Governor John Kasich Just Vetoed An Effort To Raise Taxes. State Legislators Should Not Override

July 4, 2017

 

To: Members of the Ohio General Assembly

 

From: Americans for Tax Reform

Re: Tax Hike Veto Override Vote

 

Dear Representative,

 

On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) and our supporters across Ohio, I urge you to reject efforts to override Gov. John Kasich’s veto of a problematic budget provision that seeks to raise taxes. Your constituents have been hit with more than 20 federal Obamacare tax increases over the last eight years. The last thing individuals, families, and employers across Ohio need is to have lawmakers in Columbus pile on with further tax hikes at the state level.

 

Gov. Kasich commendably vetoed a provision in the new budget that would have the state asking Washington, D.C. for permission to raise the tax rate on health insurers from 5.8% to 7.2%. Begging Washington to allow the imposition of a 24% tax hike is not a good look for Ohio and sends the wrong message to job creators, investors, and site selectors.

 

There is ample evidence that higher taxes make states less competitive, and harm economic growth. John Hood, chairman of the John Locke Foundation, a non-partisan think tank, analyzed 681 peer-reviewed academic journal articles dating back to 1990. Most of the studies found that lower levels of taxation and spending correlate with stronger economic performance. When Tax Foundation chief economist William McBride reviewed academic literature going back three decades, he found “the results consistently point to significant negative effects of taxes on economic growth, even after controlling for various other factors such as government spending, business cycle conditions and monetary policy.”

 

If called to override Gov. Kasich’s veto of this problematic provision, I urge you to vote “NO.” ATR will be educating your constituents and all Ohio taxpayers as to how lawmakers vote on this and other important fiscal and economic matters. Please look to ATR to as a resource on tax, budget, and other policy matters pending before you. If you have any questions, please contact Patrick Gleason, ATR’s director of state affairs, at (202) 785-0266 or [email protected]. 

 

Sincerely,

Grover G. Norquist

President

Americans for Tax Reform