Kasich signs GOP budget, increases state spending by billions

Governor John Kasich just signed the next two year budget in typical Kasich fashion: he showed up late, signed the document and then left without taking any questions from the press.

The budget increases sales and property taxes on Ohioans, continues cuts to the Local Government Fund that impact public safety in Ohio,  continues cuts to education, introduces some of the most extreme, anti-women abortion restrictions in the nation all while increasing state General Revenue Fund (GRF) spending by over $11 Billion compared to Governor Strickland’s last budget.

As we’ve discussed before, here are the GRF numbers from the most recent four biennium budgets:

Strickland First Budget (Actual) :     54.81 Billion
Strickland Second Budget (Actual) :   50.75 Billion
Kasich First Budget (Actual) :         54.05 Billion
Kasich Second Budget  :     62 Billion+

It’s also worth mentioning that Strickland’s second budget was actually$1.2 Billion less than his predecessor’s second budget; Republican Governor Taft’s last budget was $51.2 billion vs Strickland’s $50.75 billion.

Also worth mentioning: the budget Kasich actually proposed included $63.2 Billion in GRF spending – over a billion dollars more than the one the GOP-controlled General Assembly sent to Kasich to sign tonight.

In short:  Kasich is spending over $10 Billion more over his first term than Strickland did, all while RAISING the sales tax, RAISING property taxes, CUTTING school funding and CUTTING funding for police and fire.

In Republican circles, this is what they call “tax and spend”.

p.s. Here’s the list of stuff Kasich vetoed in the budget.