Late on the night of December 17^th, 17 Ohio State Senators voted to raise the income tax on the taxpayers of the "Buckeye state." They said that they needed more money, but this was really an act of a government that spends too much and looks to bail itself out on the backs of Ohio taxpayers. This income tax increase in House Bill 318 will cost taxpayers more than $851 million over the next biennium. The Governor’s proposal to raise the income tax passed because of the lack of fiscal restraint shown by the Ohio state government. They took this action rather than reform or cut wasteful spending. See the list of Senators below that betrayed taxpayers at a time when they could least afford it:

 

The next step in the process will be Governor Strickland’s signature. Throughout the process, he has disingenuously been calling this tax increase a “freeze” in the rate, but the issue is that it has already been in effect as of January 1, 2009. After seeing two gubernatorial races in 2009 flip from Democrat to Republican due in large part to an overreaching tax and spend Obama administration, he ought to be thinking twice about signing this $851 million plus tax increase. He has until the end of the year to make his decision and for the sake of the taxpayers of Ohio; hopefully he will have a change of heart this holiday season and reject the tax increase that he has been pushing all along.

To see ATR's press release highlighting the 17 Senators who betrayed Ohio taxpayers and voted for this tax increase, click here.

To see ATR's letter in response to the Ohio Senate's vote and suggesting a different approach in the future, click here.