Ohio’s key budget cuts some of biggest in
nation
State 4th in trimming
higher education, 5th in K-12 and prisons
Friday, June 3, 2011
Ohioans are seeing some of the biggest planned budget cuts in the
nation for key areas such as education and prisons, a new report
released yesterday shows.
The first-year reductions in the proposed state budget taking effect
July 1 are fourth-highest for higher education, fifth for K-12
education, fifth for prisons and second for other program areas,
according to a survey by the National Governors Association and the
National Association of State Budget Officers. (The legislature has
added a little more money for K-12 since data was submitted for the
report.)
Overall, the report shows that states are slowly recovering
economically but still are stretched by financial obligations,
including a skyrocketing population of those eligible for Medicaid.
The study placed Ohio about in the middle of states fiscally, with a
$125 million balance projected at the end of fiscal year 2011 on
June30, compared to other states that project a minuscule surplus or a
deficit. In all, general revenue rose 5.9 percent in fiscal year 2011
across the country, and recommended budgets for fiscal 2012 forecast a
3.9 percent increase in tax revenue.
Still, “the state has to make tough tradeoffs,” said Scott Pattison,
executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers.
“The financial picture is gradually improving,” Pattison said. “But the
tough choices are still there.”
Ohio is one of 16 states recommending cuts in K-12 education in fiscal
year 2012; one of 25 states considering cuts to higher education; one
of 14 considering cuts to prisons; one of 17 considering cuts to public
assistance; and one of 14 considering cuts to transportation.
The state is also one of 17 that is looking to reduce state employee
benefits in fiscal year 2012; one of 38 looking at targeted cuts; one
of 22 looking to reduce costs by reorganizing agencies; and one of just
nine looking at privatizing some state duties to reduce or eliminate
budget gaps.
Nationally, states’ spending is expected to increase next year by 2.6
percent after rising 5.2 percent this year, but will still be below
where it was in 2008.
Even as states consider reductions, they face cuts in federal
government aid as well as increasing pressure to help struggling local
governments, said Dan Crippen, executive director of the governors
association. Ohio was one of 18 states looking to reduce local aid to
reduce budget gaps.
States saw Medicaid enrollment climb by 8.1percent during fiscal year
2010, with an estimated 5.4 percent increase in fiscal year 2011,
according to the report. Ohio, which experienced an 8.5 percent growth
in Medicaid enrollment in fiscal year 2010, is one of 33 states
considering reducing provider payments and one of 16 states considering
freezing provider payments in fiscal year 2012, according to the report.
Read it at the Columbus
Dispatch
|
