It’s looking like the conference committee working on a compromise state budgetwill go into the weekend – with the deadline to sign the budget on Sunday night. And among the differences between the House and Senate versions is an income tax cut and a small business tax break.
The Senate’s income tax cut is 21 percent larger than the one in the House budget. House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) said Senators paid for that by spending down a cushion in the House budget and taking surplus funds from state agencies.
But Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina) said extra money was accessed elsewhere.
“We actually did a few things that I think drew down more federal dollars – we were able to leverage federal dollars more. But in terms of state GRF, I don’t think the difference was very significant," Obhof said.
The Senate also restored a deduction allowing many small businesses to take the first $250,000 of their incomes tax free – the House had dropped that to $100,000.
Budget conferees expect to work through the weekend to come up with a deal.
