Today Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) applauded the Ohio Senate for passing a balanced budget without raising taxes. As the budget bill heads to conference, ATR urges any compromise to include no tax increases while keeping death tax repeal intact in its current form.

The budget is a product of the promise Gov. John Kasich, Speaker Bill Batchelder and 23 state legislators made when they signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a written commitment never to raise taxes. This budget eliminates a $7.7 billion overspending problem without harmful tax hikes, restores the delayed income tax cut and eliminates the harmful death tax.

ATR President Grover Norquist issued the following statement:

“I applaud the Ohio Senate in joining with Gov. Kasich and the House to balance the state budget without tax increases. The elimination a $7.7 billion overspending problem while cutting taxes is truly historic for Ohio. And the elimination of the death tax – the nation’s most onerous at the state level – is key in reversing the outward migration that has plagued the Buckeye State for decades.

“President Obama will pay plenty of attention to Ohio in 2012, but perhaps he should take note of what is happening in the Buckeye State between election cycles. While D.C. Democrats refuse to even draft a budget, Kasich, Batchelder and Niehaus have eliminated a structural overspending problem in Ohio without a tax increase.

“Only when we begin to get government out of the way of the private sector, roll back onerous regulations and labor policies and reduce the state’s tax burden can Ohio get back on track. This budget is certainly a step in the right direction.”

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Posted by Joshua Culling on Thursday, June 9, 2011 12:30 PM EDT

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