Share This!

Ohio Continues a trend – Cut taxes for the wealthy and not investing enough in our communities. 

 

On Monday June 16th, Governor Kasich signed HB 483 also known as the Mid-Biennium Review (MBR). This legislation continues a decade long trend that prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthiest Ohioans. The bill cuts taxes in by about $400 million over the next 12 months (July 2015 – June 2016). Over $200 million of this cut (50%)  will go to the wealthiest 5% of Ohioans.  The poorest Ohioans will probably not receive any of this.

 

 

Tax cuts just don’t work. 

The tax changes include an increase to a tax credit for some business owners – that has no evidence showing it is effective at creating jobs. We need to review tax breaks and loopholes and keep the ones that work, and get rid of the ones that don’t.

Tax cuts continue to benefit the wealthy the most.

The bill cuts Ohio’s income tax by 1% (reducing the top marginal tax bracket 5.39% down to 5.33% in 2014 instead of 2015). The top 1% will pay an average of $400 less in income taxes – while those in the middle will only save $8 a year. We need the wealthiest Ohioans to pay their fair share – the more we cut the income tax, the father we get from that goal.

Some Good? Maybe. – put it’s really small.  

The bill does provide a larger tax credit for those who make less than $80,000 a year and an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). However, the EITC remains non-refundable – excluding those Ohioans most in need. These two changes will put about $2 a month into middle income Ohioans pockets. While signs of a positive step, these changes fall short of helping many Ohioans.

Most importantly – we are not investing in our communities! 

$400 million is a substantial amount of revenue that could be invested into affordable housing, social services, K-12 education, reducing college tuition, or building alternative transportation options. While the bill did invest $36 million into expanding some social service programs – close to $500 million was requested by multiple advocacy organizations asking for resources to meet the current need.