by Mike Hall, May 6, 2011
More than 3,000 Ohio workers, students and other activists rallied outside the state Capitol in Columbus to protest Gov. John Kasich’s (R) budget, which makes drastic cuts to education and public services, privatizes state services and gives tax breaks for businesses and the wealthy—including a repeal of the state’s estate tax on large estates.
They also used the event to gather signatures to put on the ballot a repeal of Kaisch’s Senate Bill 5 (S.B. 5) that eliminates collective bargaining rights for public employees.
Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga says Kasich’s budget “is less about balancing our budget and more about a partisan political agenda…we will certainly see the loss of jobs for Ohio’s middle class.”
Kris Harsh, state coordinator for Stand up for Ohio, said between the passage of S.B. 5 and Kasich’s budget, more jobs and more of the middle-class in Ohio will erode.
We’re talking about destroying up to 50,000 jobs. And the budget pulls over $2 billion from public education and ignores closing any tax loopholes. We’re calling for a more balanced approach to solve Ohio’s budget problems.
Kasich claims his budget provides “a tool box” for cities and towns to solve their financial problems. But in a column today in the Youngstown Vindicator, Janetta King, president of Innovation Ohio, says Kasich’s budget is a:
shell game in which the state simply passes the buck to local jurisdictions and taxpayers…Gov. Kasich’s tool box holds a chainsaw for cutting local services; a hammer for beating public employees; and a screwdriver to use on local taxpayers.
The rally was organized by Stand Up for Ohio and We Are Ohio.
