COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — State senators passed a package of
new tax cuts and adjustments to teachers’ performance evaluations on
Wednesday as components of Gov. John Kasich’s midterm budget plan
lurched closer to his desk.
The tax and education ideas were among
a slew of policy changes contained separate midterm budget bills
approved by the Senate. The House passed earlier versions of the
measures. A joint conference committee would likely be appointed to work
out the differences in the legislation, a House spokesman said.
One
sweeping budget bill including tax provisions supported by the
Republican governor passed on a 24-8 vote. The legislation would
accelerate a planned income-tax cut and expand certain exemptions and
credits.
The provisions, not included in the House version, would
double the earned income tax credit available to low-income Ohioans from
5 percent to 10 percent of the federal credit. It also would increase a
small business tax cut from 50 percent to 75 percent on income up to
$250,000 for the 2014 tax year and raise personal income tax exemptions
for taxpayers making under $80,000 a year.
The administration said stronger state revenue than expected would allow for the cuts, estimated at $402
million.
Senate
Finance Chairman Scott Oelslager, a Canton Republican, reminded his
colleagues that the state’s unemployment rate dropped in April to 5.7
percent, the lowest level in more than six years.
"We need to keep this momentum going," Oelslager said, adding that the tax policy changes would
help.
Democrats
said the bill was a missed opportunity to invest additional money in
schools and communities, not tax cuts. They claimed hefty policy issues
keep turning up in budget bills and should get getting more
deliberation.
"These provisions deserve longer, deeper
consideration because these really are serious policy matters," said
Sen. Tom Sawyer, an Akron Democrat.
Sawyer cited one such
provision that states college athletes are not employees under state
law. The status of full-scholarship football players became an issue in
March after a federal labor official ruled Northwestern University
players are employees and have a right to unionize.
Democrats
sought a number of changes to the tax bill but were largely
unsuccessful. An education-related budget bill, however, saw less
debate. Senators passed it on a 27-5 vote.
The plan includes
adjustments to teachers’ performance evaluations. It specifies that in
the course of testing, certain student information — such as Social
Security numbers, religion and political affiliation — cannot be
collected and shared with any entity, including the federal or state
governments.
Other pieces of the education proposal were aimed at
asserting the role of local school districts in implementing Ohio’s new
learning standards.
The bill states that a school district board
has the authority to determine the curriculum, textbooks and course
materials used in Ohio classrooms. It also would require districts to
provide parents an opportunity to review the instruction materials.
School
districts and teachers would get a one-year reprieve from funding
penalties or job sanctions tied to new state learning and
teacher-evaluation standards.
"Basically, we are going to act as
if this year, from a penalty point of view, does not exist," said Sen.
Peggy Lehner, a Kettering Republican and chairwoman of the Senate
Education Committee.