COLUMBUS, Ohio — Affordability is a top concern in Ohio's competitive governor's race. The candidates have different ways to provide relief.
Whether it's gas prices, utility bills, groceries or any other pocketbook issue — Ohioans need relief. That's what the majority told us they are looking for when they vote.
"Just everything is going up, and they need to really bring it down," Linette Roberts, who lives in Cleveland, said.
Dozens of others across the area say the same thing: they are spending more of their paycheck on basic necessities.
"It's taken a lot bigger chunk out of my paycheck than it used to," said JT Regan, who added that he feels ripped off when he sees the price at the pump. "It's unfortunate."
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The candidates for governor are listening.
"What would be a successful 100 days for you?" I asked Democrat Dr. Amy Acton in a sit-down interview.
"Well, I'm running to make life affordable again, and we're coming in on day one with executive orders — immediate relief on issues related to property taxes, bringing down energy bills, housing is top of mind for me," Acton responded.
Acton has laid out an extensive affordability agenda. Her proposal includes a working families tax cut that would give about $1,800 back to a family of four earning $60,000. She plans to introduce a child tax credit of $1,000 a year for children up to age 6 and $500 for all other minors in families making up to $85,000 in annual income.
She wants an earned income credit, a rebate for recent property tax increases, and an expansion of the homestead exemption.
Acton, a doctor, has talked extensively about lowering health care costs and debt.
"We have immediate relief on that we can do for pennies on the dollar," she said. "We can renegotiate that debt."
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The state budget is large, and so Acton says she would pay for her ideas by reallocating money, moving it away from special interest groups.
"It isn't a matter of there not being the money; it's what you put the money to," she said.
For more than a year, we asked Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to sit down with me for an all-encompassing interview, like the one we did with Acton. He never agreed. So, we’ve had to ask questions at his campaign stops.
"That is what we're going to fight for: lower costs, bigger paychecks," Ramaswamy said Friday.
He points to his work with the legislature to suspend the gas tax.
"Providing affordability relief for families who need it now," the Republican said in the summer.
RELATED: Tax expert critical of Ohio governor candidates' property tax relief proposals
He did accomplish this, even though drivers say gas prices remain high.
"It's kind of depressing," Dawn Perry said of the tax break, adding that she has needed to cut groceries out of her budget.
Ramaswamy wants to phase out the income tax over the next decade, as well as roll back property taxes to 2020 levels and then cap their growth.
"One of the things that our property taxes were paying for before the pandemic were our schools, and our schools were actually performing better, if you look at test scores and other metrics back then than they are today, which suggests that we will at once be able to roll back those property taxes — not eliminate them, OK? But a reasonable rollback to where they were just a few years ago before the end of the pandemic," Ramaswamy said in July.
His tax cuts could be paid for by cutting “government bloat” and consolidating public universities, he said.
Libertarian Don Kissick and running mate James Mills are opposed to property taxes and would like to eliminate them.
"We prefer to see local consumption-based taxes and because there is no transparency around where the lottery is going (since it's a general education fund), we're thinking it is being used as a stopgap for other areas of the budget. In that, if we balance the budget and eliminate corporate welfare for the larger institutions, we can save a ton of money for Ohioans," the team said.
Other stories we have done on affordability in the governor's race:
- School voucher policy
- Corruption policy
- Economic development policy
- Income tax policy
- Data center policy
- Property tax policy
- More can be found by going to Morgan Trau's bio, scrolling down to the bottom and navigating
Follow Statehouse and Columbus bureau reporter Morgan Trau on X, Instagram and Facebook. Email her at Morgan.Trau@wews.com.
