The House approved HB 318 Wednesday, a bill enacting Governor Strickland’s proposal to delay the final phase of tax cuts, set to take place this year.  The bill passed by a vote of 55-44, including all Democratic representatives and Reps. Matt Dolan (R-Novelty) and Ross McGregor (R-Springfield).  The bill will move to the Senate, where legislative leaders have concerns about whether this is the best course of action to fill the expected $850 million budget gap.  The Senate has scheduled its first hearing on the measure for this Wednesday at 9:30am.

Much of the debate on the floor of the House was over whether this bill raises taxes.  House Republicans argued that since Ohioans will pay more than they might have expected to pay in taxes this year, it is a tax increase.  House Democrats disagreed, claiming that since Ohioans will pay the same rate of taxes in 2009 as they paid in 2008, this bill would not result in a tax increase.  House Republicans also offered a number of amendments aimed at decreasing the size of state government by reducing the number of state agencies from 24 to 11, and reducing the number of state employees by approximately 8,000.  However, House Democrats argued that these proposals are not realistic, because they would require considerable funds to begin, and any savings would not be achieved during this biennium.  They also argued that these cuts would be detrimental to the state’s ability to provide services to its citizens.