Letter: Ohio Conference Committee Should Support Tax Cuts, Taxpayer Protections

June 28, 2021

To: Members of the Ohio Budget Conference Committee

From: Americans for Tax Reform

 

Dear Conferees,

On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), Ohioans for Tax Reform (OTR), and our supporters across the state, we urge you to support policies in the budget that will reduce burdens for Ohio taxpayers, and protect them from wasteful spending.

We applaud both chambers for proposing income tax relief for Ohioans, and urge conferees to support the larger 5% tax cut offered in the Senate budget. With higher-than-expected revenues, and relief funds from federal taxpayers that can address COVID-19 related costs, this year offers a great opportunity to reduce taxes. Ohio families and businesses have weathered an unprecedented pandemic, and additional savings on their tax bills will help them return the full economy to normal.

The Senate budget also includes a wise measure to bar local governments from attempting to run broadband networks. Government-owned broadband experiments have been tried a number of times, resulting in expensive, ineffective messes. Americans for Tax Reform produced an infographic summary of numerous cases of government broadband projects ending in significant losses, or requiring future decades – even centuries – to break even.  

Further, the private sector is meeting the broadband needs of Americans, having invested $1.7 trillion in broadband networks across the country. These companies are best positioned, and currently working, to deliver reliable internet access to every single Ohioan.

Lawsuits within Ohio, and in between states like Massachusetts and New Hampshire, have highlighted the problem of cities and other states imposing taxes on workers who have not set foot within their boundaries during the pandemic.

Both chambers have addressed this issue in their budgets, and we encourage conferees to include language that clarifies workers who do not live or work in a city do not owe taxes on their labor to that city. These protections are necessary to keep governments from reaching far across their jurisdictions to tax hardworking Ohioans.  

The House and Senate budgets both include smart expansions of the Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison (TCAP) program. We urge lawmakers to include both in the final budget, to expand the program to all counties, and expand eligibility for additional nonviolent offenders. For offenders who do not pose a threat to the community, addressing the issues that led to their offense can offer better long-term results for public safety while avoiding costly incarceration.  

Americans for Tax Reform and Ohioans for Tax Reform thank you for your service, and support your efforts to protect Ohio taxpayers, families, and businesses and reduce their tax burdens as the state emerges from the pandemic.  

 

Sincerely,

Grover Norquist

President

Americans for Tax Reform

 

Doug Kellogg

Executive Director

Ohioans for Tax Reform