Columbus, Ohio – Ohio Governor Ted Strickland today praised members of the Ohio Legislature for passing a budget that will expand healthcare for children, increase funding for schools, cut taxes for seniors and aggressively invest in job-creating scholarship and research.
“I am proud to say we have a budget that delivers for Ohio families by focusing on the issues that really matter to them,” Strickland said. “The leaders in the House and the Senate all deserve tremendous credit for their work on behalf of the people of Ohio.
“This is what the budget means to Ohio families: healthcare access for all children in Ohio, tax relief to every senior citizen homeowner and disabled homeowner in Ohio, a record amount of state support for local schools, a two-year tuition freeze at all Ohio public universities and colleges, and significant increases in support for research and scholarship tied to job creation.
“We have created a budget that we can all be proud of and that will begin to turn Ohio around.”
Highlights of the budget include:
Healthcare Access for All Ohio’s Children
- All children up to 300 percent of the federal poverty line will have access to healthcare through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
- Families at incomes above 300 percent of poverty will be able to buy health coverage from the state for children with special needs that prevent them from qualifying for private insurance.
Tax Relief for Approximately One in Four Ohio Homeowners
- The Homestead Tax Exemption will be expanded for Ohio’s senior citizen and disabled homeowners – giving a tax cut to approximately one in four Ohio homeowners.
Record Investment in Public Schools
- Including all sources of state support for local schools, the budget will bring the percentage of state support of local schools to nearly 54 percent.
Historic Levels of Funding for Ohio's Public Colleges and Universities
- A two-year tuition freeze will be established for all students attending Ohio’s public colleges and universities.
- Ohio college students receiving the Ohio College Opportunity Grant will double in the first year and triple in the second year.
- $8.5 million in state seed money will be designated to help raise $100 million in private scholarship support (a partnership with the Ohio College Access Network).
- Creation of Accelerate Ohio, a program designed to help adult workers pursue higher education by providing college credit for appropriate work-related certificates and training programs.
- Adult career technical education programs will be transferred from the Ohio Department of Education to the Ohio Board of Regents, creating a seamless system of lifelong learning and higher education opportunities for Ohio’s workers.
- A new Ohio Innovation Partnership will be created that includes two new programs:
- The Choose Ohio First Scholarship, a $100 million scholarship program, to be leveraged by at least $100 million in private dollars or other support, to encourage Ohio students to study science, technology, engineering or mathematics, or become teachers in those fields.
- The Ohio Research Scholars program, a $50 million effort to recruit world-class scholars tied to job creation in Ohio's regional economies.
Programs to prepare Ohio’s Young People for the Jobs of the Future
- 5 new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) schools for grades 6-12 will be created.
- Existing STEM Programs of Excellence will be strengthened, allowing charter schools and school districts to enhance their current programs.