Six lawmakers on the conference committee are trying to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget, anticipating a vote next week. Advocates for kids and low-income Ohioans are urging them to consider reinstating something from Gov. Mike DeWine’s original budget – a $1,000 tax credit for kids under seven. But that seems unlikely.
"Other than the governor, at least among the legislature, I haven't heard anybody who was interested in bringing the idea back," said House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima).
The House stripped out the child tax credit, which would have been funded a hike in cigarette taxes that would have raised around $900 million over the two-year budget period. That's an idea that advocates for low-income Ohioans, young children and cancer prevention supported. But Republican leaders said there was no appetite to raise any taxes for anyone in this budget. And Huffman told reporters this week he had questions about the impact of the credit.
"I don't think it's a tremendous tax break to many Ohioans. It's great, obviously, for the folks who can take advantage of it. I also don't think that $1,000 is necessarily going to change the lifestyle," Huffman said. "I know we do a lot of things like credits and abatements and deferments. We generally need to have a low spread out tax system, which will not affect behavior. When you have high taxes, especially for particular individuals, they don't participate in a system. They leave, they don't work. There's a whole number of other things that can happen. And that's why low, broad based taxes, that was the idea of the commercial activity tax, is usually the way to go."
But Lynanne Gutierrez with the early childhood advocacy group Groundwork Ohio says it is a big deal for many working families.
"Consider a family in Columbus—mom and dad. Dad's a construction worker. Mom's picking up some shifts part time at a grocery store. They're bringing in maybe $46,000 a year," Gutierrez said. "If they have two kids under the age of six, they get $1,000 child tax credit under Gov. DeWine's proposal. So that's $2,000 back on their taxes. That's an increase in their overall income of 4%. And that translates to rent, a couple months of groceries."
Groundwork Ohio is lobbying lawmakers to restore a total of $1.3 billion in cuts to programs and initiatives that affect young children and families. They include that child tax credit, expanded child care eligibility, Medicaid coverage for children under four and investments in maternal and infant health.
"When the proposal in the Senate budget around the income tax cut comes and there look, those families are trying to understand that proposal that only impacts families making above six figures," Gutierrez said. "They're feeling very left out, and they're feeling the bulk of the burden that they're carrying for their families when they're doing everything right."
DeWine has said his proposed credit is the only kind of tax cut he’s in favor of.
