|
Kasich Administration Legislative Initiatives Expected Next Week |
|
|
|
Kasich Administration
Legislative Initiatives Expected Next Week
Next week will see the introduction of the Kasich Administration’s general
Mid-Biennium Budget Review (MBR) bill, along with separate MBR legislation that
will be specific to education and energy policy. Hearings on the main MBR will
begin in the House Finance and Appropriations Committee. The primary MBR will
focus on Fiscal Year 2013 (starting July 1), and will include cuts to state
agency budgets and little added spending. Although Fiscal Year 2012 Medicaid spending
was under budget by more than $300 million through January, the federal
matching funds percentage will go down in October for the first time in several
years, aside from the phase-down of the special enhanced matching dollars under
the federal stimulus legislation. The state assumed that the higher federal
match rate currently in place would last throughout the biennium, so it will
have to add state money to replace the lost federal funding. As has been widely
reported, Governor Kasich is expected to propose an income tax cut, although it
is tied to the availability of increased revenue from taxes on oil and gas
production.
|
