Subject: =?Windows-1252?Q?FACT_CHECK:_John_Kasich=92s_Budget_Reality:_Taxpayers, _L?= =?Windows-1252?Q?ocal_Communities, _Public_Education_Have_All_Borne_the_Br?=unt While The Top 5% Benefited
From: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
To: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2015 02:00:58 +0000

FACT CHECK: John Kasich’s Budget Reality: Taxpayers, Local Communities, Public Education Have All Borne the Brunt While The Top 5% Benefited

John Kasich’s budget cuts have starved local governments, threatened services and created an urgent need for local municipalities to raise taxes. The burden of financing libraries, school districts, parks and social services shifted to local taxpayers, including middle class and lower income families – while Kasich cut taxes for wealthy households. Police and firefighters expressed concern that Kasich’s pursuit of cuts could put Ohioan’s safety at risk.

Kasich has gutted Ohio’s public education system – slashing $1.8 billion from Ohio’s public schools while at the same time funneling hundreds of millions of tax dollars to private charter schools.

Kasich cut $400 million in taxes in 2014. Half that amount was directed to the top 5% of households. As for the other half, they got the scraps. The bottom 20% of Ohioans saw an average tax cut of just $4.  Earlier this year, Kasich proposed a budget that would have increased taxes for 60% of Ohioans but shifted the tax system “further in favor of wealthier Ohioans.” It’s clear Kasich does not look out for the middle class.

KASICH GUTTED FUNDING FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, PUTTING STRESS ON SMALL TOWNS AND RESULTING IN INCREASED LOCAL TAXES AND FEES

Columbus Dispatch: Kasich’s Cuts In State Aid “Threaten[ed] Services At The Local Level And Create[d] An Urgent Need For Cash From Local Tax Revenues.” “All across Ohio, cuts in state aid have pushed hundreds of local governments, schools and libraries to ask voters for more money. Although Gov. John Kasich and GOP legislative leaders frequently boast of closing a massive budget shortfall without raising taxes, it hasn’t taken long for the cuts – compounded by those from earlier years – to threaten services at the local level and create an urgent need for cash from local tax revenues.” [Columbus Dispatch, 10/23/11<http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/10/23/locals-say-state-cuts-led-to-levies.html>]

Under Kasich, The Burden Of Financing Service Agencies, Libraries, And School Districts Has Shifted From The State To Local Taxpayers. “Restraining the growth of government, another watchword for Kasich, has translated into less state support for service agencies, parks, libraries and, as some school districts will attest, education. The burden of financing them has shifted from the state to local taxpayers, who find themselves being asked to support tax levies. Again, the governor's rhetoric seems at odds with reality.” [Editorial, Twinsburg Bulletin, 3/4/15<http://www.twinsburgbulletin.com/opinion/2015/03/04/our-view-flip-side-to-kasich-s-talk-of-tax-cuts-governor-s-budget-includes-hike-in>]

Kasich Oversaw A Nearly 50% Cut To Ohio’s Local Government Fund. “Nearly 50 percent of Ohio's Local Government Fund has been cut in the past three years, leaving many local governments seeking replacements for funding they had come to count on. The Muskingum County and Zanesville governments felt the cuts just as harshly as other areas but appear to be taking the loss in stride through increases in alternative revenue sources and departmental decreases. Despite the reduction, instituted by the administration of Gov. John Kasich between 2010 and 2013, Muskingum County's revenue increased by about $1.2 million, following in the footsteps of most of the state's other counties.” [Zanesville Times-Recorder, 9/7/14<http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2014/09/06/local-government-absorbs-state-cuts/15215801/>]

Akron Beacon Journal Editorial: Local Officials Were “Left To Bear The Burden Of Taking Proposed Tax Increases To Voters” Which Was “No Easy Task When Many Middle-Income And Lower-Income Voters Have Not Gained From The State Tax Cuts In The Way Wealthier Households Have.”. “The state government, too, is seeing revenue growth, income tax collections rising from lows during the recession. At the same time, the governor and the Republican lawmakers have continued a misguided policy of assorted tax cuts at the expense of other priorities. As a result, many local officials are left to bear the burden of taking proposed tax increases to voters. That's no easy task when many middle-income and lower-income voters have not gained from the state tax cuts in the way wealthier households have.” [Editorial, Akron Beacon Journal, 8/27/14<http://www.ohio.com/editorial/local-revenue-seven-years-later-1.517414>]

POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS WERE CONCERNED THAT KASICH’S CUTS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS PUT “OHIOANS’ SAFETY AT RISK BY STARVING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS WHILE PURSUING TAX CUTS”

Toledo Blade: Police And Professional Firefighters Expressed Concern That Kasich Was “Putting Ohioans’ Safety At Risk By Starving Local Governments While Pursuing Tax Cuts.” “Gov. John Kasich and Republican lawmakers are putting Ohioans' safety at risk by starving local governments while pursuing tax cuts and banking huge surpluses, police and professional firefighters claimed on Thursday. Safety services union leaders contend they've been shut out of talks as the proposed budget for the next two years has moved from the governor, through the House, and to the Senate. The Local Government Fund was slashed by 25 percent in each of the last two years, and the effects would not be erased in the next proposal.” [Toledo Blade, 5/31/13<http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2013/05/31/Kasich-frustrating-safety-unions.html>]

Ohio Association Of Professional Fire Fighters President: Kasich’s Tax Cuts Were “More Of A Tax Shift.” “More fire departments and ambulance services went to voters for funding in November after they said state cuts slashed their abilities to provide basic services … Mark Sanders, president of the Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters, blames cuts to the local government fund - money from state income and sales taxes that Gov. John Kasich and lawmakers slashed by half between the summer of 2011 and the summer of 2013. Reductions to that and other funds forced local leaders to fill the gaps that state officials created, he said. ‘It's more of a tax shift,’ Sanders said.” [Gannett Ohio, 1/3/15<http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/01/03/emergency-service-levies-increasing-november-ballots/21249263/>]

KASICH SLASHED $1.8 BILLION FROM OHIO’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS WHILE SIPHONING MONEY TO CHARTER SCHOOLS AND VOUCHER PROGRAMS

Kasich’s 2011 Biennial Budget Cut $1.8 Billion In State Funding For Public Schools. “Cutting $1.8 billion in state funding for public schools in the 2011 biennial budget has affected districts across Ohio. Never would have seen that one coming, right? Of the 172 of Ohio’s 613 K-12 school districts that responded to a Policy Matters Ohio survey, 65 percent said their planned spending was greater than their expected revenues. That’s up from 45 percent in 2010.” [National Public Radio, 1/19/12<https://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2012/01/19/study-most-ohio-school-districts-cut-expenses-in-face-of-state-budget-cuts/>]

·         HEADLINE: “Schools, Local Governments Take Hit In Gov. John Kasich’s Budget Proposal.” [Plain Dealer, 3/15/11<http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/03/schools_local_governments_take.html>]

Toledo Blade Editorial: Kasich Proposed “Siphoning Money To Expansions Of Charter-School And Voucher Programs”. “The House Republican majority has tweaked the governor's plan to restore some school aid, but largely by shifting money to wealthier districts from poorer ones. Whatever else lawmakers do, this surely is not the time to deprive public schools of even more state support by siphoning money to expansions of charter-school and voucher programs, as Mr. Kasich proposes.” [Editorial, Toledo Blade, 5/5/11]

2014: KASICH SIGNED TAX CUTS IN WHICH HALF THE BENEFITS FLOWED TO THE TOP 5% OF EARNERS

June 2014: Kasich Signed $400 Million In Tax Cuts. “In the months before Gov. John Kasich unveiled his off-year budget proposals, the Republican governor had spoken almost exclusively about lowering the state’s top tax rate to less than 5 percent whenever the topic turned toward taxes. The mid-biennial review Kasich signed yesterday — the legislative fruit of his proposals — includes about $400 million in tax cuts but won’t get the state’s top rate under 5 percent, according to his tax department.” [Columbus Dispatch, 6/17/14<http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/06/16/kasich-signs-off-year-budget.html>]

·         Institute Of Taxation And Economic Policy Reported Concluded That Half Of 2014’s $400 Million Tax Cut Would Go To The Top 5 Percent Of Ohio Taxpayers, While The Poorest 20 Percent Of Ohioans Get An Average Tax Cut Of $4. “According to an analysis done for the progressive advocacy group Policy Matters Ohio by the nonpartisan Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, fully half of this year's $400 million tax cut will go to the top 5 percent of Ohio taxpayers. Ohio's 1 percent - those with average annual incomes of more than $1 million - will get tax relief of $1,846 this year, on average. The poorest 20 percent of Ohioans - those who earn less than $19,000 a year - will get an average tax cut of $4.” [Editorial, Toledo Blade, 7/10/14<http://www.toledoblade.com/Featured-Editorial-Home/2014/07/10/Comfort-the-comfortable.html>]

·         HEADLINE: “Comfort The Comfortable.” [Editorial, Toledo Blade, 7/10/14<http://www.toledoblade.com/Featured-Editorial-Home/2014/07/10/Comfort-the-comfortable.html>]

2015: KASICH PROPOSED A PLAN THAT WOULD RAISE TAXES FOR THE BOTTOM 60% OF EARNERS

Akron Beacon Journal Editorial: The Institute On Taxation And Economic Policy Concluded Kasich’s Tax Proposal Would “Shift The Tax System Further In Favor Of Wealthier Ohioans.” “The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy performed an analysis of the governor’s tax plan for Policy Matters Ohio. Released on Tuesday, the evaluation reveals how the overall impact would shift the tax system further in favor of wealthier Ohioans, or the top 5 percent.” [Editorial, Akron Beacon Journal, 2/11/15<http://www.ohio.com/editorial/editorials/kasich-the-tax-shifter-1.566130>]

HEADLINE: “New Study Says That 60% Of Ohioans Would Get Tax Increases Under Kasich Budget Plan.” [Columbus Dispatch, 2/10/15<http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/the-daily-briefing/2015/02/10022015---policy-matters.html>]