Ohio Gov. Kasich Proposes Tax, Education Changes

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has rolled out an ambitious election-year policy document that cuts Ohio's income tax through increases in drilling and tobacco taxes and streamlines government services for the poor and unemployed. Details of the Republican governor's mid-biennium review, or MBR, were released Tuesday. Testimony is set to begin Wednesday in the GOP-led Ohio House. The bill's prospects amid campaign season are uncertain. Kasich, who faces re-election this fall, proposes cutting income taxes by 8.5 percent over the next three years, taking the top tax rate to 4.88 percent by 2016. Commercial activity, cigarette and drilling taxes would rise to pay for the reduction. He also proposes streamlining Ohio's workforce development and poverty programs, tying all public-college funding to graduation rates and expanding vocational and dropout education offerings.