The Senate’s changes to the House version of the upcoming state budget will be released soon. And those changes will be important, since Gov. John Kasich told lawmakers they’d have to cut $800 million from his initial budget because of falling tax revenues.
The House sent to the Senate a spending plan that budget director Tim Keen said still needed to be cut by $168 million to be balanced. Keen’s office says the state will end this fiscal year in the black, though the current tax revenue shortfall is approaching a billion dollars. But House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger (R-Clarksville) said this is no different than any other budget. “Revenue projections change – they sometimes get better, sometimes they get worse. This is the same that we deal with in every budget.”
Senators are expected to take out the House changes to Medicaid expansion spending and to lower the number of school districts getting funding cuts. Republican leaders will have a budget for Democrats to see Friday and will likely publicly reveal it early next week.
