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Phasing Out Ohio's Income Tax
Ohio could significantly boost its economy by phasing out its income tax, according to a study released today by the Buckeye Institute. The report provides state lawmakers with a road map to phase-out Ohio's economic growth-hindering state income tax over a 10-year period. It is available online at http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/docs/incometax.pdf."Ohio's economy is anemic, ranking near the bottom of most lists on job creation, new investment and business climate," said report author Dr. Eric N. Fisher, a Buckeye Institute adjunct scholar and former professor of economics at Ohio State University. "The state, not surprisingly, is also ranked among the most heavily taxed. It's time for Ohio policymakers to consider dramatic steps to reverse its long-term decline by creating an investment friendly business climate. Abolishing the state income tax, while politically bold, should be near the top of their agenda.
Buckeye Voices
In
this week's Buckeye
Voices, William Felkner, executive director of the Ocean
State Policy Research Institute, discusses the importance of open
government with Buckeye Institute government transparency director Mike
Maurer.
Ensuring Budget Troubles
The
Cleveland Plain Dealer reports,
"Gov. Ted Strickland is asking the federal government to immediately
approve Ohio's plan to provide more low-income children with government
health coverage....A year ago, the federal government issued rules that
kept Ohio from expanding coverage. Ohio is waiting for the results of
an appeal."
In
More Medicaid Problems
in Ohio, Buckeye Institute analyst Marc Kilmer
writes, "With almost daily news about the looming Ohio budget deficit
and efforts to trim state spending, this federal veto of Ohio's
Medicaid plans should be seen as an opportune sign. The state's
policymakers abdicated their fiscal responsibility when they increased
eligibility. Since then, the state has discovered that Medicaid is more
expensive than they realized (and spending is likely to continue to go
up). With the state not having the money for the program, the federal
government's move saved the state from its own foolishness."
Prevailing Wage Harms Workers
"Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is exploring a policy change that could expand the list of projects to which prevailing wage rules apply, a shift that one local economic development expert says will have 'a chilling effect' on luring new companies to Cincinnati," according to the Cincinnati Business Courier.
In Hamilton County Jail Needs to Escape Prevailing Wage, Buckeye Institute President David Hansen writes, "Ohio's prevailing wage law requires state and local government to pay above-market wages on all major construction projects. These wages are not really 'prevailing' in the sense that markets freely determine the wage rate based on supply and demand. Instead, bureaucrats determine the prevailing wage using local union wage and benefit rates. Prevailing wage is a price-setting scheme a Soviet apparatchik would be proud of."
GOP Backsliding on Earmarks
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, "It never was the full-fledged assault envisioned by conservatives, but the GOP's battle against parochial home-state projects sought by members of Congress has faded into oblivion."
In
It's Time for Both
Parties to Put an End to Earmark Spending,
Buckeye Institute Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow Ken Blackwell
writes, "The American people have had it with earmarks. Polls show that
one of the reasons driving Congress's near record-low poll numbers is
their out-of-control spending. This outrage is one of the reasons
Republicans lost power. Polls show that along with Iraq and corruption,
a major reason for GOP losses in 2006 was wasteful spending. And
frankly, some Republicans deserved it."
Buckeye
Institute in the News
Buckeye Institute President David Hansen and Academic Advisor Dr. Richard Vedder discussed the elimination of the state's income tax on Ohio Public Television's The State of Ohio.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer quoted the Buckeye Institute's Mike Maurer in a story on the cost of holding an election to fill the seat of deceased Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones.
The Hillsboro Times-Gazette published Buckeye Institute Education Policy Director Matt Carr's column on merit pay for teachers.
