COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed the state's massive operating budget, including dozens of vetoes — axing provisions that would restrict books in libraries, take money away from public school savings and make significant expansions to the private school voucher system.
At 11:15 p.m. on Monday, DeWine announced he approved the $60 billion Republican spending bill.
At 2:15 a.m., he sent out his 67 line-item vetoes.
At 10 a.m., he held a press conference to explain his decisions:
"Everybody has a turn to make a move," DeWine said at the presser. "I made my move ... I'm calling balls and strikes."
What stayed in the budget
Stadium funding
DeWine approved sports stadium funding, giving the Cleveland Browns $600 million in unclaimed funds for their new dome.
More about the Browns here.
Flat tax
He also approved the GOP's 2.75% flat income tax, meaning the highest earners in the state, those making more than $100,000 a year, will no longer have to pay 3.5% in income tax, making them equal to the lower tax bracket.
State data reveals that this could result in a loss of more than $1.1 billion in the general revenue fund. This was made up by cutting social services and some tax exemptions.
I asked DeWine why he signed the flat tax, since it would come at the expense of services that mainly benefit lower-income Ohioans.
"I can count," DeWine said.
"Meaning?" I asked.
"I can count votes in the General Assembly," he replied, seemingly referencing a veto override.
Medicaid cuts
He signed on to the expansive cuts to Medicaid. One provision will trigger language based on the federal government, saying Ohio would discontinue coverage of the Group VIII Medicaid expansion enrollees if the federal match falls below 90%.
I asked the governor: "The federal government seems poised to make major slashes to Medicaid. You signed a provision that could immediately take about 800,000 Ohioans out of their health insurance. What does this say to those people?"
He said that he chose Sen. Jon Husted for Congress because he understands Medicaid, also adding that he has been working on the federal bill.
"You want to be able to continue coverage," he said. "We hope we can continue coverage, but until we see a final bill, we don't know exactly where we are. But Medicaid coverage is vitally important — it's vitally important to children."
"But then why cut it?" I asked him. He didn't answer and moved on to another reporter's question.
Around the same time as the governor's press conference, Husted voted to cut and restrict Medicaid.
More on what made it into the budget.
What He Vetoed
These are some of the major items he cut. This list is not exhaustive. You can find the full 67-item veto list here.
Education
The governor vetoed several major items under the education portion of the budget.
"Collectively, they created a problem for the schools," the governor said.
He cut a provision that would have required public libraries to place books referencing "sexual orientation or gender" in an area away from the public. This means that even books that reference a female character in the title could be blocked, according to a Northeast Ohio librarian.
This kind of proposal has been brought up in previous years as a way to categorize LGBTQ+ content as "harmful" to minors.
"It was not workable," he said.
DeWine also cut a provision that would have taken away some of the school districts’ savings, capping the carryover revenue at 40% and requiring anything above that mark be refunded to taxpayers. This could have bankrupted districts and multiple schools, the Ohio Education Association told us.
RELATED: Ohio schools sound alarm with the governor over what they're calling a destructive budget
DeWine vetoed a provision that would have allowed county budget commissions to unilaterally take money away from passed school levies if they find it "reasonably necessary."
"I felt that the provisions in this budget would put an undue, very abrupt, great, significant problem for our local school districts," the governor said.
He removed a provision that would have required that emergency and substitute tax levies, incremental growth levies, conversion levies, and the property tax portion of combined income tax and property tax levies be included in the 20-mill floor calculation for school funding purposes.
He cut restrictions on the ability to put emergency levies on the ballot or request an increase to a current levy.
"Well, thank heavens," Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District Board Member Dan Heintz said after the governor's press conference this morning. "As I talked to you last week, many of these provisions would have put school districts around the state in a constant levy cycle."
DeWine vetoed what would have been a win for "school choice" proponents. The budget would have provided about $2.5 billion over the biennium for the state's voucher system, providing taxpayer dollars for students to attend nonchartered nonpublic schools — ones that already don't receive state or federal funding. This includes a new education savings account program, or ESAs, which is a way for families to get state money to purchase "educational goods and services," including tuition at nonchartered, nonpublic schools. He rejected this.
"No accountability at all," he said.
He removed an item that would have restricted the amount of money the state could award to the Ohio Higher Education Research Public Policy Consortium, which analyzes policy challenges and researches the state's priorities.
He vetoed an item that would have allowed the legislature to choose where school funding goes based on compliance with Senate Bill 1.
He cut a provision that would have required partisan labels on school board candidates.
Children
He vetoed an item that would have restricted funding from youth homeless shelters if they supported transgender or nonbinary identities.
"We want homeless shelters to be open and for everyone," the governor said.
Also, he cut a provision requiring teenagers under the age of 18 who have been tried and convicted as adults to be committed to a Department of Youth Services facility instead of a Department of Rehabilitation and Correction facility.
Health
He vetoed a provision that would have restricted Medicaid for babies ages 0-3. This would have repealed the requirement for Medicaid to allow parents of children under the age of four to stay enrolled in Medicaid through a federal waiver.
He removed a provision that requires Medicaid to randomly assign a managed care plan for all individuals who do not choose a specific managed care plan.
He cut an item that puts reporting requirements on entities participating in the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program.
He cut an item that would have stopped SNAP for “sugar-sweetened beverages.”
Due to a drafting error in the creation of the legislation, he cut a provision that was intended to regulate the practice of pharmacy benefit managers in Ohio and the requirements for fair and transparent reimbursement for Ohio pharmacies.
He vetoed an item that would prevent the Department of Health from requiring soil evaluators or soil scientists to assess soil type and slope for Household Treatment Sewage Systems.
He cut a provision requiring a hospital with a maternity unit that accepts Medicaid to enter into a transfer agreement with any freestanding birthing center located within a 30-mile radius that requests one.
Land and energy
He vetoed a provision that would have put restrictions on what H2Ohio, DeWine's clean water program, can do. It would have stopped their ability to use funds to purchase land or conservation easements.
He stopped an item that would have prevented state and local governments from using eminent domain to obtain property for the construction of recreational trails.
He cut an item that could have delayed the amount of time a lessee has to actually produce on a well and generate royalty payments for the state.
He removed a provision creating the Oil and Gas Resolution and Remediation Fund for the purposes of plugging orphaned oil and gas wells in the state.
He vetoed an item that prohibits the Department of Natural Resources, when contracting with a third party, from requiring dredge operators to hold any licenses, registrations, or certifications when dredging in waters of the state.
He cut a provision that makes certain electric transmission costs avoidable by customers who shop for their electric energy provider.
He removed an item that would have prohibited the Tax Credit Authority from entering into new computer data center sales and use tax exemption agreements.
Administrative
He vetoed a provision that would have required state employees to work in the office full time.
He cut an item that would have created the Election Integrity Unit within the Secretary of State’s Office and directed the Unit to investigate alleged violations of elections law.
He removed a provision limiting the types of flags permitted to be displayed on state-owned buildings and property to include only the Ohio flag, U.S. flag, POW/MIA flag, and flags of official state agencies as approved by the governor.
He cut an item that would prohibit local school boards from entering into supplemental benefit arrangements to pay employee contributions to the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS) on behalf of superintendents and principals.
Taxes
He vetoed a provision changing the tax structure surrounding marijuana sales. Currently, it is taxed through an excise tax; however, this item would have applied a sales tax to the excise tax.
He cut an item requiring Ashtabula County to repeal a 2% special lodging tax used to fund the costs of a convention center.
He vetoed a provision that would sunset the film and theater production tax credit program by prohibiting the award of the tax credit.
What is next?
DeWine said his vetoes are valid, adding that lawmakers may not like his decisions, but — "I'm the guy that happens to be the governor."
Lawmakers have the opportunity for line-item veto overrides, but that would require them to come back from break.
State Rep. David Thomas (R-Jefferson) said it would be worth it.
He leads the property tax relief debate in the House and said the measures DeWine vetoed on school finances would have provided essential relief.
"We have to do these types of reforms — and more — to protect and save our taxpayers," Thomas told me following the press conference.
He was shocked by the vetoes, he said, and is urging his colleagues to come back from summer recess.
Override votes would likely take place within the 90 days before the law goes into effect — and would require 20 senators and 60 House reps to go through. The House only had 59 votes when the budget passed.
Senate President Rob McColley and Finance Chair Jerry Cirino issue statement:
"We appreciate the governor’s support of our significant income tax reform that reduces the tax burden on Ohioans by moving to a single flat income tax bracket.
"Yet it is puzzling that at a time when Ohioans are demanding a reduction in their property tax burden, the governor vetoed all of the General Assembly's reforms, which would have contained the rate of growth of property tax across the state, added more accountability to local taxing subdivisions, and would have created more ballot transparency to levies.
"These are kitchen table issues that hardworking families understand, and the General Assembly needs to strongly consider acting on their behalf to implement these vital changes that would return the property tax system to its cost controlled guardrails as originally intended."
House Speaker Matt Huffman's statement:
“As with every budget, there are always some disagreements on specific provisions. While disappointed in the vetoes, I am in the process of talking with members of our caucus, many of whom have already expressed an eagerness to return to the Statehouse soon to consider veto overrides. Particularly in the area of property tax relief passed by the legislature, our caucus is mindful of the urgency many Ohioans are feeling.”
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
