fellow Republican for recognizing the need to help people trying to help themselves. Two years ago, Gov. George Voino vich initially refused to assist the county when officials decided on their own to boost child care subsidies to similar levels.
Another winner in Mr. Taft's budget is the state's prison agency, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The department is in line for a 9.4 percent increase in the first year of the budget and a 4.8 percent increase the following year.
Overall spending for prisons would jump to $3.1 billion during the next two years, with much of the spending increases earmarked for five new prisons.
Despite the addition of 2,892 beds, state prisons will remain crowded. Mandatory sentences have forced the prison budget to grow faster than any other department in recent years, a trend that troubles some legislators.
“Until we find ways to stop this rush to lock everybody up, other programs are going to suffer,” Mr. Espy said.
Although there are no direct tax increases in Mr. Taft's proposal, he did propose several fee increases for professional licenses.
Taking a page out of President Clinton's playbook, Mr. Taft also proposed a series of targeted tax cuts, including an income tax credit for adoptions and income tax deductions for college tuition, medical care, long-term care and medical expenses.
He also wants to renew a tax credit businesses enjoy when they buy new machinery and increase the homestead exemption, which reduces property taxes for senior citizens and the disabled.
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