The GOP-majority Ohio House wants to throw out tax hikes and cut funds to numerous state initiatives suggested by Gov. Mike DeWine, according to their version of House Bill 96, the biennial state budget.
Introduced Tuesday afternoon, that version of HB 96 takes into consideration around 3,000 amendments brought forward by House lawmakers in recent weeks, Finance Chair Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said at a news conference.
“These are not the budgets we’ve had for the last four years where you have CARES Act money and ARPA funding and these large pots of federal money that essentially got put toward some of these programs,” Stewart said.
Notably, DeWine asked lawmakers to boost taxes on cigarettes to fund a child tax credit, on cannabis as the state looks to redirect tax revenue back to itself, and on sports gambling to fund major and minor league professional sports construction.
House lawmakers rejected those requests.
“Anywhere where there was a program that was proposed to be added or expanded, we either said no or dialed back the increase,” Stewart said.
Under the latest HB 96, the state would totally retool funding to K-12 public schools while increasing money put toward private school vouchers, including by establishing an educational savings account, according to analysis documents. It eliminates further school meals funding and school bus safety grants, too.
At the higher education level, HB 96 increases the state share of instruction by 2%, Stewart said.
Among other changes, lawmakers added language “recognizing only two sexes” and banning government buildings from flying flags that are not the official state, American or POW/MIA flag.
Another amendment adds personal income tax deductions, at $750 or less, for Ohioans who donate to “pregnancy resource centers,” which often advocate against abortions.
“I am not thrilled with this budget, but it is a working document,” Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake) said.
Gov. Mike DeWine made his case early in February to lawmakers about where to put state dollars in his fourth and final biennial budget, running a price tag of $61 billion worth of general revenue funds. With federal funding accounted for, the budget totaled $108 billion in fiscal year 2026 and $110 billion in fiscal year 2027, said Kim Murnieks, Ohio Office of Budget and Management director.
Among some priorities DeWine outlined then were creating a new child tax credit, establishing a children’s vision services program, hiking taxes on cigarettes and cannabis and gambling, tying higher education funding to whether graduates are getting hired, and overhauling how the state funds construction of and renovations to professional stadiums.
Most of those items are significantly changed, though lawmakers retained the OhioSEE program in present budget documents.
House Finance committee members will continue to vet the amendments in hearings this week, with a full floor vote tentatively scheduled next Wednesday. Then, the budget heads to the Senate, with a deadline of June 30.
