For Immediate Release Contact: Andrea Fejes

May 5, 2011 614-221-4570, andrea@oneohionow.org

House Budget Fails Ohioans; Now It’s Up to the Senate

Statement by One Ohio Now Coordinator Andrea Fejes

With its budget approval vote this afternoon, the House missed an opportunity to approach Ohio’s
economic crisis in a balanced way that corrects the structural deficit and lays a path to a sustainable
future for services Ohioans depend upon.

Instead, the budget proposal passed out of the House relies on deep cuts to human services, education
and local governments, one-time sale of assets and privatization.

The budget the House passed hurts Ohioans. As a business plan for the state, this bill will cost jobs and
weaken important services, potentially reducing the numbers of:
 Teachers in our classrooms
 Police officers on our streets
 Staff that protect our at-risk infants, toddlers, children, and seniors.

The House failed to maintain the investments that make Ohio a great place to live and work and that protect the
most vulnerable. Ohio’s children, seniors, sick and our hard working middle class will suffer from this misguided
approach.

As the budget moves to the Senate, the Senate needs to review both sides of the ledger and boost revenues in a
way that does not hurt working families but restores equity, accountability and balance to Ohio’s system of public
finance.

The Senate needs to carefully consider the consequences of the House’s cuts-only approach. Clearly, the
budget bill does not reflect the balanced approach that is needed to deal with the shortfall that Ohio
faces.

The Senate should ensure accountability by reducing the 128 tax expenditures that drain more than $7
billion from the state treasury, causing these deep cuts. Our Senators can make Ohio’s system of public
finance more equitable and balanced by restoring the share of taxes paid by top earners and corporations
eliminated in the tax overhaul of 2005.

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One Ohio Now is a coalition of over 45 member organizations, including health and human services,
transportation, educators, school board members and labor, united for a balanced approach to meeting
Ohio’s needs.

Advocates for Budget Legislation Equality•AFSCME Council 8•America Votes – Ohio•Center for Working Class Studies –
Youngstown State University•Children’s Defense Fund – Ohio•Cleveland Jobs with Justice•Cleveland Tenants
Organization•Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO)•Columbus Jobs with Justice•Communications Workers
of America •Community Partners for Affordable Accessible Health Care•Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People •The
Empowerment Center of Greater Cleveland•Environmental Health Watch•Georgetown Federation of Teachers •The Hunger
Network in Ohio •Legal Aid of Southwest Ohio•LiveCLEVELAND!•Lutheran Metro Ministries•Mahoning Valley Organizing
Collaborative (MVOC)•Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless •Ohio AFL-CIO• Ohio Association of School Business Officials
(OASBO) •Ohio CDC Association•Ohio Center for Progressive Leadership•Ohio Civil Service Employees Association
(OCSEA)•Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding •Ohio Conference on Fair Trade•Ohio Education
Association (OEA)•Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT)•Ohio Poverty Law Center• Ohio PTA•Ohio Public Transit Association
(OPTA)•Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA)•Ohio Voice•Ohio Youth Voices•Planned Parenthood Affiliates of
Ohio•PolicyBridge•Policy Matters Ohio•ProgressOhio•SEIU 1199•Toledo Jobs with Justice•UFCW Local 1059•UHCAN