As Ohio Budget Director Tim Keen began addressing a room full of Northeast Ohio human services professionals, he remarked that the drive from Columbus to Cleveland always bears reminders of the impacts of state investments. Cleveland landmarks like Progressive Field, the “Q,” and Playhouse Square all serve as tangible, brick and mortar evidence of the...
Category: State Budget
June 23, 2017
How Senate-Passed Version of State Budget Alters House HOPES Plan to Address the Opioid Crisis
When the Ohio House of Representatives passed its version of the state budget (H.B. 49) in early May, the bill featured a $170.6 million investment toward combatting Ohio’s opioid crisis through a plan titled Ohio HOPES (Heroin, Opioids, Prevention, Education, and Safety). The House’s HOPES plan targeted funding toward four broad areas: $9 million for...
May 17, 2017
House-Passed Version of State Budget Includes $170 Million to Address Opiate Crisis and Behavioral Health Needs in the State
The Ohio House of Representatives passed its version of the state budget in early May and, as had been discussed for weeks, included a significant investment in behavioral health-related services to address the growing needs around the state’s opiate crisis and individuals living with mental illness. The funding totals $170.6 million over the biennium, spread...
May 10, 2017
Ohio House Rolls Back Additional DODD Funding for Community Services
The Ohio House recently approved its version of the two-year state budget (H.B. 49), taking aim at key provisions in the budget introduced by Governor Kasich. This newest version of the spending bill includes significant alterations in proposed funding for the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD), and axed many, though not all, of the...
April 26, 2017
State Budget Update: Medicaid Changes in House Substitute Bill
With the budget in full swing, the Ohio House has offered its first amendments to the governor’s proposed budget. This action is the first in a multi-step process that will soon include another round of consolidated amendments (Omnibus) before it is voted on by the full House and sent to the Senate. Even though we...
April 26, 2017
Budget Update: Senate Finance Committee
On Tuesday, April 25, 2017, hours after members of the House Finance Committee accepted a substitute version of the budget bill (HB 49), their colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee began hearing the tax reforms put forth in Governor Kasich’s original budget proposal. Ohio Tax Commissioner Joe Testa testified in support of the administration’s tax...
February 1, 2017
Governor’s Last Budget Introduced, Heads to Ohio House
Governor Kasich introduced his last two-year budget proposal this week. The governor’s proposals run the gamut from revivals of previous tax proposals to advancing strategies to increase value and quality in health and human services. Many of the details of the budget proposal are still unknown. Further analysis of these proposals is forthcoming, as we...
August 17, 2016
Preparing for the State Budget: OBM Releases Guidance
On July 20, 2016, the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) released guidance for the Fiscal Years 2018-2019 Operating Budget. The newly released guidance serves as an initial roadmap for executive agencies’ priorities for the approaching 2018 and 2019 State Operating Budget. In the coming months, state agencies will develop budget requests based on...
March 9, 2016
MBR Bill Proposes More Change for System
Services for individuals with developmental disabilities in Ohio may see more changes through the recent proposals outlined in House Bill 483, introduced last week. Sponsored by Representative Amstutz, the House Bill is a part of the mid-biennium review (MBR), a Kasich construct, which allows the administration to advance policy initiatives in off-budget years through working...