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Recovery in the News
Kasich: ‘We delivered’
Local officials try to assess winners, losers in Ohio budget
The Marietta Times
July 1, 2011
As Ohio Gov. John Kasich was poised to sign a contentious $56 billion state budget into law Thursday, local officials were busy trying to determine the winners and losers.
In order to close a projected $8 billion budget deficit, the spending plan calls for tough cuts for many government agencies or offices.
After seeing funding cut by 30 percent in the last budget, and an additional 15 percent in the current budget, David White, chairman of Washington County's Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Board, said he has serious concerns about getting help to those who need it - especially those without Medicaid.
He said a lack of funding for non-Medicaid individuals has already resulted in people being turned away from mental health services.
"I think we all know what is going to happen," he said. "This is going to mean more suicides and more crimes and that's just unfortunate."
Officials with The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Ohio in Columbus said about $30 million in last-minute funding has kept matters from being worse. They said that money will help some of the most vulnerable of the state's citizens.
"With the passage of this budget, Ohio's leaders are sending a message to the nation that despite these hard times, we will not forsake our most vulnerable citizens," NAMI Ohio Executive Director Terry Russell said. "Certainly, there remains a lot of work to do to turn our mental health system around and the funds in this budget are not enough to meet all the needs that are out there. But truly, it could have been so much worse."
Ohio Rep. Andy Thompson, R-Marietta, said he fought for mental health services but ultimately considered them a "loser" in the budget.
"Mental health was an area I knew had taken some cuts in the past and unfortunately they're going to have to endure some more," he said. "In my opinion, mental health took more of a hit than it should have."
Although disappointed with mental health funding, Thompson said he was pleased with the overall budget results.
"Overall, I think the real winners are the Ohio taxpayers," he said. "We worked hard to balance the books, reform government and cut taxes."
Thompson said the budget eliminates the death tax and maintained a significant income tax cut. He said the death tax put family-owned farms and small businesses at risk.
Eric Barrett, with the Ohio State University extension office, said many area farming families will benefit from the change.
"People were getting hit with huge tax bills and it was forcing them to sell their farm or take on huge debts to settle a tax bill," he said.
Another "winner" according to Thompson is the state's PASSPORT program, which aims to keep seniors in their homes, rather than nursing homes, whenever possible.
"We wanted more money for PASSPORT so people can stay in their homes and that's a 'win' for them," he said. "It's also a win for the state because it is so much more affordable than the costs associated with a nursing facility."