Rep. Brent: GOP Budget Chooses the Wealthiest Few Over Ohio's Kids, Seniors, and Working Families

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Juanita O. Brent (D-Cleveland) today voted “NO” on House Bill (HB) 96, the Republican-crafted state operating budget, citing cruel and chaotic cuts and its abject failure to invest in children, public education, healthcare, and basic services – all while shoveling billions to the wealthy and well-connected. 

“I cannot support a budget that turns its back on the people of Ohio. This fiscally conservative budget cuts the basic things Ohioans needs like fully funded public school, healthcare (Medicaid), property tax relief, all while prioritizing the wealthy few with pouring $1.7 billion into sport stadiums and $2.4 billion into private school vouchers and a flat tax rate that only help those making over $100,000 annually,” said Rep. Brent. “Ohioans will never forget the burden this General Assembly has created for working class Ohioans. OHIOANS DESERVE BETTER.”

Budgets are about choices, and Statehouse Republicans chose to invest in billionaires and corporations instead of making life more affordable for everyday Ohioans. HB 96 protects a broken status quo—leaving local communities, property taxpayers, and families to shoulder the burden alone. Ohio deserves a budget that lifts people up, not one that leaves them behind. 

This budget chooses the wrong Ohioans in so many ways: 

An Income Tax Scam for the Ultra-Wealthy: Republicans call it a “flat tax” but it’s really a fat tax cut only for the wealthiest few. Four out of every five Ohioans will see $5 or less under the bill, while someone making $1M gets a $7K tax break. The choice to include this flat tax will cost the state $1.67B over the next two years. Cutting taxes only for the wealthiest isn’t going to solve the real problems facing Ohioans. It’s not going to make childcare cheaper; it's not going to make the cost of rent or healthcare go down, and it's definitely not going to lower rising property taxes. 
 

• Gutting Public Schools: For decades, the state legislature has failed to uphold its share of responsibility to provide adequate state funding for public education. This budget continues to prioritize billions in vouchers for private schools over the investments we should be making in the public schools where 90% of students in the state go to school. The Fair School Funding Plan is a bipartisan, constitutional solution developed by education experts, and Ohio has the resources to fully and fairly fund it. Yet the statehouse republicans deliberately chose to ignore the evidence and continue to underfund our schools.
• Jeopardizing Healthcare Access: Almost 800K Ohioans will be at risk of immediately losing their health insurance and all Ohioans will see hospitals and providers in their communities at risk of closing. For years, Republicans have targeted Medicaid expansion. Now they're using a draconian and unnecessary trigger law to strip healthcare coverage from hundreds of thousands of Ohioans if the federal government lowers its contribution by even a single dollar.
• Betraying Public Libraries: Eliminates the century-old commitment to consistent funding that has made Ohio’s libraries among the best in the nation and reduces state support compared to current law. In every future budget, library funding will be at the whim of a legislature that we have seen is hostile to the free flow of information.
• Overriding the Will of the Voters on Cannabis Funding: Voters overwhelmingly passed Issue 2 and were clear about how they wanted their tax dollars spent. This budget overrides the 57% of Ohioans who made those choices, and instead chooses to redirect most of the tax dollars to a budget that subsidizes billionaire stadiums.
• Making Our State More Hostile for LGBTQIA+ Ohioans: This budget ostracizes the LGBTQIA+ community and pushes a harmful political narrative. It forces libraries to hide books about LGBTQIA+ people and blocks funding for shelters that affirm transgender youth. We know that a significant portion of homeless youth identify as LGBTQIA+, and codifying these kinds of heartless policies in our budget is unnecessary and harmful to Ohio.
• Putting the State’s Credit on the Line for Billionaire Browns’ Owners: The budget still includes the state fronting $600M by seizing unclaimed funds from Ohio residents for a new Cleveland Browns stadium in a suburb of Cleveland, which would move the stadium from its downtown location, which is opposed by local leaders.  

 HB 96 passed the Ohio House of Representatives by a vote of 59-38 Wednesday. It now heads to Governor DeWine for signature. While the Governor may mitigate some harm through a line-item veto, this budget remains one of the most immoral in Ohio history. This is the first budget to pass without a single Democratic vote in more than a decade.