Ohio Senate passed budget that includes 5% across-the-board income tax cut

Lawmakers in the state Senate have voted to expand the tax cut passed by the House.

Lawmakers in the Ohio Senate are hoping to build on the previously passed House budget and expand an across-the-board personal income tax cut, more than doubling tax savings for Ohioans.

The Senate budget included an ambitious 5% personal income tax cut – an increase from the 2% across-the-board cut passed by the House in April. The tax cut would total $874 million in tax savings for Ohioans, an increase from the House’s $380 million cut.

“The best investment we can make in a citizen is to return their money to themselves,” said Senate Finance Chair Matt Dolan, R-Chargin Falls.

Lawmakers in the Senate passed the budget June 9, and now the two chambers of the state legislature will negotiate an agreement in conference.

The Senate budget also added a tax cut for employment services, or companies that aid other business in finding temporary or permanent workers. “We’re one of the few states that still tax these services,” Dolan said.

The Senate plan would also allow Ohioans to seek tax refunds on their 2020 and 2021 taxes, after state lawmakers allowed businesses continue withholding while their employees worked from home.

Lawmakers in the Ohio House passed in April a two-year, $75 billion operating budget proposal that includes a 2% across-the-board personal income tax cut.

House Bill 110, sponsored by Rep. Scott Oelslager, R-North Canton, was passed April 21 by a bipartisan majority 70-27 – sending the proposed budget and tax cut to the Senate.

“As a fiscal conservative, I’m all for cutting taxes and being fiscally responsible,” said Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg.

Ohio expects to record a year-end surplus, despite revenue worries on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the good news, lawmakers are rightfully seeking to return some hard-earned taxpayer dollars back to Ohioans. Lawmakers in Columbus should capitalize on the momentum and move quickly to pass a budget that maximizes tax savings.