Columbus, OH – Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, testified Wednesday before the Ohio House State and Local Government Committee on House Bill 133, which was developed from recommendations made by The Buckeye Institute in its 2016 policy brief Increasing Job Opportunities for Military Families.
Columbus, OH – Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, testified Tuesday (see full text below or download a PDF) before the Ohio House Civil Justice Committee on the policies in House Bill 126, which would address the uncertainty created by unanticipated constitutional challenges to Ohio’s laws by requiring single-subject legal challenges be brought within 275 days of a law’s effective date.
With the Ohio House passing its version of the budget, tax changes could be coming to Ohio families. But the question is, are they the right changes? Trying to discuss optimal tax policy is like being Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But taxes play a critical role in determining how our state operates, and knowing what’s best for the state helps us evaluate if our elected officials are making good tax policy that will help growth Ohio’s economy.
In an opinion piece on Watchdog.org, Buckeye’s Rea S. Hederman Jr. looks at the policies in House Bill 6, writing, “Ohio lawmakers recently introduced legislation to subsidize the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power plants, reportedly to the tune of $150 million per year. Government subsidies and corporate bailouts interfere with free markets and allow governments – rather than consumers and competition – to pick the private sector’s ‘winners and losers.’”
Columbus, OH – Rea S. Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute and vice president of policy, issued the following statement on the passage of Substitute House Bill 166 by the Ohio House of Representatives, saying, “Today the Ohio House of Representatives passed a budget that while containing some positive policies, significantly increases government spending to levels that are unsustainable for Ohio taxpayers.”
In Renewables Mandate: A Drag on Ohio’s Economy, the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute looks at the impact Ohio’s renewable portfolio standards have on Ohio’s families and businesses. The mandates are part of the debate on House Bill 6, which creates a taxpayer funded subsidy to prop-up declining businesses. “The Buckeye Institute discourages policies that transfer wealth from Ohio households to special interests, whether as subsidies paid with tax dollars, or regulations that create higher prices for necessities, such as electricity.”
The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee on the need for regulatory reform in Ohio and Senate Bill 1. “Ohio desperately needs regulatory reform that eliminates unnecessary regulations that strangle private industry and enterprise as part of the state’s broader reform efforts to boost economic growth…If Ohio does not focus its regulations and rules on protecting the public from genuine harm, the state will continue to see slower growth and lower prosperity compared to many other states.”
The Buckeye Institute testified before the Ohio House Finance Committee on House Bill 166, the House version of Ohio’s biennial budget. “House Bill 166 echoes many of the themes that Governor Mike DeWine has spent years discussing. They include well-intended reforms aimed at making Ohio a better place for children, the economically disadvantaged, and those rightfully concerned about our natural recourses. But the budget that the governor proposes is simply too large and must be scaled back strategically.”
The Buckeye Institute issued a statement on Substitute House Bill 166, saying, “While this budget does much to address Ohio’s most pressing challenges, there is much more that can be done to reduce needless spending and further cut government waste, which will enable Ohioans to keep more of their hard-earned money…The Buckeye Institute looks forward to working with members of the Ohio House and Senate as they continue to craft a pro-growth budget that will be sustainable in the face of any economic downturn.”
Robert Alt, The Buckeye Institute’s president and chief executive officer, issued a statement after the Supreme Court of the United States announced it denied cert on Buckeye’s motion for preliminary injunction in Uradnik v. IFO, which called for an immediate end to laws that force public-sector employees to accept a union’s exclusive representation. The U.S. Suprmeme Court “has given us another opportunity to seek justice by sending [the case] back to the U.S. District Court where The Buckeye Institute will continue to fight relentlessly on Kathy’s behalf.”
