COLUMBUS (December 4, 2001) — Governor Bob Taft today issued the following statement on Ohio’s budget situation: “I am pleased that Speaker Householder, Senate President Finan and I have reached an agreement on a compromise plan to solve Ohio’s budget crisis. With a budget gap approaching $1.5 billion, serious negotiations and difficult decisions were made by each of us to craft an acceptable plan. The compromise we reached solves Ohio’s budget deficit and provides needed additional funding for the Department of Mental Health. In addition, this plan provides $8 million to pay for enhanced security measures in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The final plan also includes the Job Retention Tax Credit and exemption from the net worth tax for high-tech start-up companies – two measures that I proposed in my State of the State Address. I am pleased that language will be included in the bill to provide LTV Steel with $5 million to match county and city funds for an emergency bridge loan. The plan calls for budget cuts of $657.5 million over the biennium. Cuts totaling $610 million have already been enacted by my Executive Order or were previously enacted. The remaining budget reductions will come from the legislative and judicial branches, as well as nominal reductions in certain agencies' budgets. I also want to note that there will be no net budget reduction for the Department of Education. Support to local government will not be reduced beyond the $10 million outlined in my original proposal. The compromise plan also calls for new, ongoing revenue of $343.6 million. We will close the loophole in the Dealers Intangible Tax and repeal a portion of the tobacco stamp discount to raise $45.9 million during the biennium. We will accelerate the collection of sales and use taxes on leased vehicles and business equipment raising $256.7 million. And the legislature will grant permissive authority to allow the Lottery Commission to participate in a multi-state game.
The agreement calls for the use of $248 million from the State’s rainy day fund, and $260 million from tobacco settlement funds. I am pleased the Biomedical Research and Technology Transfer Fund is not reduced under this plan. I want to personally thank Senator Finan and Speaker Householder for their dedication and commitment to solving our budget problems. We had a number of frank and ultimately productive discussions over the past few days. We approached the budget problem from different starting points, but we ended in the same place. I think the people of Ohio should be proud of the dedication shown by these two leaders. The compromise budget solution we crafted today is reasonable, responsible and fair. I look forward to signing this bill soon.”