Democrats in the Ohio Senate are urging their Republican colleagues, who outnumber them by more than a two-to-one margin, to make substantial changes to the budget that came over from the Ohio House.
Senate Democrats have a clear message: Quit spending money on vouchers for private schools for wealthy Ohioans. Stop $600 million in bonds for the Browns to move out of Cleveland to a suburb. Spend the bulk of the money on public schools, public health, and working families instead. Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said the priorities in the budget passed by the Ohio House do not help working Ohioans.
“Above all, this budget steals from our children by defunding public schools, transfers money for health care and libraries to rich benefactors, all the while failing to address the needs of hardworking, everyday Ohioans," Antonio said.
Democratic State Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson said the budget needs to take care of Ohioans who need basic services.
“We believe that the least of Ohioans deserve the best from Ohio state government," Hicks-Hudson said.
Ohio Senate Communications Director John Fortney said the Democrats have the wrong priorities.
“The party that has consistently fought for big government and big spending seems to have conveniently forgotten about its record of failure, not just at the polls, but in fiscal responsibility," Fortney said.
Fortney said budget money comes from taxpayers who want accountability and not big government programs.
"Republicans fundamentally believe it is your money first, and not the government’s money. That is why the last two budgets included record investments in K-12 education, while reducing the overall number of income tax brackets down to two," Fortney said.
Antonio said people in some communities currently represented by Republicans have voiced disapproval with their elected officials.
“I think a whole lot of everyday Ohioans are going to be very surprised and have a whole lot of buyer’s remorse when they figure out what these people are doing on their behalf," Antonio said.
The new two-year state budget must be approved by the Ohio Legislature and signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) by the end of June.
