Sat Feb 11 2012
Associated Press
CLEVELAND — A legislative commission formed seven months ago to tackle Ohio’s pending budget hole has not yet held any meetings.
The six-member Budget Planning and Management Commission has been handed the task of recommending solutions for the 2012-13 budget by Nov. 30. The panel was established after lawmakers agreed to fill an $850 million gap in the 2010-11 budget by delaying a scheduled income tax cut. Much of the spending plan was balanced using a portion of the state’s one-time $8.2 billion stimulus funds.
Democratic House Speaker Armond Budish says the legislature was busy into December fixing the current budget and that preliminary talks have started with Republican Senate President Bill Harris of Ashland toward getting the commission rolling. He said they have agreed to keep politics out of the equation.
“If this budget commission is going to help the state and legislators, it needs to keep politics out of it,” said Budish, of Beechwood. “If this serves as a forum for people to grandstand, it’s going to be a dismal failure. We need this commission to do real work and find solutions to problems that exist.”
Harris spokeswoman Maggie Ostrowski said the group hopes to get a public meeting scheduled in the near future.
The commission includes two House Democrats and a House Republican appointed by Budish and two Senate Republicans and a Senate Democrat appointed by Harris.
Rep. Ron Amstutz, a Republican member of the commission, says the group should avoid deep cuts or a significant tax increase and find ways to eliminate the budget hole over time.
He said the proposal will need to contain “controversial” items, including health care and education, even as Ohio faces a November general election.
“You don’t solve these problems without controversy. The longer this is put off, the more difficult the solutions are going to be,” said Amstutz, of Wooster.
Rep. Jay Goyal of Mansfield, a Democratic member of the commission, says he wants the committee to brainstorm about “big-picture ideas” and to look at revenue generators as well as ways to cut spending.
“One could argue the future of the state is at stake in terms of making sure we have a balanced budget that’s responsible and still can provide the services our citizens need.”
Republican Sen. Shannon Jones of the commission said she does not want to consider a tax increase.
“We have to start looking at things from a 100,000-foot elevation and start challenging the basic premise of how we have done business and change the trajectory for the future,” Jones said. “We have to get real about how we are going to prioritize and live within our means in a sustainable way over the long term.”
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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com
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