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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > May > 12 > Entry
Guest column: Comatose budget panel needs to begin its work
This commentary was written by Rick Yocum, president of the Ohio Public Expenditure Council.
Shortly after the General Assembly patched together the state’s two-year budget last year, the Ohio Public Expenditure Council cautioned that Ohio could be $8 billion short when the next budget came due.
Why? Because the 2010-2011 package was balanced with a disturbing amount of one-time money — money that will not be available the next time around.
The funds came mainly from the federal “stimulus,” but the state also has run through its “rainy day fund.” And there were other one-time dollars.
When Gov. Ted Strickland formed the Budget Planning and Management Commission last September, we thought that decision was a stroke of genius: By getting an 18-month headstart on the burgeoning budget crisis, a wide variety of ideas for tackling the problem could be considered. When push gave to shove, the state wouldn’t have its back against the wall.
Now, some eight months later, the coming crisis is no less severe than it was last September, yet the commission hasn’t held one meeting.
It’s understandable why it’s hesitant to meet: Discussions will center on cutting state programs or raising state taxes — or both.
Stilll, that’s no excuse.
Ohioans need to understand the depth of the state’s financial troubles, and they need the chance to give input about solving the problem. The issue also deserves to be discussed in this fall’s general election; it’s difficult to imagine any solution that doesn’t affect all Ohioans.
Remember: It’s $8 billion, give or take a few hundred million. That’s approximately 16 percent of the current $50.5-billion, two-year budget.
To put it another way, the deficit represents the general revenue fund budgets for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (both of which pull significant money from other sources), plus the funding for Health and Human Services and for Justice and Public Protection. (The latter both rely heavily on the general fund money for their existence.)
The problem will not go away. Even during the “good old days” of the mid-’90s, revenues only grew in the range of $1.4 billion a year. For the past three years, revenues have decreased.
There is no major turnaround in Ohio’s immediate — or intermediate — future. In fact, given Ohio’s aging population and the recently enacted federal health care legislation, pressure on the state budget is likely to increase.
Raising taxes to cover the shortfall would be devastating. Each 1 percent increase in the state sales tax generates approximately $1.2 billion a year. With individual county sales rates as high as 7.75 percent (Cuyahoga County), there’s little appetite for sales tax increases.
In the personal income tax arena, the General Assembly just delayed a scheduled decrease to keep the current budget in balance, so the path to that well may similarly be rocky.
Plus, the current budget imposed significant fee increases to bring in an additional $1 billion.
On the other hand, cutting $4 billion in each of the two years in state programs will bring outcries from every corner of the state — from schools, those who enjoy our state parks and those who depend on state dollars for a roof over their heads and food on the table.
The process promises to be arduous, if not explosive and lengthy. If left to the normal budget cycle timetable, Ohio will have a parade of temporary budgets — not to mention tumult.
The process should have begun months ago, when the budget commission was first created. Those months, of course, are lost. The state needs to tackle this beast now, and there is no better way to start the process than by immediately convening the first meeting of the so-far-existing-in-name-only Budget Planning and Management Commission.
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By what??
May 12, 2010 6:08 PM | Link to this
Another example of Ted Stickland’s management abilities. If one is going to form a committee, would it make sense to present an agenda, meeting dates, budget, an end date, and asking competent bipartisan problem solvers to serve? Shouldn’t this happen before the p ress release?