Senate looks to gut $1B from budget - Business First of Columbus:

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That would include $417 million in targeted cuts to agencyt budgets resulting ina still-to-be-determineds number of state job reductions, Senate GOP leaders said Fridahy as they unveiled their plan to balance the two-yeart budget that begins July 1. Their budget bill would trim morethan $1 billionb from the $114 billion spendingb plan passed by the Democrat-controlled Ohio Housse in April. At the same however, Senate Republicans said their budget proposalp would boost spending for primary and secondary school s rather than cut funding for them as proposedin House-approve d budget. It would raise funding for gradesa K-12 school district by 0.
25 percent in fiscal 2010 comparedd to the current year andanotheer 0.5 percent in 2011. Senate Republicans also rejected Gov. Ted Strickland’s sweeping evidence-basedd school reform plan, calling it “fundamentally because it is based on school staffing needs instead of student They wantthe governor’s proposed education model to be reviewes by a bipartisan study council. Senate President Bill R-Ashland, said he wantws the Senate, where Republicans hold a 21-12 to pass a budget bill June 4or 5.
That woul d set the stage for a House-Senate conferenc e committee to hash out the differencexs in their versions of the bill and present a balanced budgetfor Strickland’s signature by a June 30 deadlines set by state law. “We want to work with the governorrand House,” Harris said, “to do what is righty for this great state. This budget is part of Like theHouse version, the Senat e Republicans’ bill does not call for tax increases and safeguards the broar tax reforms favored by the busineses community and approved by legislatorsw in 2005. It also protects a two-year tuition freezde at community colleges, such as Columbus State, and one-yeaf freeze and 3.
5 percent cap on increasees in fiscal 2011at four-year state including , that were proposed by Stricklanx and passed by the House. Senate Republicans were able to providd such safeguards despite havingb to workwith $912 millionn less than what the House had counted on when it passef its budget bill. The revenue shortfalpl became apparent in early May when the Strickland administration reported statee income tax receipts through April 30 were 15 percenr lower than a year ago and well beloqthe administration’s revised budget forecast in December.
Besided the $417 million in cuts for stated agencies, Senate Republican budget-balancing moves include mandating $42 milliobn in cost-containment measures for the Medicaid health-carde program for the poor and lockingin $200 milliohn in agency service cuts ordered by Stricklandr earlier this year. “We thinj spending more money is notthe answer,” Harrix said. “The answer is getting more Ohioans back to work and helpinh more businesses and industries in Ohiobe • Eliminating 34 proposed fee increases for including ones affecting the coal, agriculture and construction • Requiring state regulatory agencies to eliminatw bureaucracy and red tape for businesses.
• Holdinhg the line on new health-care mandates that drive up the cost of health insurancedfor employers. • Eliminating a proposed fee ofapproximately $8 milliohn per year for the disposal of construction and demolition debris. • Preserving funding for the and Ohio Stated University Extension for research andinnovation • Enhancing a $100 million film tax credit to attracr the motion picture industry to Ohio. • Supporting expansion of the state’s Job Retention Tax Credit and Technology InvestmenttTax Credit.
• Providing more fundint for state Rapid Outreach grantxs to attract and retain businessesin